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At some point during Thursday night’s loss to the Patriots, Jets rookie cornerback Dee Milliner disappeared from the field.

After the game, coach Rex Ryan admitted that Milliner had been benched.

“This young man is going to be a tremendous player,” Ryan said, via quotes distributed by the team. “There is no doubt. But as I told him, I said, ‘You know, Dee. I want you to sit on the sidelines and I want you to watch’. And sometimes when you do that, it is the best thing for you. And so we replaced him with Kyle [Wilson] and [Darrin] Walls and that’s what we did. I am trying to win a game, and put in who I think has the best chance to win it. And the young man, like I said, he is going to be a great player. But at that time, I went with the veteran.”

Milliner said in the locker room after the game that he had no problem with the move.

“I was fine with it, he felt the need to make that decision,” Milliner said, via quotes distributed by the team. “I made a couple of mistakes, on a couple calls. I got benched before in college, for sort of the same thing.”

But not really sort of the same thing. In any other year, it would be no big deal. But Milliner, taken with the ninth overall pick in the 2013 draft, is the straight-line replacement for Darrelle Revis. If Milliner can’t stay on the field, he can’t begin to effectively replace Revis.

At least the Jets won’t have to worry about an early contract holdout from Milliner.