FOXBORO — Last Sunday, Jets' third-year cornerback Darelle Revis held Houston star receiver Andre Johnson in check, limiting Johnson — who recorded 115 catches last season — to just four grabs for 35 yards.

This Sunday, Revis will face another difficult challenge: Randy Moss.

The 24-year-old out of Pittsburgh has become one of the top young cornerbacks in the NFL in his brief career, earning a Pro Bowl berth last season. Paired with Lito Sheppard, a two-time Pro Bowler with the Eagles, New York puts one of the best cornerback tandems on the field this season.

"He's a very good player," Tom Brady said of Revis on Wednesday. "He's kind of got all the skills; he's got all the tools. He's big. He's got long arms. He's fast. He's quick. He's a very fluid athlete. He catches the ball well, he's got very good route recognition. He can play inside, he can play outside."

Listed at 5-foot-11, 198 pounds, Revis did well against Johnson, but Moss poses a different challenge for the 14th overall pick in the 2007 draft. As AFC East rivals, the Jets and Patriots meet twice a season, so Revis certainly has experience against Moss, but he likely will never forget his first game against the likely Hall of Famer.

In the first game of his rookie season, which was also Moss' first with New England, Moss blew past Revis, cornerback Jonathan Vilma, and two other defensive backs on his way to a beautiful 51-yard touchdown.

At the very least, his coach has every confidence he'll be fine against the 6-foot-4 speedster.

"I think everybody knows he's going to match up on Moss and hey, there's probably easier jobs than to play corner against those two guys (Moss and Johnson), but we're lucky, we're very fortunate, to have a young man that I think is the best corner in the league," Jets coach Rex Ryan said. "That doesn't mean that Randy Moss won't catch any balls because he caught 12 last week against a pretty good corner (the Bills' Terrence McGee), but …the thing that's scary with Moss is sometimes when he's covered he's still open because he's such a great athlete and in my opinion probably one of the best all-time vertical receivers in the game.

"So this is going to be a great challenge to Revis but it's also going to be a challenge to Randy as well."

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New England had 52 players on the field for Wednesday's practice session, which was held in shells (light pads) and shorts/sweatpants behind Gillette Stadium. The only player missing was Jerod Mayo; the second-year linebacker reportedly suffered an MCL injury in his right knee against Buffalo on Monday.

Matthew Slater, who had suffered a gruesome-looking injury to his left elbow on a kickoff return in the preseason finale, returned to the field.

The rest of New England's injury report: C Dan Connolly (back), WR Julian Edelman (ankle), LB Rob Ninkovich (calf), DL Myron Pryor (calf), LB Adalius Thomas (foot), WR Wes Welker (knee), CB Terrence Wheatley (knee) and Slater were all listed as limited participation; Brady (right shoulder) had full participation.

For the Jets, starting defensive lineman Kris Jenkins (back) and offensive lineman and former Patriot Damien Woody (illness), both limited, were the top players on the injury report.

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There will be several familiar faces in Jets' green on Sunday, including Woody, longtime Pats special teams captain Larry Izzo, and quarterback Kevin O'Connell, drafted by New England in 2008, released last month, and claimed off waivers by Detroit. But before O'Connell could get too comfortable with the Lions, he was traded to New York.

There was speculation that Ryan had brought O'Connell aboard to grill him for the Patriots' secrets, but on Wednesday the coach spoke highly of the former San Diego State Aztec, whom the team may be looking at as Mark Sanchez's backup.

"Well, we're going to release him after the game," Ryan joked, showing he'd heard the conspiracy theories. "We think he's got a chance to be a good quarterback. Our scouting department had a very high grade on O'Connell when he came out and we just thought it was an opportunity to pick up a good football player and that's what we did."

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Former Patriots Ray Ventrone and Billy Yates were both signed by the Cleveland Browns on Wednesday. Ventrone, a versatile player who learned safety and receiver while seeing extensive special teams time last year, was something of a surprise cut for New England this year; Yates is also very versatile, having played at all three interior offensive line spots in his time with the Patriots.

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Sunday is the 100th meeting between New York and New England, and the rivalry couldn't be any closer: the series is tied 49-49-1.

smanza@projo.com