12/19 — The Jets' quarterback situation for Tennessee didn't get any clearer after Kellen Clemens made his weekly appearance in front of Jets reporters less than an hour ago.

Clemens, polite as always, sidestepped a few questions about his injury against the Patriots and how many reps he got at practice.

"Anything about practice today, probably you'd better ask Coach Mangini," Clemens said.

My good friend Dave Hutchinson of The Star-Ledger tried to sneak some info out of the second-year man who was KO'd from his seventh pro start after only two plays, first asking about Clemens' shoulder, then his rib, but Clemens proved he was ready for the end-around: "It all falls under the same category, Hutch."

Eric Mangini said before practice that Clemens' physical condition "is the key issue here, because you have to evaluate the number of reps, the quality of reps, the things he can do in practice and going into the game seeing where he is in terms of his overall health and his ability to function based on his week of preparation.

"It's like with any injury, there are things that you have to work through, and that does affect your preparation," Mangini added. "We have to see how much that affects it, how much he's able to do, how effective he is in his preparation and then his ability to go out and execute on Sunday."

On today's just-released injury report, Clemens is listed as having limited participation at practice with a rib injury.

Both Mangini and Clemens were in agreement when asked what the QB's season to date and his possible participation in the final two games may say about his viability as the Jets' long-term starter.

"We're dealing with Tennessee right now," Mangini said, "so we really haven't looked at it in those terms."

"That's a decision that's probably going to come from upstairs," KC said. "My job is to focus on Tennessee and preparing for them the best I can. That's how I'm approaching it."

And in case there was any doubt about the INT-return TD Clemens threw to Eugene Wilson as he was getting crushed by Richard Seymour on the Jets' second offensive play, Clemens said:

"The intention of the throw was to put it somewhere about the third row of seats. ... Of all the places for that ball to land, that definitely was the least preferred."

Stats All, Folks

Some statistical points on New England before we get any closer to Tennessee:

Upon further review, the Jets lost 2 yards of offense against the Patriots. Chris Baker was credited with a 10-yard reception to the Patriots 15 on his third-quarter fumble, but LB Adalius Thomas actually swatted the ball loose at the 17. So it's an 8-yard reception, reducing Baker's receiving yardage to 64, Chad Pennington's passing yardage to 184, and the Jets' offensive yardage to 234.

Mangini, Pennington and the Jets were right to express their disappointment in the Jets' red-zone showing at New England. Remember, the Patriots were next-to-last in red-zone TD percentage defense, and still the Jets managed three points on four trips inside the Pats' 20. The last time they scored only three points on four or more RZ trips was the 2000 season finale at Baltimore, when they had a field goal, two turnovers and a loss on downs against the Ravens.

The Jets defense had two yellow flags thrown against it at New England, the first two penalties marked off against the "D" in the last six games. The Jets had 12 men on the field in the first quarter and CB Darrelle Revis was called for illegal contact on the first play of the fourth frame.

This is probable a statistical quirk more than anything, but the Patriots — with Benjamin Watson inactive and one-time Jets first-rounder Kyle Brady leaving during the game with an injury — didn't throw one pass to their tight ends. The last time a Jets opponent didn't target its TEs with even a single pass was in the 2004 AFC Divisional playoff game at Pittsburgh. Obviously, the Jets shutting out the other team's tights doesn't lead to victory.

In Praise of the Opponent

Jeff Fisher was effusive in his praise of the Jets on today's conference call.

"They are the best 3-11 team I've ever seen," Fisher said. "They obviously have had some very difficult scheduling — you have to play New England twice and you have to play Dallas. They've played some good teams very close and they just haven't got the breaks. I've been very impressed with not only their effort last weekend but a lot of the games they've played. I've watched quite a few games. I thought their effort against Pittsburgh was great."

Needless to say, Fisher may well be in smoke-blowing mode. But I examined the list of such three-win teams since the mustached and beared coach took over as the Houston Oilers field boss in 1995, and based on the most important stat of all — points scored and allowed — he's not far off. The current Jets' point margin is the fourth-best among the 27 teams that started 3-11 in the last 13 seasons.

Here are the top seven based on average point differential after 14 games, with final records for the season in question plus the following season: