EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Eric Decker was ready to go at game time, but by the time the Jets trailed to the Bears at halftime, he felt a familiar tightness in his hamstring. The team's No. 1 wide receiver watched from the sideline as the Jets ultimately lost 27-19 to the Bears in a "Monday Night Football" game at MetLife Stadium.

"Just tightened up on me and wanted to be smart," Decker said. "A few plays and just decided it was best to step aside and pull myself out."

He ended with one catch for 19 yards. Decker said it was still sore before the start of the game, but wanted to play because he hasn't missed a regular-season game in his career.

"My mentality is I'm going to go if I can go," Decker said. "I gave it a try. We had good communication within the training staff and the coaching staff. I understand my body. I knew at that point it was the most I could do."

Jets coach Rex Ryan said the team never expected to play Decker fully; he had a game plan to preserve the hamstring.

"We were going to cut his reps way back and we did that," Ryan said.

Decker makes a huge difference when he's on the field. According to ESPN Stats & Info, Geno Smith's completion rate is 73.5 percent with Decker in the play, and 27.3 percent when he's on the sideline through the first two games.

"It's always difficult but I think we have enough guys who can get it done," Jets offensive lineman Willie Colon said. "It's never one guy that makes us lopsided. We could have run the ball better we could have protected the ball better There's a lot of things we could have done better we just didn't do it."

Jeremy Kerley stepped up in Decker's wake with seven catches for 81 yards and a touchdown. Rookie tight end Jace Amaro had a 43-yard catch. But Smith also threw two interceptions in addition to the touchdown pass to Kerley.

"Our game plan was to go out there and not play outside ourselves," Kerley said. "Just do the things we do well. I think we did that. We've just got to have less mistakes."

Then there was the red zone efficiency. The Jets scored just one touchdown in six trips.

"You go down there six times and you only come away with one score, that's not our brand of football," Colon said.

The Jets have a short week to prepare for the Lions, who will be the matchup next Sunday at 1 p.m. at MetLife -- with no guarantee that Decker will be game-ready. Linebacker Calvin Pace said a short week is no excuse.

"Nobody feels sorry for us so we've just got to come back to work," Pace said.