10/12 — Brian Schottenheimer is not running away from the issues affecting the Jets' ground game. In his biweekly informal news conference, the offensive coordinator talked about the Jets' overland production.

"The issue with the running game is that we've had some positive runs, some good runs, but we've had too many negative runs," Schottenheimer said.

In fact, the Jets runners have been tackled at or behind the line 23 times in the first five games. This figure isn't bad historically — after five games last season, the figure was 32 times tackled for loss/no gain, and in the previous 10 seasons only 2004 (19 times) and '03 (22) were better.

But much was expected for this year's ground attack with the addition of Thomas Jones. TJ is hardly a forgotten back — his 88 carries are ninth-most in the NFL. But with no touchdowns, 11 tackles for loss and a 3.3-yard average, Schottenheimer knows there are questions about where the breakdowns are occurring.

"Maybe it's a bad call by me, for example," he said. "Maybe it's something with the line. Maybe it's something with the back being impatient. We just have to be more consistent with the execution of the play, with the call of the play, and we want to get Thomas and Leon [Washington] carries. We want to get the running game going."

Other snap-Schotts from today's session:

On the arm strength issue with QBs such as Chad Pennington and Drew Brees: "Playing quarterback is about a lot of things, and your ability to throw the ball accurately and things like that, to me, are more important. I can’t think of many balls Chad has underthrown to the point where I go, ‘Wow, what was that?’ He’s done a nice job and he throws a good deep ball and gives the guys a chance to go get it. I don’t necessarily see the issue with it. The most important thing to me is that it’s accurate and it’s catchable. Sometimes, quite honestly, you can throw a ball too hard."

On Brad Smith's contributions: "We love Brad, we love the things he can do. I tend to, when people ask me about Brad, talk about the person more than the player. It’s easy to do because he’s such a good person. For a young player he’s such a true pro with his commitment to his job, his commitment to the team, his selflessness — all of that stuff is amazing. He is a great weapon to have.

"He’s becoming a better receiver, so we don’t have to do as many of the gimmick things with him because he’s making plays for us as a receiver and just in the general course of the game. I thought he made a great touchdown catch last week. Chad threw it up there for him and he went up there and got it. It’s always fun on Tuesdays to think about different things we can do with him. We don’t always get them called, but they’re always there."

On TE Chris Baker: "He's not a blazer, he's not a real fast guy, but he's got great body control. He has the ability to drop his weight and change direction. ... He's a big guy that the quarterbacks can find easy, running over the middle or running things down the red zone, because he's a big guy and he's got a really good catching radius. He tracks the ball well and he'll go up and fight for it. He's done a really good job and he's stepped it up over the years."

I'll have more with Chris Baker tomorrow in my Special Teams Saturday Radar entry on his long-running role as a wedge man on the Jets' kickoff return teams.

Chant Challenge II

The Jets Chant Challenge, which was started for the Miami game three weeks ago, will be held again Sunday in the Meadowlands. During the game, our in-stadium Chant-Cam will scan the crowd for fans to lead the J-E-T-S chant. Yes, I know, a competitive game would help the enthusiasm and energy of everyone in the stadium. The Jets will try to supply that vs. the Eagles. It's one of those chicken/egg things. Will the chant help the Jets play lights-out, or will the Jets playing lights-out help the chant?

Probably a little of both.