09/24 — One of the problems with games like Monday night's loss at San Diego is that some, even many, positive developments get lost in all the angst.

For instance, Dustin Keller finally became a person of interest in the offense.

We suspect the rookie tight end with a wide receiver's skillset will have many more productive games than this one, but after having only one ball officially thrown his way in the first two games, good for a 19-yard first down against New England, Keller got out of the gate in a big way at San Diego.

He had eight passes thrown to him, seven by Brett Favre, and he caught four of them for 41 yards and his first NFL touchdown, a 13-yard catch-and-run from Favre for the Jets' final TD.

Keller is a confident "kid" who turns 24 years old Thursday, in fact, but three days before his birthday at Qualcomm Stadium he was understandably muted.

"It's not the ideal scenario for my first actual regular-season touchdown," said Keller, who was the first recipient of a TD pass from Brett the Jet in the Washington preseason game. "I wish it could've been a better situation for us."

He, too, had high praise for his teammates, specifically for the graybeards working with him at the TE position.

"We've got a great group of guys. For mentors, I couldn't ask for two better guys than Bubba Franks and Chris Baker," he said. "They're really trying to just help me learn. I know week by week I should get better."

The eight passes show that coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and head coach Eric Mangini are confident in featuring Keller in a game plan. In fact, that's a significant number for a Jets tight end. Here are the five times since 1996 that TEs unofficially have had eight or more passes thrown their way in a game:

The reason the list starts at '96 is because '95 was the year of coach Rich Kotite's two-TE offense. That season three tight ends — Johnny Mitchell, Fred Baxter and then-rookie Brady — combined for nine games with at least eight balls thrown to them.

Some other leftovers from Monday night's San Diego TV dinner:

■ Jerricho Cotchery's 10 receptions (for 76 yards) is a career high and the first time any Jets receiver had double-digit catches in a game since Laveranues Coles went 12-for-144 on Dec. 17, 2006 at Minnesota.

■ Favre was sacked on his first two-point conversion try as a Jets QB and couldn't connect on the second, making the Jets 1-for-12 on two-point tries since 2003. The only deuce success: Chad Pennington to Leon Washington to end last year's 38-31 loss at Cincinnati.

■ Chargers CB Antonio Cromartie became only the fifth opponent since 1995 to record four pass defenses in a game. Randy Hilliard of Denver did it in 1996, followed by Ty Law, then with New England in '98, Duane Starks of Baltimore on Christmas Eve 2000 (including two INTs, as Cromartie did), and Leigh Bodden of Cleveland in 2006.

■ The 77 points scored in the game is tied for the 10th-most points in a game in Jets/Titans history. The last time the Jets played in a higher-scoring game was their 42-36 win at Buffalo in 2001.

The Passing of a Titan

The son of former Titan Francis P. "Fran" Morelli contacted us recently to inform us of the passing of his dad on Sept. 10. Morelli, who was born in Medford, Mass., and attended Colgate, was a backup tackle, uniform No. 79, on the 1962 team.

He was traded to the Raiders but never played again in the NFL. Instead he turned to high school teaching and coaching in Massachusetts and eventually became an executive in the wine and spirits industry. He was 69. The New York Jets organization offers its condolences to Morelli's family.