Dustin Keller caught all four passes thrown his way yesterday and led the Jets with 68 receiving yards, but as much progress as he and Mark Sanchez have shown together lately, the tight end still had one regret after a 17-6 win over the Panthers.
“I wish I could have that one back,” Keller said of his third-quarter fumble that was recovered in the end zone by Carolina’s Richard Marshall.
At the time, the Jets led 14-3 and had driven down the field on the opening possession of the second half. Keller hauled in another pass and then tried to stretch the ball out to cross the goal line, but it was knocked out.
“Dustin made a great catch, but he’s got to know the situation in the game,” coach Rex Ryan said. “We’re in control and you’ve gotta protect the football better.”
Keller, who hadn’t fumbled as a Jet until yesterday, isn’t worried about making the same mistake again.
“I’m definitely going to learn from that one,” Keller said. “We have a great offensive line. I don’t have to get in the end zone right there. Just tuck ball away, keep driving my feet and try to get in. It wasn’t a smart play on my part. You’ll never see me not being careful with the ball. It’s uncharacteristic of me and it’s gonna get corrected.”
There’s not much else the second-year player has to improve on.
“It’s good to know our timing is getting better every week,” Keller said of his teamwork with Sanchez. “I wish we had been a little further along earlier in season, but we’re good now.”
That has resulted in some long plays. Keller made catches of 22, 19, 16 and 10 yards in the win.
“Mark and I are on same page now,” Keller said. “It’s gonna take time to mesh. Earlier in season it was frustrating, but I knew it would come together. It wasn’t frustrating that I wasn’t getting balls thrown my way, but that the offense wasn’t going very well. But we’re getting there.”