The US hasn't fought a war without air superiority, basically since the invention of the airplane (Well, maybe WWI) It forms the basis of our entire conventional military strategy, with few exceptions (spec ops and the silent service)
So I can't see us putting ground troops without air superiority if not outright supremacy. Which means, at minimum we clear the skies of enemy planes Which involves us patrolling airspace over Ukraine, which is reachable by Russia air defense operating within Russia's borders.(both what they consider Russia and what we consider Russia).
While we could do what you suggest, only deploy ground assets would be doable but it would be a domestic politcal disaster, when US troops get hit by the Russia air force/artillery that should have been destroyed if we hadn't held back the air force. And I doubt Putin / Russia would see the distinction, hell they even believe (or have been telling their citizens) "NATO troops are already in Ukraine" so we might as well go full bore