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STS*: Baker Ready to Provide Field Position If Called On

Field position is always so important on special teams, and Josh Baker contributed two chunks of yards to the Jets’ FP in Sunday’s conquest of the Redskins.

“What was that, my second kickoff return?” Baker asked me about his 29-yard runback to set the table around midfield for the first of the Jets’ three fourth-quarter touchdown drives. “I’m no longer a rookie. I’m a vet.”

Actually, it was his third. Baker, the undrafted free agent TE, has now touched the ball four times as a pro and positive yardage has always happened. Three of the touches have been kickoff returns. He took a pop-fly kickoff from the Dolphins 16 yards to the Jets 34 in his first appearance in the green and white. Two weeks later he ran a short kick by the Patriots 15 yards, also to the Jets 34.

Having gotten his feet wet, he was ready to put his stamp on the contest at FedEx.

“Going into the game, if they’ve shown that they’ve popped it up before, even one time throughout the season, then it’s brought to our attention and we will practice it,” Baker said. “There’ll be a rep or two just because we know they’ve done it before, and I believe the Redskins had done it before.”

Having just taken their last lead at 16-13, the ‘Skins were playing it safe, or so they thought, in keeping it away from Antonio Cromartie, who had dropped into the end zone in place of the sore-elbowed Joe McKnight for Graham Gano’s kick. The ball flew high and short to the Jets 20, where Shake-’n'-Bake was waiting for it.

“I think when you have a weapon like Joe McKnight or Cro back there deep, it does make teams think about doing different things,” head coach Rex Ryan said. “And obviously with Baker, if you kick it to the 20, we’re in business. Mike Westhoff and I had a plan, anticipating something like this, and when it happens, you have to make it happen and that’s exactly what Baker did.”

The only thing Baker didn’t make happen was a missed tackle by the kicker. Gano took him down by the Redskins bench at the Jets 49.

“I just saw the hole and hit it. I wish I’d have made a move on the kicker. It was near the sideline but I’ve got to make him miss.”

Did he get grief from his teammates over that tackle?

“Not as much as from my parents. My dad, I got a few comments from him. He’s my No. 1 hater,” Baker said, assuring that his father, Kevin, gave him the business in a loving way.

Above, we said Baker provided two chunks of yardage. The first one most people probably never saw because CBS’ long camera shot of T.J. Conley’s second-quarter punt swung immediately away from the line of scrimmage to Brandon Banks’ fair catch didn’t stay at the line of scrimmage. But you can see a quick view of the Jets’ right wingman on the punt protect team for some reason being thrown to the ground by Washington third-year LB Rob Jackson, in plain view of ref John Parry’s crew.

That wingman was Baker. Instead of the Redskins getting field position similar to the spot that Baker gave the Jets two quarters later, at their 49, they started at their 39.

Who’s to say if that was a big reason for the ‘Skins moving 8 yards and then punting, and then the Jets moving 57 yards to Nick Folk’s first field goal? But every yard helps.

And perhaps the Jets are forcing Sunday’s foe, the Chiefs at MetLife Stadium, to pick their poison. Last week Ryan Succop and the Chiefs faced Devin Hester and the Bears. On their two kickoffs in their 10-3 win, the Chiefs gave up a return to the CHI-34 and had a kickoff out of bounds.

If Baker is called on to provide a similar short field this week, he’s veteran-ready.

*Special Teams Saturday.

Defense’s Emphasis on PDs Paid Off at Washington

PDs can be Pretty Darn Slippery. Sometimes a team can get a lot of pass defenses in a game and get scorched through the air. Sometimes it can get only a couple and still shut down the other team’s passing game.

But for the Jets on Sunday, their unofficial total of 13 PDs actually was quite impressive and in keeping with the quality of their pass defense against the Redskins. And two of the cornerbacks who had a few of those PDs told me in the locker room today that the showing was no accident.

“We did a great job last week,” said Antonio Cromartie, who had one of his best games of the year. “We got a lot of tipped balls, even from our front line, and our linebackers were getting their hands on passes. Nothing’s really changed for us. It’s just being a lot more aggressive.”

“Overall, we’re really just playing our techniques. Coach [Mike Pettine] is calling the plays and we’re going out and executing to the best of our ability,” said Kyle Wilson, who came up with the late interception, the second pick of his career, off of Donald Strickland’s deflection. “When the ball’s in the air, we’re attacking it. That’s definitely been a point of emphasis the last few weeks and I think we’re doing a better job of it.”

How good? Just in terms of unofficial numbers, the Jets have had only one other game in the last 15 seasons in which they had as many as 13 PDs. That was in 1999, when they flew to pre-Tebow Denver off of a season-opening three-game losing streak and picked off Brian Griese and Bubby Brister five times in their 21-13 come-from-behind win. S Victor Green and LB Mo Lewis each had three PDs that day.

On Sunday, the Jets spread the wealth around, with Jim Leonhard, David Harris, Cromartie and Strickland each getting two defenses apiece. Sione Pouha and Muhammad Wilkerson each batted down a Rex Grossman pass behind the line.

Interestingly, Darrelle Revis had no PDs but that’s probably because Grossman was wary of the Island. Revis much of the game was covering WR Jabar Gaffney, who was targeted only three times by the ‘Skins QB and had no catches.

The Jets almost had a first-half interception when Brodney Pool snared a Grossman overthrow, but Strickland’s illegal contact on TE Fred Davis wiped it out. But the play seemed to underscore the renewed stress on the defense.

“We’re just trying to emphasize getting more and more turnovers,” Cro added, “to give our offense more opportunities to score.”

Wilson’s pick didn’t produce points, but the first second-half fumble recovery led to a Nick Folk field goal try (his only miss, from 40 yards out) and the second FR led two plays later to Shonn Greene’s second TD run of the game.

Even with the reminders from head coach Rex Ryan, Pettine and DBs coach Dennis Thurman, were coming off of three low-PD games — seven breakups and no picks combined in the New England-Denver-Buffalo stretch. So was Washington a one-off or the start of a trend? We’ll know more when first-year QB Tyler Palko, sore-fingered vet Kyle Orton and the Chiefs’ receivers pay a visit this Sunday.

Blackjacking the Redskins

That touchdown, by the way, was part of one of the quickest streaks to 21 points in franchise history. In a note that we first reported in our E-blast to season ticket holders and subscribers Wednesday, the Mark Sanchez-to-Santonio Holmes TD pass and Greene’s two TDs all came in a span of 3:02, which is the shortest amount of clock time the Jets have used to score three times since at least 1980.

The quickest had been the 3:29 span of the third quarter at Buffalo in Game 4 of the 2010 season, during which the Jets hung up 21 points on the Bills in their 38-14 victory. Quickest before that was 1985 Game 9 at Indianapolis (3:43).

Rex Cetera

Ryan’s take today on the Jets’ mentality heading into the Chiefs:

“There’s a sense of urgency, without question. But it’s just a purpose, a focus. That’s where we’re at. We know what’s at stake. We have to win this game. There’s all the scenarios in the world, three out of four might get us in, but there’s no scenarios where you can lose an AFC game. We have to win our two remaining AFC games and we’ll worry about all the other stuff later. We know we have to win this game. With that understanding, it’s dialed up our intensity and focus.”

Mike Westhoff said he isn’t ruling Jeremy Kerley out of returning punts Sunday, although he acknowledges along with Ryan that Jim Leonhard has the experience and sure-handedness the coaches like. Westhoff put much of the blame for that muff not on Kerley but on Washington’s Niles Paul getting through two Jets and blasting Kerley almost as soon as he touched the ball. … Westhoff said if Joe McKnight can’t return kickoffs due to his elbow, Antonio Cromartie is next up and Kerley behind Cro.

Injury Pictures

G Brandon Moore sat out his second practice of the week but Ryan is still not worried about his availability for the Chiefs. “No, I feel good about Brandon,” the coach said. “How many starts in a row does he have? It’s over 100, I know. He can probably miss a practice or two.”

DT Mike DeVito also sat out his second practice and is less certain to be ready for Kansas City. Safety Eric Smith (knee), DT Marcus Dixon (hip) and RB-KR Joe McKnight (elbow) were all limited for team drills at today’s practice. LB David Harris (ankle) and CB Ellis Lankster (low back), who weren’t full-go Wednesday, practiced full today.

The Chiefs’ slim report added a fourth body today when LB Jovan Belcher (shoulder) was listed as limited for team drills. QB Kyle Orton and C Casey Wiegmann also remained limited and LB Demorrio Williams probable.

STS*: Bellore, Teams Await Latest Westhoff Message

Rookie Nick Bellore has enjoyed playing under innovative Jets special teams coordinator Mike Westhoff. He looks forward to the weekly speech Westhoff delivers to the unit the night before the game.

“He always tells a story and he’ll usually allude to history lessons,” Bellore said this week as he interacted with Jets Nation on a live chat. “He’ll be like, ‘Oh, there was this guy named Abraham Lincoln. He was a pretty good leader the last time I checked.’ It will be something like that, always a reference to some historical happening and he relates it somehow to football. We’re not always sure how, but he always manages to get it there.”

You wonder what the lesson will be tonight at a Washington area hotel as the Jets finalize their preparations for the Redskins. The Green & White have turned the ball over seven times the past three games and a trifecta have come on special teams.

“The turnovers are huge — we can’t do that,” Bellore said. “We also gave up a pretty big return against Denver that hurt us and that’s uncharacteristic of us. We’re looking forward to improve on that.”

“I think our guys have very good hands,” said Westhoff. “I’m used to going the whole season with no turnovers. We catch everything in practice.”

Joe McKnight was victimized by a punt fumble in the Week 10 loss to the Pats and then he lost the ball on a kick return in the Week 11 defeat to the Broncos. Last weekend Antonio Cromartie couldn’t handle a punt and the ball went the other way to the Bills.

While the Jets survived against Buffalo with a minus-2 turnover differential, they have won just four of 16 games under Rex Ryan in which they have lost the turnover battle. The Cromartie fumble overshadowed another solid effort from Westhoff’s crew.

“I thought we played a very, very good game but unfortunately it gets marred by such an error and it’s just dropping the football,” Westhoff said. “You can’t do that — you can’t do that on any level. It’s very frustrating.”

While Cromartie will still be available when called upon, McKnight is the team’s No. 1 kickoff returner and still leads the NFL with a 34.7-yard average. Jeremy Kerley, who missed the past two games with a knee injury, is expected to be in uniform Sunday and is expected to handle most if not all punt-return duties.

On the other side of the ball, the Jets will attempt to contain Redskins return man Brandon Banks. Bellore, who was the only unrestricted free agent to make the team out of training camp, leads the coverage units with 19 stops (14 solo).

“You just try to get down there as fast as possible. We have some guys that are really fast,” he said. “I think I’m pretty fast, so I just try to keep up with those guys. And once you get down there, keep your head on a swivel because there are always guys coming. So just try to break down and make the tackle.”

Bellore has made a lot of them so far and he wants to keep Westhoff happy.

“It’s huge learning from someone who has so much experience, has kind of seen it all and had a bunch of players. He knows what works and you know what he expects out of you,” said the Central Michigan product. “It’s a learning process every day. I remember the first day of camp I was a little nervous going in the meeting and you’re kind of nervous to mess up because he knows what he’s talking about and he knows what he wants to see. If you don’t do that, you can’t really be his guy.

“It’s kind of striving every day to do what he wants and please him. If you do that, he rewards you. And if not, you hear about it.”

*Special Teams Saturday

Jets Need to Be Quick Studies for Tebow, Broncs

With Tim Tebow at the offensive controls, the Denver Broncos have taken the “Ground & Pound” approach to a whole new level.

“If you look at last week, I think they ran the ball 55 times and only threw eight,” Jets CB Antonio Cromartie said of the Broncos’ 17-10 triumph over the Chiefs. “I think for them, that’s one of their strong points. They lost two of their running backs — one to an ACL tear and we don’t know what’s going on with Willis McGahee.”

With Knowshon Moreno out for the season, the Broncos elevated RB Jeremiah Johnson from their practice squad to fill the vacancy. McGahee, who is their leading rusher with 640 yards and an impressive average of 5.0 yards a carry, hopes to return to the lineup Thursday after departing early in Week 10 action due to a hamstring injury. Lance Ball, a Teaneck, N.J., native in his third pro season, rushed 30 times for 96 yards as the Broncos amassed 244 yards on the ground against the Chiefs.

But everything starts with Tebow. Since taking over as the starter following a Week 6 bye, the Broncos have averaged 41 rushes and 24 passing attempts per game. And they’ve found a way to win games, going on a 3-1 run to put them right in the thick of the muddled AFC West.

“It’s similar to some of the stuff they did at college when he was at the University of Florida,” said Cromartie. “It’s things that helped him to be the player he was in college and he’s helping him right now.”

The Broncos specialize in the read option attack, taking advantage of the former Heisman Trophy winner’s running prowess. The Jets are a disciplined defensive football team and they must play sound assignment football in the high altitude.

“If you’re taking the ball, take the dive,” says DL Marcus Dixon. “Don’t hesitate, don’t think about anything, just take the dive. Trust that your teammates will do their jobs as well. But that’s our defense completely — trust that everyone will do their jobs. We are not worried about what they do.”

One of the few bright spots that came out of Week 10 for the Jets was that the defense held the more conventional New England attack to just 60 yards rushing on 28 attempts. But the Pats won largely due to the fact that Tom Brady was tremendous through the air, and it would be beneficial this week to get Tebow into passing situations.

“Tebow is a guy who can run the ball — a strong runner,” said Cro of the second-year QB who is coach John Fox’s second-leading rusher and is averaging 6.7 yards per carry. “He’s not as much an accurate passer, but the style of offense they’re playing, they’re winning ballgames.”

While Tebow’s TD-to-INT ratio of 7 to 1 is impressive, he is completing just 44.8 percent of his passes and he’s been sacked 14 times.

“When the chance comes of us getting a pass, we just have to take advantage of the opportunity,” Cromartie said. “We just have to play with our eyes and play what we see.”

The film in the defensive line meeting room on Monday featured the Broncos’ run game. The big guys know everything will fall into place if Tebow is taken out of his comfort zone.

“Up front, we watched a lot of run plays. Passing comes second to us up front,” Dixon said. “You stop the run and then you get to the quarterback on the way.”

Tebow has had difficulty recognizing coverages, but he continues to ace his reading examinations on the pro level.

“He looks to read the outside guy. He’s going to read and see if the guy is going to bite on the dive game. If he dives in, then he’s going to keep it,” Dixon said. “If you kind of hesitate, then he might give it to him and let him hit the hole. It’s a quarterback read play.”

The Jets want to close the book on Tebow’s feelgood story in Denver.

Plax on His Back: ‘I’ll Be Ready to Go Sunday’

Injuries are a bullet point on the Jets agenda today, only because of the three players who didn’t practice again. One is the Jets’ hottest wide receiver, another is the NFL’s leading kickoff returner and the third is a key man in the defense’s safety rotation. And the Patriots loom over the horizon.

Plaxico Burress, whose lower back acted up a week ago Wednesday, spent his second day this week not participating in team drills or any drills, instead getting treatment. Considering he’s coming off his three-TD game vs. San Diego and his five catches on all five balls targeted for him for 79 yards at Buffalo, and his sometimes achy body, this could be a concern.

Except that Rex and Plax say it’s not.

“It feels good,” Burress said in front of his locker. “I’m making progress. … I missed yesterday and today. I’ll be out there tomorrow and be ready to go Sunday.”

“I just feel confident he’ll be ready to roll,” said head coach Rex Ryan at his daily news conference.

Joe McKnight, he of the league-leading 40.2-yard kickoff-return average, has a toe has been an issue this week, but he was on the field today, just not participating in team drills.

“McKnight is more of a wait-and-see,” Ryan said.

Pool is the player Rex is most concerned about. The safety went to the Ralph Wilson turf on the second play of Sunday’s game with a knee injury after he was cut by a Bills receiver. He played most of the rest of the way but the knee isn’t in tip-top shape yet. It’s not welcome news when the Jets’ tallest safety might not be available for the Patriots’ tall, talented tights, Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.

“I’m a little concerned with Brodney. I’m not sure right now if he’ll go,” Ryan said, adding that Pool has “done a tremendous job for us. I love having those three guys. It’s like having three starter with Brodney Eric [Smith] and Jimmy [Leonhard] playing together now for a second year. They really do a great job communicating with each other. They’re all excellent players.”

“I’m just taking it one day at a time,” Pool said. “I feel better now than I did Sunday. But it’s just the type of injury that you want to be 100 percent sure about so you can go out there and perform.”

If Pool has to sit, Emanuel Cook will see time on the defense with Smith and Leonhard. If McKnight can’t return kicks, Ryan and Mike Westhoff will return to Antonio Cromartie, their kickoff man for Games 1, 2 and most of 3. If Burress … but he and the coach said there are no buts about it.

Other Injury Updates

DT Marcus Dixon and LB Josh Mauga were both limited again today but Ryan expects both to play. There are now 16 players in all listed on the Jets’ I-report with the addition of three finger injuries today, to Cromartie, Wayne Hunter and Sione Pouha. All three practiced fully.

The Patriots’ report today is identical to Wednesday’s: Four not practicing, including LB Brandon Spikes and S Patrick Chung; nine limited, including WR Wes Welker, RBs BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Kevin Faulk, and LB Jerod Mayo.

Rex Cetera

Ryan on OC Brian Schottenheimer and the Jets’ red zone offense: “Schotty I think is doing a great job. The extended offseason probably helped us, gave us time and we really studied hard and looked at the teams that were at their best. We had several coaches come in — Tom Moore we’ve talked about — but Schotty’s done a super job preparing our team in the red zone.”

One more measure of that success: In the last four games the Jets have scored nine touchdowns on 13 RZ trips, a 69.2 percent success rate. The last time the Jets had a better four-game stretch inside the opponents’ 20 was 2004, a 6-for-8, 75 percent performance that also ran from Games 5-8 and also ended with a game at Buffalo.

Nick Folk nailed a 58-yard field goal with room to spare to end today’s practice. Folk said he hit his first miss of the season, from 50 yards toward Buffalo’s West end zone, aiming at the same spot that he did when he had driven through his 49-yarder just two minutes of clock time earlier. But the breezes had turned into more of a crosswind in just that small amount of time and Folk’s kick just sailed wide right. But Folk is still 10-for-10 from under 50 and will seek to extend that if called on at MetLife Stadium on Sunday night.

Moore, the longtime OC for Indianapolis and Peyton Manning before becoming a Jets consultant this year, will be recognized by the Colts for his contributions prior to their game Sunday against the Jaguars. … Marty Lyons, Sack Exchange member and radio analyst of the Jets, will be honored by the Heisman Trophy Trust as the recipient of the 2011 Heisman Humanitarian Award. The award, to be presented Dec. 12 during the Heisman Trophy awards dinner, comes with a $50,000 charitable donation to the Marty Lyons Foundation.

Harris Is a Hit: Named AFC Defensive POW

Updated, 4:13 p.m. ET

“The Hitman” is hot. David Harris is on a roll.

One day after we reported that Harris was named to PFW’s Midseason All-Pro Team, Harris picked up another honor today when the NFL announced that the Jets’ middle linebacker has been named the AFC Defensive Player of the Week.

Harris had a productive day at Buffalo in the Jets’ 27-11 triumph over the Bills. His leap-tip-and-grab interception took away promising field position from the Bills late in the second quarter, and he added two quarterback hits on Ryan Fitzpatrick and was in on a tackle for loss of Fred Jackson. He finished with five tackles on the game.

Still, he told reporters after today’s practice, this was an unexpected shoutout from the league.

“Rex told everybody at the meeting this morning,” Harris said. “I had no idea I was even up for it. But it just shows the overall effort of our defense as a unit. I just think we came out of the locker room fast on Sunday and jumped on them.”

This is Harris’ second career Player of the Week honor. He also took the award after the 2009 opening-day 24-7 win over the Texans at Houston, Rex Ryan’s inaugural game as Jets head coach. He was also was named the AFC Rookie of the Month for November 2007.

Harris is appreciative of the recognition but fully aware of its limits.

“It’s not going to help me play better this week,” he said. “I’m pretty sure [Patriots LG] Logan Mankins isn’t going to let up on me because I won it.”

It’s also the Jets defense’s third POW award this season and its second in the past three games. Antonio Cromartie won the title after his showing vs. Jacksonville in Game 2, and Darrelle Revis was similarly rewarded his Week 6 primetime effort against the Dolphins.

The news from “New England Week” before practice at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Complex was that the building lost power late this morning due to power-company treework that brought down a wire that took down electrical feeds in the Florham Park area and specifically to the complex. But the outage didn’t affect the team and it came back on while the players were out at today’s practice on the grass fields in the early afternoon.

‘Slugger,’ ‘Mayhem’ Give Pass Rush a Spark

Update, 7:30 p.m. ET

The Jets may be getting their pass-rushing inspiration these days from non-football on the television. For Calvin Pace it’s Albert Pujols. For Aaron Maybin it may be Dean Winters.

“I needed that, man,” said Pace about his two-sack smackdown of Matt Moore and the Dolphins on Monday night. “Sacks are one of those things that come in bunches. I had to get off the schneid, so to say. I’m a home run hitter but I’d been striking out a little bit. I had to hit a couple of homers.”

Pace told me before the Dallas season opener that 10-plus sacks were in his sights this season. He promptly got a takedown of Tony Romo, but then a couple of more sacks just eluded his grasp in the ensuing weeks. Now that he’s back on track, he can enjoy the Jets’ practices during the day this week as they get ready to chase down Philip Rivers and the Chargers, and at night he can sit back and enjoy Pujols and the Cardinals’ World Series quest that begins tonight against the Texas Rangers.

As for Winters, you may not recall the name but you probably remember his most recent role as “Mayhem” on the Allstate car insurance spots. So does Maybin.

“That’s always been my favorite commercial,” said the Jets’ lightning-fast linebacker. “But I’ve had that nickname since I was at Penn State. It started off almost like a joke. I think Joe [Paterno] called me that by mistake one time when I was a freshman and it kind of stuck. The guys on the team never let me forget.”

And now Jets head coach Rex Ryan won’t let him forget.

“He’s been calling me Mayhem for a while,” Maybin said. “He finally dubbed me Mayhem in the locker room.”

Meanwhile, on the field, Maybin is making up for lost time. He got the first sack of his three-year pro career in the Sunday night game at Baltimore. A quiet New England game was followed up by his come-from-behind style as he poked the ball loose from Reggie Bush’s grasp late in the second quarter, then got his second strip sack of the year late in the fourth against Moore.

Both balls skittered out of bounds so the Dolphins retained possession, but Mayhem … er, Maybin is hardly discouraged.

“Obviously, that’s the goal, that’s what you’re coming in trying to do. You try to create a big play on defense that might be able to get a spark that might turn the game around,” he said. “If we keep on coming and keep on swinging, eventually those balls are going to start rolling our way.”

The combination of Pace, Maybin, David Harris, Bart Scott, Jamaal Westerman and the rest of the Green & White QB chasers has done some interesting work lately. With four sacks of Moore following four sacks of Tom Brady, the Jets now have 17 sacks. That’s tied for third-most in the NFL (with 12 teams having played only five games, not six) and the sack rate (pass plays per sack) is fifth.

Naturally this doesn’t mean the jury is done deliberating on the quality of the Jets’ pass rush. They could have used more than the one second-half sack of Brady while he was directing four scoring drives (two TDs, two FGs) in the 30-21 win. And if any of their Monday night sacks had come in the first half, perhaps that would have slowed the ‘Fins down even more.

But suffice it to say the Jets are crashing the other team’s pocket with some more regularity lately.

“I can’t do it without the rest of my guys,” said Pace, whose emergence as a 10-sack monster would be a most welcome development over the final 10 regular-season games. “The secondary played great, we had some young guys come in and play well up front. So it was a total team effort.”

More such team efforts will be needed, especially in the next three games against Rivers, Buffalo’s hot Ryan Fitzpatrick after the bye, and then back to Brady at home four Sundays from now.

Rex Cetera

Ryan’s first injury report of the week was not overly alarming although six players did not practice in team drills in the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center fieldhouse today due to the steady daylong rain in North Jersey.

CB Antonio Cromartie, who came out of the Dolphins game with a groin pull, rested, as did C Nick Mangold (ankle), DT Ropati Pitoitua (knee), CB Isaiah Trufant (hamstring) and WR Logan Payne (wrist). RB LaDainian Tomlinson was a non-injury DNP. And utility man Joe McKnight had a knee issue that had him limited.

“I think they’ll be limited during the week because we just played Monday,” Ryan said of Cromartie and Mangold. “We’ll see how they progress, but I expect them both to play.”

For the Chargers, DE Luis Castillo (tibia), the Garfield, N.J., product, did not participate in today’s practice. TE Antonio Gates (foot), WR Vincent Jackson (hmstring) and CB Marcus Gilchrist were limited. And RB Michael Tolbert (concussion) and DE Jacques Cesaire (knee) went full.

Balanced Pats Attack Too Much for Jets

The Jets defense had a number of good moments Sunday against the Patriots, but Tom Brady and the hosts still managed to amass 446 yards and score 30 points in their victory at Gillette Stadium. And after the visitors closed the gap to 27-21 with 7:14 remaining, the defense couldn’t get off the field.

Brady was sacked four times and Antonio Cromartie was on the receiving end of the first home red zone interception of the future Hall of Famer’s career. Despite solid coverage on many plays, Brady threw for 321 yards and one touchdown. The Pats showcased a balance they didn’t have last season, getting 136 yards and two TDs from BenJarvus Green-Ellis and totaling 152 yards on the ground.

“We’ve got to stop with the mental mistakes, from the D-line to the linebackers to the secondary,” said CB Darrelle Revis, a defensive captain. “We’ve got to tighten those things down.”

Wes Welker’s 32-yard reception down the middle got the Pats going in the first and then they turned to the run as Green-Ellis ripped off three consecutive 8-yard runs before going in from 3 yards to open the scoring.

A pair of penalties — an unnecessary roughness infraction on Nick Bellore following a punt and an illegal contact third-down flag on Kyle Wilson — allowed the Pats to tack on a field goal in the second stanza after an 18-yard drive.

“That’s an excellent football team and we’ve got to be smarter,” said head coach Rex Ryan. “We have got to play smarter. You know if you make mistakes against that football team, they burn you. I mean they absolutely kill you. And they don’t need any help, you know, with the offense they have.”

After 12 first downs and 192 yards of total offense in the first half, the Pats went to intermission with only 10 points. Brady had the Pats deep inside Jets territory in the final seconds and threw a solid pass that TE Aaron Hernandez couldn’t handle. Cromartie happily picked the ball out of the air and the Green & White escaped trouble.

DT Ropati Pitoitua and LBs Jamaal Westerman and David Harris each had first-half sacks, but a Revis holding penalty took a Donald Strickland takedown of Brady off the board.

The Pats were able to put up 20 points in the second half and Welker (five receptions, 124 yards) got them started again. He took an inside route on Revis and kept on going vertical past S Eric Smith in the process. Brady delivered and Welker went for 73.

“It kind of looked like one of those I-got-him-you-take-him’s. Obviously in that defense, you know, we expect the runner to take a shot, but we never had anybody deep,” Ryan said. “I mean, that’s obvious to everybody in here.”

“I was on him a couple of times and a couple of other people were also on him,” said Revis of Welker. “We were just trying to give them a mixture of things. He made a couple of great plays today, especially with the big one. It was like he was going across the field and got us on a double move and he was gone up the field.”

Another red zone takeaway was nullified when replay officials ruled Deion Branch was down by contact after a catch instead of a fumble recovery for the Jets. That set up Brady to a wide-open Branch for a 2-yard score. It was Brady’s 257th TD of his career, tying former Jets QB Vinny Testaverde for eighth place all-time.

Following consecutive three-and-outs and with the score 17-14, Brady got the Pats’ next scoring drive going with a 17-yard toss to Rob Gronkowski on third-and-13. An 11-play, 77-yard possession was culminated on another Green-Ellis 3-yard run and it was 24-14. The Patriots converted seven of 14 on third down today against a defense that entered Week 5 tied for first in the NFL on third-down conversions at 26 percent.

Welker’s 25-yard punt return late in the third set up the Pats at the Jets 25, but the defense stiffened and held the Patriots to another field goal. After the Jets cut the lead to just 27-21 with 7:19 left, the defense broke and Green-Ellis did most of the damage with 10 carries for 59 yards on an agonizing final possession. A direct snap to “the Law Firm” on third-and-4 from the Jets 46 resulted in a 14-yard gain and it really was the backbreaker.

“The defense at the end, we have to get off the field,” said DT Mike DeVito. “We know that.”

“We didn’t do a good job of winning our one-on-one battles,” Cromartie said.

Westerman, who started in place of Bryan Thomas, had two sacks of Brady. But a third straight defeat overall did not sit well with anyone.

“It felt good at the time,” he said of those two sacks. “But when the clock struck zeroes at the end of the game, all that good feeling kind of disappeared.”

Offensive Game Plan for the Patriots? Win

Rex Ryan certainly laid it out there Monday, using some variation of the phrase “We have to run the ball better” in 12 of his sentences at his day-after news conference.

But it might be premature to think that means the Jets will be gunning for 50 carries or bust at Gillette Stadium against the Patriots on Sunday. The Jets’ locker room today offered variations of a slightly different theme.

“You can’t be one-dimensional,” said RB Shonn Greene. “We’ve got to spread some things out with the passing game. We’ll mix things up a little bit.”

“The biggest thing for us as a team,” said CB Antonio Cromartie, “is to go up there with the right mindset and come out with a win.”

Then there’s center Nick Mangold, who is giving signs that he’ll be able to return vs. the Pats from his high ankle sprain. What about this potential return to “Ground & Pound,” he was asked.

“I think there needs to be a return to winning. Whatever that is, passing the ball, running the ball, I don’t care what it is. We need to get back to winning.”

Sounds like winning is the game plan. Will the offense, though, be 70/30 run/pass or 70/30 pass/run? Seems like everyone’s got an opinion but no one’s really saying. As Bill Parcells always used to say, “You’re gonna have to come to the game to find out, fellas.”

“I’m not sure how the game plan is going to pan out,” said TE Dustin Keller. “But one thing I know from last year’s playoff game is that everybody’s going to be vital. If that’s passing to the tight end? Great/ The outside guys doing their thing? Great. Getting the running game going? That’s awesome.”

I asked Dustin if, regardless of the balance or the lack thereof in the Jets’ offense, this game figures to be a big tight end game? “I agree,” he said with a slight smile. “I agree with that.”

From the Patriots’ point of view, that goes without saying. Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski combined in their 2010 rookie seasons for 16 catches, 247 yards, a touchdown and 11 first downs in their three games against the Jets.

But Keller has had a similar impact on New England. Consider this trivia question: Since 2006, which NFL tight end has the most catches against the Patriots? It’s Keller with 28 in seven games, and he wasn’t even born as an NFL player in ’06-07. There were his eight catches for seven first downs in the OT win at Gillette in his rookie season of ’08, his TD catch in Rex Ryan’s home opener as Jets HC in ’09, his 7-for-115 and a score in Game 2 last season.

Keller is one of the constants who make questions about a Jets crisis utterly premature now.

“We definitely need to get back on track and start doing the things we’re used to doing and we’re capable of doing, but we’re definitely not in panic mode,” the now fourth-year pro said. “We know what we have to do. It’s just a matter of doing it.”

Injury Watch

Except for Bryan Thomas, of course, the Jets injury report isn’t too concerning. Oh, there was WR Plaxico Burress, listed for the fourth week out of five this regular season with his third different aching body part. This time, Ryan said, Plax woke up this morning with a swollen elbow. He didn’t practice but Rex said, “He looks good.”

Similarly, LB Calvin Pace was a DNP with an abdomen injury but the coach said, “I think he’s going to be just fine.” And first-year LB Garrett McIntyre (concussion) “seems to be doing better each day” but was also held out.

The Jets’ limiteds were Mangold and DL Muhammad Wilkerson (shoulder).

Ryan confirmed that Thomas is out for the season with his Achilles injury from Sunday night but as of this afternoon BT had not been placed on IR, so he’s being listed as out. The only changes to the Jets roster were practice team moves: G Dennis Landolt was added today after WR Michael Campbell and TE Martell Webb were released late Tuesday.

The Patriots list 16 players on their first injury report of the week. Seven did not participate in team drills — WR Julian Edelman (ankle), DL Albert Haynesworth (back), TE Aaron Hernandez (knee), LB Jerod Mayo (knee), T Sebastian Vollmer (back), RB Danny Woodhead (ankle) and DL Mike Wright (concussion).

Eight others were limited up in Foxboro — CB Kyle Arrington (chest), S Josh Barrett (thumb/hamstring), CB Leigh Bodden (groin), S Patrick Chung (hand), CB Ras-I Dowling (hip), DL Shaun Ellis (knee), LB Gary Guyton (hamstring) and DL Kyle Love (ankle).

One thing we’re pretty sure about: Ellis will play against his former team. In the 2009-10 seasons, including playoffs, the Big Katt started a Jets game week on the injury report 20 times. In all 20 games he wound up starting.

Two December Games Staying Put

Two of the Jets’ upcoming games on CBS have been “protected” and will not be subject to flex scheduling down the line. Those games are Dec. 4 at Washington, a 1 p.m. ET start, and Dec. 18 at Philadelphia, a 4:15 start.

STS*: Will McKnight Take Over KOR Duties?

Nobody’s issued a 100 percent ironclad official statement to the effect that sore-chested Antonio Cromartie will give his kickoff-return career a rest and focus on cornerback beginning Sunday night at Baltimore.

“I’m prepared to go a lot of ways,” special teams coordinator Mike Westhoff said Thursday. And Rex Ryan offered his view of Cro continuing to return kicks with his bruised rib and lung: “No way … unless we need him.”

To all of that Joe McKnight said of Cromartie on returns, “I don’t think we need him. I’m good. I can do it.”

McKnight showed how ready he is with a 50-yard return with 2:37 to play that, under different circumstances, could have done for the Jets’ comeback effort at Oakland what Cromartie’s 47-yarder did for their wild-card comeback at Indianapolis last season.

“The ball bounced,” Westhoff said. “It was kind of hard to field. Joe was a little slow to get going because of the way the ball hit. But he did a real nice job. We blocked it very well but he ran it well.”

McKnight agreed with both premises.

“I’m trying to keep moving on, making progress off of every turn,” he said. “And I’ve got Westerman in front of me setting blocks, PT [Patrick Turner], I got Mully [Matt Mulligan] back there. They really make it easy for me.”

CBS’ end zone replay showed the beauty of how well the Jets blocked it and McKnight returned it. Nick Bellore, Mulligan and John Conner — the latter two linking hands as the Jets’ two-man wedge — mowed down three Raiders as McKnight veered right around them. Garrett McIntyre kicked his man out left and Westerman his guy right. McKnight angled back left through that gap and behind blocks from Kyle Wilson, Josh Mauga, Turner and Brodney Pool to get to the left sideline before he ran out of room.

The only player on the return team not in that shot was Marquice Cole, who was on the far right but also walled off his man off-camera.

Under Westhoff, of course, 50-yard-plus returns have become business as usual. But it is perhaps significant from a small sampling that since Brad Smith ran back the opening kickoff 97 yards at Pittsburgh in Week 15 last season, the Jets, except for two Cromartie 40-yarders, has been kind of average, with an average on the next 31 returns of 20.7 yards.

Then along came McKnight with the longest kickoff return of his pro career in any game, showing the Jets there is a direction they can go besides Cro.

McKnight still chuckles about his relationship with Westhoff, which started out rockily but has reached a stage of mutual respect.

“It’s tough, but he always wants you to be your best. That’s what I get out of it,” McKnight said. “It might make you mad, but he wants you to give your full effort. He wants your best from you.”

The 23-year-old second-year man from Southern Cal and River Ridge, La., wants the same from himself, it seems, because he’s eager but not anxious about getting his full NFL career, including a greater offensive role, off and running.

“I’m doing a way better job of everything, really,” he said. “I’ve just got to be patient and my time will come,” he said. “It’s still the beginning part of the season. We have a lot more games to play.”

As for the fourth game of the season at Baltimore’s loud and proud M&T Bank Stadium, it looks as if he’ll get his chance to expand on his kickoff curriculum vitae. The last word on the subject from Westhoff will have to suffice until tomorrow night.

“Joe’s taken almost all the reps in practice this week, and I’m probably more prepared to go that way,” the coach said. “But we’ll see Cro’s doing and go from there and make a decision.”

Heimerdinger Passes Away

Mike Heimerdinger, the Jets’ offensive coordinator in 2005 as well as the coordinator for the Titans and Broncos, died Friday after a year-long battle with a rare form of cancer. He was 58. We offer our condolences to his immediate  family and to his NFL family.

*Special Teams Saturday