David Harris is still "the Hitman," but he is technically an ironman no more.
Harris, the Jets' inside linebacker, has been deactivated by head coach Todd Bowles for tonight's game between the Jets and the Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium due to a hamstring injury he suffered last week at Pittsburgh. Thus Harris' parallel streaks of 121 consecutive regular-season games played and started will come to an end.
On the positive side for the Jets' defense, CB Darrelle Revis has come back from his hamstring injury suffered against Seattle and is active. For the offense, so is RG Brian Winters, who cleared the NFL concussion protocol during the week and returns after also sitting out the Steelers game.
Only one other injury had kept Harris out of a game since he and Revis were selected in the first two rounds of the 2007 draft. That was a groin injury that cost him five games in the middle of the 2008 season. But he returned to action in Game 13 at San Francisco that year and thus began his ironman streaks. No. 52 has always been out there to start the game, through shoulder injuries last year and this year and other assorted bumps and bruises ... until tonight.
Harris' 121 straight starts (not including six more starts in the 2009 and '10 playoffs) was the longest in the NFL among active front-seven players. The only other defensive player with a longer streak is Cowboys CB Brandon Carr with 134 starts. Harris' games-played streak was the longest among active NFL linebackers.
Rookie LB Darron Lee will start for Harris at MLB.
The Jets' seven inactive players tonight:
■ QB Christian Hackenberg
■ QB Bryce Petty
■ WR Jeremy Butler
■ CB Nick Marshall
■ LB David Harris
■ T Brandon Shell
■ TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins
Bowles' gamenight captains are QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, T Ryan Clady, DL Leonard Williams and K Nick Folk.
