David Bowens (or “Deebo” as his teammates call him) looked like Marshawn Lynch might have had some mind control on him early during the game against the Bills last week, but Bowens came back strong and played decently the rest of the game.  Bowens will start again on the inside in favor of the injured David Harris, who is recovering from groin surgery that took place earlier this week and expects to sideline him 2-3 weeks.

Bowens … started two games at outside linebacker for the Jets last season in his first year with the club. He moved to inside linebacker during training camp.

“It’s not like I haven’t [started] before,” Bowens said. “I did start at defensive end [before], so it’s nothing new. It’s just a different look and feel. It’s not like the preseason when I played middle linebacker and I was in for a series here and there. Now it’s the whole game.”

Bowens missed an assignment on the Bills’ first offensive play when Marshawn Lynch took a screen pass 42 yards, but made no major mistakes after that.

“I think I did OK,” Bowens said. “In the first part of the game they hit us with some big plays. Once we went to the sideline and corrected it, it was OK.”

“We trust D-Bo,” free safety Kerry Rhodes said. “He’s doing a good job and he’s also a smart guy.”

Bowens was one of the quiet but solid signings the Jets made in 2006, and he’s proven to be one of the team’s best utility players in the front seven.  In the past year and a half, he’s lined up all over the field, and has done well in his time with the team.  So far this season, Bowens already has 18 tackles, 3.5 sacks and 2 forced fumbles with just one start.

He’s not David Harris, but he’s going to be a fine replacement player while Harris gets healthy.

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