09/30 — Eric Mangini revealed the Jets' bye week practice schedule, which will have the players practicing today and Wednesday, then taking off until Monday.

"Today we'll work on first and second down, tomorrow will be more of a third-down emphasis," the coach said at today's morning news conference. "Then the guys get a break and come back Monday, when there'll be a red area/goal line emphasis."

Mangini said he set the week's schedule up like this, similar to last year's bye sked but slightly different from the bye his first year as coach, to achieve two objectives.

"One is to improve," he said. "The second is to be able to take some time to get away from football, recharge your batteries, then come back in here for the remainder of the season. That's why I like to have these days strung together for the players, to have a chance to reload and come back recharged."

It's well-known how well the Jets have done after the bye in Mangini's first two seasons — arguably the two greatest victories of his tenure came after the 2006 bye at New England and after the '07 bye vs. Pittsburgh. What isn't known yet is how well they'll do now that the bye comes in Week 5 instead of Week 9 or 10 and how they'll fare vs. a team with a losing record (Bengals) as opposed to teams with winning marks such as the Patriots and Steelers.

Bye weeks have been in existence since 1990, one per season except for '93, when there were two. The Jets' all-time record in games before byes is 10-10, while their record after byes is 10-9. Here's how the Jets have fared since 2000 and their records before and after the bye each season (home teams in CAPS):

Asked about Eric Smith's suspension and fine for his hit on Anquan Boldin late in Sunday's game, Mangini repeated the sentiment expressed in a team statement released last night: "It's really a league decision. I definitely support the commissioner's initiative to protect the players and do everything possible for player safety. I'll just reiterate that Eric Smith is a good player and a good person. He would never do anything intentionally to harm anybody else."

And regarding two injured players, K Mike Nugent (thigh) and WR David Clowney (shoulder), the coach said "they're both making significant strides" that will have them "involved in some degree either this week or next week." And the important element for both is not to suffer a setback as they're "working to get over the hump."

VG OK on KR

Vernon Gholston was this week’s recipient of head coach Eric Mangini’s special teams player of the week award. Gholston was in on tackles on three consecutive second-quarter kickoff returns, and another to start the third quarter.

“Coach said he was surprised,” he told our Tim Carlson. “But I wasn’t. I knew I did a good job, getting three tackles on kickoffs in a row.”

“Having four tackles, it was a really positive day for him,” said Mangini.

Renkart Returns

Brandon Renkart,  the former Rutgers linebacker, has returned to the practice squad, taking the opening created when WR Paul Raymond was released from the P-squad on Tuesday.

Three Up for Weekly NFL Awards

Hey, Jets fans, let's get out the vote. We have three Jets who are finalists for weekly awards distributed by the NFL following their performances in the 56-35 triumph over the Cardinals.

QB Brett Favre is line for the FedEx Air NFL Player of the Week award, not surprising due to his career-best and franchise-record-tying six touchdown passes.

The other finalists for the "Air" portion of the Air & Ground awards are Saints QB Drew Brees and Redskins QB Jason Campbell.

Fans can vote for Favre or the other QB of their choice on NFL.com/FedEx through Friday at 11 a.m. ET.

CB Darrelle Revis is one of the five finalists for this week's GMC Sierra Defensive Player of the Week award for his two picks, the first of which he took 32 yards for the game's second touchdown and the first of his career.

The other finalists are Saints DT Charles Grant, Titans DT Albert Haynesworth, Chiefs LB Derrick Johnson and Buccaneers LB Barrett Ruud.

Fans can vote for Revis or the player of their choice on NFL.com/gmc up through Thursday at 4 p.m.

And TE Dustin Keller is in the field of finalists for Diet Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week honors after catching Favre's sixth TD pass, a 24-yarder, the second TD of his young career.

Besides Keller, the finalists include Chiefs CB Brandon Flowers, Redskins S Chris Horton, Titans RB Chris Johnson and Texans RB Steve Slaton.

Fans can vote for Keller et al. on NFL.com/rookies or by using phones with Sprint wireless service (texting the word PEPSI to short code 7777) through Friday noon.