EXHIBITION GAME

Losing the game was bad enough. Losing one of their best players, Jason Sehorn, for the season was much worse for the New York Giants.

Sehorn tore up his right knee returning the opening kickoff Thursday night, costing the Giants one of the league’s premier cover men. Then the Giants blew a 10-point lead and fell to their local rivals, the New York Jets, 27-23, at East Rutherford, N.J.

Dedric Ward caught a short pass from Vinny Testaverde and turned it into an 81-yard touchdown play to give the Jets the winning points with 3:10 left in the third quarter.

Sehorn tore ligaments in his knee returning the opening kickoff, the first kick he has run back in his five-year career. He will undergo surgery within 10 days.

Moments later, Charles Way, one of the league’s most versatile fullbacks, sprained his left ankle and left the game.

AFC / Green Lost Again; Bowens Ends Holdout

The Miami Dolphins got the bad news before getting the good.

Receiver Yatil Green, who missed all of his rookie season because of a knee injury, will be sidelined this season as well after the graft from his previous surgery gave out, officials said in Davie, Fla.

Green ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee Wednesday while running a pass route in practice. It was the third injury to the knee in 13 months.

“I am disappointed in this setback for Yatil,” said Coach Jimmy Johnson, who chose Green 15th in the first round of the 1997 NFL draft. “He had worked hard for the past year to put himself in position to be a significant contributor to our 1998 season.”

Trainer Kevin O’Neill said doctors would use a different type of graft in the next surgery, which was not immediately scheduled.

The good news came when defensive tackle Tim Bowens ended a four-week holdout by accepting the Dolphins’ tender offer and pledging to work on a long-term agreement.

Bowens, designated Miami’s “franchise” player in February, will play for $2.88 million in 1998. Under league rules, the Dolphins had to offer Bowens the average of the five highest-paid players at his position. Bowens had sought about $5 million per season.

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The New England Patriots solidified their defensive future by signing middle linebacker Ted Johnson to a five-year, $25-million contract extension. Johnson, who had been scheduled to earn $403,000 this season in the final year of his previous contract, received a guaranteed signing bonus of $8 million, his agent, Jack Mills, said. . . . Earl Holmes, who established himself as one of the NFL’s most productive inside linebackers in his first season as a starter last year, signed a three-year contract extension worth $7 million with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The deal includes a signing bonus of at least $1 million.

NFC / Injury Jeopardizes Shuler’s Career

New Orleans Saint quarterback Heath Shuler, a first-round draft pick four years ago, waited for a doctor’s decision that could end his season, if not his disappointing career.

Shuler flew from the Saints training camp in La Crosse, Wis., to Birmingham, Ala., to have his injured left foot examined by orthopedist Dr. James Andrews.

The foot has continued to bother Shuler since he had surgery in December to remove crushed bones and repair torn ligaments.

Similar foot injuries ended the careers of former NFL running backs Larry Csonka and Calvin Hill.