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David Harris does not have to worry about hearing those trade rumors anymore. He's become too valuable for the Jets to even think about dealing him, and Rex Ryan said as much Sunday after the third-year linebacker led the defense in holding off the Titans at the Meadowlands.

"There is no question that he is a Pro Bowl player. We've known that. You guys always say he's mentioned in trade deal," Ryan said. "That's one guy, I promise, is not going to be in any trade."

Harris' efforts Sunday helped the Jets hang on for a 24-17 win and their first 3-0 start since 2004.

After the Jets' defense showed some vulnerability for the first time this year, coughing up an early 14-point lead, the offense got things going again with 10 straight points to restore a one-touchdown edge. And with the Titans driving in the fourth quarter, Harris helped preserve the victory with his first career interception. On Tennessee's last-ditch drive, Harris' sack of Kerry Collins was a crushing blow.

"After halftime we knew we had to come out and play better," Harris said. "In the first half we didn't play as fundamentally sound as we should have. In the second half we tried to eliminate that. We tried to give them as much pressure as we could."

Harris' sack was the only one the Jets had in the second half, but that didn't mean that the pressure didn't get to Collins, who completed just 15 of 37 passes for 170 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.

The Jets' defense did its best work on Collins in the final quarter - the veteran quarterback was 0-for-10. The only pass he threw that was caught was the one that Harris hauled in at the Jets' 29 and returned 14 yards.

"In the first quarter, he threw a ball right by my head in almost the same defense," Harris said. "This time, I was reading his eyes and he threw it right to me."

Ryan, a former defensive coordinator, took notice of Harris' effort.

"He's a tremendous guy," Ryan said of Harris. "When you put that combination of him and Bart Scott in there together, I'll take that group over any group in the league."

BY Kristie Ackert
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
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