"The chances of Adalius Thomas donning a Jets uniform when the Patriots take on Gang Green in Week 2 are looking much greater than they did a week ago.

With linebacker Calvin Pace scheduled to have surgery on his broken right foot today and miss at least a month, it appears the Jets will be turning to Thomas to fill the void.

Jets coach Rex Ryan said yesterday that he had been in contact with Thomas, but stopped short of saying he would be signing the linebacker, who played for him in Baltimore.

"I'm not going to rule it out," Ryan said . "If we're going to do it, we'd rather do it sooner than later. But there are still some other factors involved. . . . We don't want to bring 'AD' in here and not have a roster spot for him. Right now, I can't say specifically that he would be on our team."

Thomas said in an e-mail to the Herald: "I did talk with (Rex). Hopefully, we will know something soon.""