"Kerry Rhodes may or may not have won his starting job back, but what's for certain is that the NFL disciplined him Friday.

The league fined the Jets safety $5,000 for throwing the ball into the stands after his first of two interceptions in last Sunday's win over Carolina, Rhodes' first game since his demotion.

Rhodes believes that two games after being pulled from the starting lineup, he has earned his starting spot back.

"Yeah, I think so. I don't want to say it's concrete, because I don't know," said Rhodes, who lost his spot to Eric Smith. "But that's pretty much it."

Rex Ryan, however, was noncommittal Friday, a day after the Jets' win over Buffalo in Toronto.

"I will let it play out," Ryan said. "We'll see what happens."

Rhodes, who had struggled all season, made huge plays in Sunday's victory, but on Thursday night his biggest was a missed tackle on the play that set up the Bills' only touchdown. He finished with one tackle.

On Tuesday, Rhodes finally met with defensive backs coach Dennis Thurman, who mentored such standouts as Ronnie Lott, Ed Reed, Troy Polamalu and Rod Woodson.

"Why anybody wouldn't take advantage of that is beyond me," said Ryan, who pushed for Rhodes to meet with Thurman. "I don't want Kerry Rhodes to be average. I want Kerry Rhodes to be great. If he has that ability and maybe I'm not quite seeing it, then I am laying it out there to him. I want him to meet with Dennis Thurman.""