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 over the last two weeks has been disappointing. And as such, the results have not been what he or anyone else expected.

But, Saleh stressed, it has not caused organizational-wide hysteria.

“I’m not panicked,” Saleh 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 following losses to Denver and Minnesota, in which the offensive unit has 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 the 23-17 loss.

What exactly has gone wrong?

“We’re playing below our potential. Too many mistakes,” Aaron Rodgers said after the loss to the Vikings on Sunday. “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 per carry (64 yards on 23 attempts) against Denver and 2.6 yards (36 yards on 14 attempts) against Minnesota.

For an offense that is predicated on implementing the run in order to open up passing lanes for the future Hall of Famer, 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 (22-for-42 for 225 yards against Denver, and 29-for-54 for 244 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions on Sunday) in the last two games. “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 how to get running back Breece Hall unlocked would be optimal. Hall, who has not rushed for 100 yards in any of the Jets’ first five games, was held to 23 yards on nine carries (2.6 yards per rush) on Sunday, one week after totaling 4 yards on 10 rushes (0.4 yards per carry).

“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 due to a sprained MCL and bone bruise suffered in the 24-3 rout of the Patriots on Sept. 19.

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. Saleh unequivocally said, “No,” when asked if he was thinking about having someone else on the staff call plays.

Injury notes

Saleh confirmed Rodgers’ diagnosis of a “low-ankle” sprain the quarterback 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 warmups Sunday, Saleh said.