Jets RB Joe McKnight to play CB after Darrelle Revis injury

With All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis out for the season, expect to see running back Joe McKnight get some time at corner for the New York Jets. McKnight has been practicing with the defense and coach Rex Ryan admits that he will have a role this season while Revis is out with a torn ACL.

McKnight practiced some with the defense prior to the Jets game with the Pittsburgh Steelers when Revis was out with a concussion, but did not get any reps in the game. Now McKnight is back to practicing both ways.

"We'll do that this week with Joe McKnight," Ryan said. "He'll have a role on offense, but we're also teaching him how to play corner.... Not quite a full-time capacity, but he's going to be over there a ton in the meetings and everything else."

This isn't completely new for the Jets, as McKnight played one play as a defensive back last year in the Jets Week 4 game against the Baltimore Ravens. Although he did not play any defensive back in college, he did play the position in high school.

McKnight said Tuesday he was "surprised" by the decision, but that he was "all for it." He also said he found out from Ryan in an interesting way.

"This is how I found out, Rex (Ryan) walked into the room and said I was traded, I got traded to the defense," McKnight said. "Ever since then, I've just been working on the defense. I'm not doing a lot of stuff, just keeping it small and really simple for me, so I can go out there and just play."

McKnight has only been on the field for seven of the Jets offensive snaps thus far this season.