CORTLAND – Jets wide receiver Santonio Holmes is not painting a positive picture for his return.

Holmes, who is recovering from a foot injury, said Monday that he still cannot run and does not know when he will be back.

“Right now, I can’t run,” Holmes said. “I continue to take it day by day and do the necessary things to get better.”

Holmes suffered a Lisfranc injury in his left foot on Sept 30, 2012. He’s had two surgeries on the foot. Asked if he thinks it’s realistic to believe he can play in the season opener in four weeks against the Buccaneers, Holmes said he’s not sure.

“I can’t really count that far ahead right now,” he said. “I have to go with the steps in front of me, which is getting better today, look forward to tomorrow working better than.”

ESPN reported over the weekend that some people close to the organization believe he is dragging out his rehab to avoid training camp practices.

“No comment,” Holmes said when asked about that.

Holmes has been working at catching passes from a Juggs machine the last few days and running a little after. He said that is progress.

“That’s all I can continue to do is get better each day and go through the necessary steps to get back to where I need to be,” Holmes said.