Forte exits after ‘cracking and popping’ in knee

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The Jets’ running game may have a different look over the next few weeks.

Starting running back Matt Forte left the game in the first quarter with a right knee injury. That opened the door for Bilal Powell, who had 179 yards from scrimmage.

Forte will undergo an MRI exam on Monday to determine what is wrong with his knee, but it could cost him time. He said the injury occurred on the second series of the game when he ran a toss play and hyperextended the knee.

“I felt a little weird,” Forte said. “I stayed in and wiggled it around. There was some swelling and clicking and popping on [the] outside of [the] knee.”

Forte had the doctors check the knee and they took him out of the game. Forte said there is no fear of a ligament tear, but the MRI will let them know what is going on.

“My ligaments are good,” Forte said. “It’s something to do with the clicking and popping that’s going on in there. I don’t know what that is, but they said all of my ligaments are intact.”

Forte was not the only injury the Jets suffered. Starting safety Marcus Gilchrist tore the patella tendon in his right knee on the opening kickoff of the second half. Gilchrist will need surgery and his season is over.

The Jets also lost cornerback Buster Skrine in the first half to a concussion and tight end Brandon Bostick in the second half with an ankle injury. Tackle Brent Qvale suffered a left hamstring injury in the fourth quarter

WR Brandon Marshall took a helmet to his hip in the fourth quarter, which forced him to the sideline for a few plays. He said he believes he will be fine.

Kicker Nick Folk’s game-tying, 50-yard field goal with 38 seconds left in the fourth quarter was his fourth game-tying field goal with less than two minutes remaining in the game since 2007, tied for second in the NFL, according to radar360.

“You want to be in that situation,” Folk said. “I have fun in those situations. That’s when I feel I’m at my best.”

With his 20-yard catch in the third quarter, Marshall passed the 12,000-yard mark for his career, the 25th player to pass that mark.