HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. -- Kellen Clemens might be without his top two targets when the New York Jets take on the winless Miami Dolphins.
Jerricho Cotchery has missed practice all week with an injured right index finger, while Laveranues Coles has been limited by an ankle injury that caused him to miss New York's game against Dallas on Thanksgiving.
"We'll look at all those guys and evaluate at the end of the week and see how it is," coach Eric Mangini said Thursday.
Mangini revealed that Cotchery's injury occurred Monday during practice, but wouldn't go into specifics, as is the Jets' policy. In fact, it was a bit surprising Mangini acknowledged which finger was injured; it was weeks before he revealed which knee linebacker Jonathan Vilma needed season-ending surgery on earlier this month.
Cotchery, normally one of the handful of players who speaks to the media daily, hasn't been seen in the locker room or on the practice field all week. Cotchery leads the Jets with 54 catches for 730 yards and a touchdown.
Coles was injured during the Jets' 19-16 overtime win against Pittsburgh on Nov. 18 while making a 56-yard catch off a flea flicker that set up a touchdown. He returned briefly, but was noticeably hobbled and then sat out against the Cowboys.
Coles, second on the team with 43 catches for 529 yards and six TDs, hopes to play and has been on the practice field, but has been limited. His availability for Sunday was still uncertain.
If Coles and Cotchery can't go, Clemens' main targets would be Justin McCareins, Brad Smith and tight end Chris Baker, who have a combined 58 catches this season. The only other wide receivers on the Jets' active roster are Wallace Wright and Chris Davis, although they also have David Clowney, Evan Prall and David Ball on the practice squad.
"You want everybody to be there and we'll work them through the normal game plan, like we do with anybody who's in that situation," Mangini said of Coles and Cotchery. "And then, it's also the type of thing where other guys get opportunities if they aren't there. That's why you work so many different people in terms of combinations, so that the quarterback is always working with different guys and there is some flexibility if you do encounter a situation like this."
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
