NFL

Sparano defends job he’s done with Jets struggling offense

Tony Sparano (CSM /LANDOV)

For an offensive coach, Tony Sparano sure is defensive.

The Jets offensive coordinator might be feeling the heat of leading the 29th-ranked unit in the NFL in this 5-7 season. The offense’s problems have come under an intense spotlight this week, as the Jets pondered a change at quarterback. During his weekly meeting with the media yesterday, Sparano was on the defensive over the way the offense has played.

Though much of the focus has been on the job security of general manager Mike Tannenbaum and coach Rex Ryan, Sparano could be the fall guy if the Jets don’t play well in their final four games.

The Jets hired Sparano in January to replace Brian Schottenheimer, but the offense, and quarterback Mark Sanchez in particular, have not gotten any better. Asked to assess how his first season with the Jets has gone, Sparano declined.

“That’s for other people to assess,” he said. “I just come in here every day, do my job and get here early and stay here late. That’s not for me to assess.”

Sparano was willing to give his opinion on how the offense has played.

“I would say inconsistent,” he said. “I think that’s fair. I think we’ve played really well in stretches, and I think we’ve played not so well in stretches. I think there’s a lot of things we’re doing very well that people don’t see.”

The Jets have run the ball more in the second half of the season, but it’s debatable whether it actually has been better. They are 12th in the NFL in rushing yards per game (115.2) and have rushed for more than 100 yards in six of their past seven games.

“You can do the math yourself,” Sparano said. “I told you at the bye week the last 100 runs we’ve averaged 4.6, 4.7 yards per carry. You think that’s gotten worse? We’ve had a couple of really big rushing days since then. It hasn’t gotten worse. It’s gotten better.”

It actually hasn’t if you look at yards per carry. They are averaging just 3.7 yards per carry since the bye week. The Jets have run the ball more in that time and their yards per game have risen from 109.8 in the first eight games to 126 over the past four.

The bigger issue is the passing game. Sparano, a former offensive line coach, was hired with the idea he would improve the Jets’ run game. But the passing game has suffered. The Jets are ranked 28th in passing yards per game (193.8) and Sanchez has committed 18 turnovers. Sanchez has regressed under Sparano’s watch.

When asked about ball security, Sparano clearly did not like the question.

“We haven’t done a good job of it,” he said. “I’m assuming that’s the answer you’re looking for. I’m giving it to you so you can write your article. There you go. I just gave it to you.”

Players seem to like playing for Sparano. He is fiery on the practice field, something players enjoyed as a change of pace from the usually calm Schottenheimer.

“I’m disappointed in myself, but I don’t want to let [Sparano] down,” Sanchez said. “He doesn’t show up here at

4 o’clock in the morning and stay here and not see his family and do all the stuff he does, for me to go out and throw the ball to the other team. That has to be disheartening. That’s the part that really bothers you. That’s why you want to fix it.”

The Jets have been held to 10 points or fewer five times this season and are 26th in scoring offense at 19 points per game. The offense looked inept at times in Sunday’s 7-6 win over the Cardinals, but Sparano believes the Jets are improving.

“I see us heading in the right direction,” he said. “At the end of the day you have to be more consistent and you have to score more than seven points in a game.”

brian.costello@nypost.com