12/11 — As I look out on the Jets practice fields from my second-floor perch at the Atlantic Health Training Center, I see grass and turf, flags flipping in the cold breeze, rain streaking the large windows in front of me.

One thing is noticeably absent: players.

After working the Jets outside in Wednesday's rain, Jets head coach Eric Mangini has taken his team into the massive new fieldhouse today for what I recall is only the second indoors practice since the Jets relocated to Florham Park, N.J., on Sept. 1.

Before practice, it was a good time for the coach to discuss some practice changes for this week, or the last few weeks, or this season. All coaches do this all the time, and Mangini went through some of the things he's altered and his thinking behind them.

■ A real emphasis this week has been on technique. "Sometimes that can get away from you a little bit as you get later into the season," Mangini said. "We've been reemphasizing that and really the basic things — hand placement, footwork and leverage. ... It's good to be able to almost go back to a training camp mentality and be able to work on those things."

■ Mangini also said for the last two years he and his staff have "tweaked" and "scaled back" the practice schedule. "As it gets later in the season, you try to scale some things back as much as possible while still getting everything done that you need to get done," he said. "Really, the practices overall have been scaled back, I’d say substantially, based on last year and the year before. This is just a scaling back of a scaling back.

"I think it always helps. The real important thing for us to do is when you do scale back, it means less reps and less time, you have to be that much more efficient.

■ Each week or so, Mangini and his coaches go over not only the game past but the practice week past to see if there are things they want to do differently. "We spent some time with one of the younger players today," he said by way of example. "I guess we really talked to the younger players about keeping a journal. It’s not like one of those ‘Dear Diaries’ locked up with a key or anything, but as you go home at night being able to write down some things that you thought helped you in your preparation, and draw on those things in the upcoming weeks."

Among the points for a young player might be to emphasize his footwork, organize his notes, maintain a hot tub/cold tub/massage schedule.

■ Today is third-down day, so the "yellow line" concept that OC Brian Schottenheimer brought with him when he arrived in 2006 comes into play. Unlike the computer-generated first-down lines we've become familiar with on our network broadcasts, these lines are painted on the Jets' turf and grass fields at the 33-yard line.

The offense and defense will set up situations off of these lines — the ball will be placed at the 25 for a third-and-8 play — and players can actually see where they need to get the ball to "move the sticks."

A few weeks back I broke out a chart showing how well the Jets were doing in third down conversions over a six-game span compared to other excellent six-game stretches. Now, to underscore Mangini's statement that third- and fourth-down conversions are something "we have to do significantly better," here is a chart on the last two weeks of third-down offense, which have produced one of the lowest conversion rates of the last 12 seasons:

Interestingly, the last two weeks come off the previous two weeks — the wins at New England and Tennessee — when the Jets offense combined to go 16-for-29 on third downs, a fine conversion rate of 55.2 percent.

And the coach said the offensive players still have it in their hands to beat opposing defenses to the third-down punch.

"It hasn't been a function of getting a significantly higher amount of pressure. It hasn't been skewed one way or the other coverage-wise," he said. "If there was one thing trending like that, we'd definitely counter it. It's more us being able to do things we've been doing better. Some are drops, some are throws that could be better, some are protection breakdowns. We improve in those areas, we'll be a lot better."

Injury Updates

The Jets' injury report today remains the same as Wednesday's. The Bills' report shows that WR Josh Reed (back) and DT Marcus Stroud (hip), both of whom didn't practice Wednesday, were at full participation today and S Donte Whitnere (illness) is no longer listed and is practicing fully. However, QB Trent Edwards (groin) and DE Aaron Schobel (foot) remained sidelined for a second day, and early tonight the Bills announced that Schobel has been placed on injured reserve.