UPDATE: NT Sione Po’uha likely to play

In a week when the No. 1 job facing the Jets’ defense is to stop Miami running back Reggie Bush, they had to be buoyed by the presence on the practice field Friday of nose tackle Sione Po’uha, who has missed three games with a low back injury. With the bye week coming up, it might be wise for the Jets (3-4) to rest him another game, but they really can’t afford to go to the bye with a 3-5 record.

Friday’s are light days, but Po’uha took part in all the defensive line drills during the portion of practice the media was allowed to watch and officially was listed as questionable. “If Sione is not just able to protect [himself] but be effective, I feel good about that,” Jets coach Rex Ryan said. “I think Sione will play. I’d like to have Sione matched up against anybody, but on this particular week against a team that can really run the football, absolutely.”

On the other hand, it appears linebacker Bart Scott’s streak of 119 games played might be in jeopardy because of his painful toe injury. He did not appear on the practice field. Scott was listed as doubtful along with defensive tackle Kenrick Ellis (knee) and running back Bilal Powell (shoulder). None of those three took part in practice.

Running back Joe McKnight (ankle) also did not take part in practice as a precaution, but he was listed as questionable. Earlier in the week, he vowed to play just as he did last week at New England, and he affirmed that intention Friday.

“I made some progress,” McKnight said. “The swelling is going down. I’m walking without the boot now. It’s better despite playing last week. I should be ready for Sunday.”

Other officially listed as questionable besides McKnight and Po’uha included center Nick Mangold (ankle), tight end Jeff Cumberland (wrist) and safety Eric Smith (knee). All took part in practice on a limited basis and are expected to play. Backup offensive tackle Jason Smith did not practice for non-football personal reasons.

Everything is fine for the Jets in the Friday fine department. Neither safety LaRon Landry nor linebacker Aaron Maybin were fined for their comments during the week. Maybin said he’d like to knock Bush out of the game legally, and Landry said he was sure Bush would remember the hit to his knee that knocked him out in the second quarter of the first meeting with the Jets. Also, Patriots linebacker Brandon Spikes was not fined by the NFL for a near helmet-to-helmet hit on Jets running back Shonn Greene.