Jets' opener wasn't assistant's best 'Schott'

Among the breakdowns that doomed the Jets to just nine points and six first downs Monday night were a few in his own brain, offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer confessed yesterday.

"I would like to have a couple plays back as a playcaller," he said. "It wasn't pass-or-run.

"There was a third-and-2 that Ray Lewis made a great play on that when I had looked at it initially [thought] was a little closer to third-and-3.

"I had a hard time getting into a rhythm. You have to convert on third down. Eight of our 11 [third downs] were 6 yards or less, which makes the 1-for-11 [conversions] worse."

Schottenheimer said he wasn't happy with every call, but would not put the blame on quarterback Mark Sanchez, who completed 10 of 21 passes for a mere 74 yards.

"There are calls I would like to have back, but in no way, shape or form did it have anything to do with Mark. He did a nice job of checking down," Schottenheimer said. "It probably was not my most aggressive game-calling, but when you are struggling on third down you are going to try to manage the sticks a little bit.

"I think Mark has matured enough that he knows when a guy is open or not. There were times last year I was concerned to call [downfield] shots for Mark because I had no idea where the ball was going to go. A shot called was a shot taken.

"One of the things Mark has gotten pretty good at is recognizing that when the defense expands there are yards to be made underneath. When you have twentysomething passes in fortysome plays, it's hard to find five or six examples of where the ball could have gone up the field, but there were a couple."

Sanchez targeted his wide receivers eight times in 21 passes, with three completions: two to Jerricho Cotchery and one to Braylon Edwards.

"I know we have to get Braylon Edwards involved," Schottenheimer said. "Braylon is an emotional guy, like Mark. The more touches we can give him, he feeds off that."

Schottenheimer said Shonn Greene was not the only running back who would have been removed for the fumble that the Ravens converted into their touchdown.

"In the preseason, we were having a hard time holding on to the ball, so starting with the Philadelphia game we made sure everybody knew what the deal was: If you fumble you're coming out," said Schottenheimer. "Not that we don't trust Shonn. He's going to be a big part of what we are trying to do.

"LaDainian [Tomlinson] was running great. And we didn't have the ball much or you would have seen him [return] probably a little earlier."

The coordinator also said he is far too coordinated with head coach Rex Ryan to have gotten into any reported postgame altercation with him.

"In no way, shape or form," said Schottenheimer. "Rex is great. I can't remember any heated words we have ever had."

Follow @NYPostsports