Jets know they need to find their running game again to help the offense

Robert Saleh acknowledged the obvious: The performance of the Jets’ offense in the last two weeks has been disappointing. The results have not been what he or anyone else expected.

Saleh stressed, however, that it has not caused organization-wide hysteria.

“I’m not panicked,” he said Monday. “Nobody in the building is panicked. There’s always a sense of urgency. That’s the most important thing. There’s always going to be a sense of urgency to go out there and find wins and find efficiency on offense and continue to play great defense and special teams.”

Therein lies the problem.

The Jets are 2-3 after losses to Denver and Minnesota in which the offensive unit struggled badly. In the 10-9 loss to the Broncos, the Jets managed three field goals and 248 total yards of offense. Against the Vikings at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the Jets scored two touchdowns and added a field goal but finished with 254 yards in a 23-17 loss.

What exactly has gone wrong?

“We’re playing below our potential. Too many mistakes,” Aaron Rodgers said after Sunday’s loss to Minnesota. “We’re slow starters. Too many mental errors and there’s too many mistakes in general that’s hard to overcome.”

The most obvious place to start is a rushing attack that averaged 2.8 yards (64 yards on 23 attempts) against Denver and 2.6 yards (36 yards on 14 attempts) versus Minnesota.

For an offense that is predicated on implementing the run to open up passing lanes for future Hall of Famer Rodgers, that is suboptimal.

So, then, how do the Jets fix their running game?

“We’ve got to figure out exactly what our best runs are based on the first five games now, and we’ve tried to establish the run in most of these games early,” said Rodgers, who has thrown 96 passes in the last two games (22-for-42 for 225 yards against Denver and 29-for-54 for 244 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions on Sunday). “Sometimes you [have to] switch it up and throw it to establish the run.”

Saleh was noncommittal when he was briefed on Rodgers’ suggestion.

“Every game will take on its own different game plan, if you will,” Saleh said. “Obviously it’s always something that we’ll talk to Aaron and the coordinators [about to] make sure that we’re always doing what’s best for the team in that particular week.”

Figuring out how to get running back Breece Hall unlocked would be a good start. Hall, who has not rushed for 100 yards in any of the Jets’ first five games, was held to 23 yards on nine carries on Sunday, one week after totaling 4 yards on 10 rushes.

“Breece is an all-around back in terms of touches in the backfield along with the pass game,” Saleh said. “We felt like in the first three weeks of the season, we were getting that done. Obviously, the last two weeks, like I said, have been disappointing, but I’m not discouraged. We’ll find a way to get back on track.”

It certainly doesn’t aid Hall individually and the Jets collectively that the offensive line has been without starting right tackle Morgan Moses the last two weeks because of a sprained MCL and bone bruise suffered in the Week 3 win over the Patriots.

The Jets believed they had repaired a weakness by signing Moses, left tackle Tyron Smith and left guard John Simpson and selecting Penn State tackle Olu Fashanu with the 11th overall pick in the draft. Fashanu started the last two games in place of Moses.

“I felt like we’d been progressing,” Saleh said. “Thought we protected well the first three games of the season . . . I’m very disappointed with the way the last couple weeks have gone and [it is] something that we obviously need to get fixed.”

But that does not mean he is considering relieving offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett of play-calling responsibilities. When asked if he was thinking about having someone else on the staff call plays, Saleh unequivocally said, “No.”

Injury notes

Saleh confirmed Rodgers’ diagnosis of a “low-ankle” sprain he suffered in the loss to the Vikings and said “all the preliminary stuff says he’ll be fine.” . . . Nickel back Michael Carter II was going to be evaluated for a hamstring injury suffered during warm-ups Sunday, Saleh said.