HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (AP) The most painful part of sitting out last season for Jason Ferguson was not the healing process from a torn rotator cuff. It was not the seemingly endless rehabilitation.

The New York Jets' nose tackle felt the worst when he watched his team struggle to stop the run. Seeing his replacements getting knocked around hurt Ferguson.

New York ranked 28th against the run, allowing 4.5 yards per attempt. While some of the problems stemmed from shoddy tackling, the team didn't have the right personnel to stymie the run.

Ferguson's return and pairing at tackle with free-agent additions Josh Evans and Larry Webster should help. So should the signing of linebacker Sam Cowart, who excels in defending the running game. Plus new cornerbacks Donnie Abraham and Aaron Beasley are better tacklers than Aaron Glenn and Marcus Coleman, both of whom went to Houston in the expansion draft.

Ferguson has looked good in training camp, reporting at 308 pounds, svelte for the fifth-year player who feuded with former coach Al Groh about his weight and his production.

But once Herman Edwards was hired as coach, Ferguson dropped his plans to leave as a free agent and re-signed last year. Then he got hurt.

"Jason is getting in there and mixing it up," defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell said Monday. "He is very important to this defense. Our defensive tackles must be real solid players, taking on centers and guards and freeing up the backers. Jason does a good job of rushing the passer, too."

Cottrell coached one of the best run-stuffers in the league in Buffalo, Ted Washington. He said there is little comparison between Ferguson and Washington, a Pro Bowl player who is nearing the end of his career.

"He's what, 50 pounds lighter than Ted?" Cottrell said of Ferguson. "Ted prided himself on controlling an area and keeping the guards and the center off the linebackers. Jason has a quick, penetrating type game."

Ferguson was injured at the outset of the 2001 training camp and underwent shoulder surgery. While the Jets were going 10-6 and getting a wild-card playoff berth, he was watching. And hurting.

"You see a play and you say, `Man, I could have made that play,"' Ferguson said with a chuckle. "But everybody must say that. It was crazy, looking out and seeing everybody practicing and playing out there. You try to stay positive.

"I have to thank Herm and Ted for keeping me upbeat and talking to me. They kept me motivated to get to the next year."

That would be this year, and Ferguson believes the defensive line will be a plus, particularly when All-Pro end John Abraham returns from a knee injury, perhaps by the season opener in Buffalo. He sees talent, depth and versatility.

"I am very happy about our line," he said. "I'm knocking the rust off every day, getting in a groove. We all are.

"I could sense that when we first got together as a group and everybody came in the room and was cracking on each other. That's when you know."

Ferguson knows how important stopping the run is in a division featuring Ricky Williams and Antowain Smith, and with the likes of Priest Holmes, Charlie Garner, Fred Taylor and Anthony Thomas on the schedule.

"We're just building up to it now," he said. "I won't get excited in preseason. I'll wait until the regular season."

Notes: Linebacker Marvin Jones went to the hospital after being struck in the throat during morning practice and losing his voice. He returned for the afternoon workout ... The Jets are concerned about the quality of their practice fields and Edwards said they are consulting "a field doctor."

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