Jets' Chan Gailey confident Devin Smith can bounce back

Devin Smith's recent struggles may have shaken his confidence, but the Jets still believe in the rookie receiver.

"I haven't lost confidence in him,'' offensive coordinator Chan Gailey said on a conference call after Thursday's practice. "I've just got to make sure that he's got confidence in himself.''

Smith, a second-round draft pick, dropped a potential touchdown pass in last week's 24-17 loss at Houston. He also was the intended receiver on one of two fourth-quarter interceptions thrown by Ryan Fitzpatrick.

It was the latest stumble for the former Ohio State speedster, who missed offseason workouts because of the birth of his first child and later was sidelined for most of training camp with a rib injury.

After the loss to the Texans, receivers coach Karl Dorrell and wideout Brandon Marshall spent several minutes talking to Smith.

"After the game he was hurt, which you expect,'' Gailey said. But Smith bounced back this week and "he's gone back to work,'' Gailey said. "So that's been a positive.''

Gailey said Smith has been more focused in practice and "doing the little things a lot better.''

"He had a rough game last week, and I think that as time goes on, he'll end up being a good player. But right now, we've got to get his confidence back. That's the biggest thing.

"We've got to keep letting him have the opportunity. The biggest thing is, he was open. You know? If he's open, he'll eventually catch it. And I think he just needs to get his confidence back.''

Gailey also highlighted the importance of getting back to basics on offense, which coach Todd Bowles stressed Wednesday.

"You try to get some things going in some different areas at times . . . because you think sometimes they're zeroing in on what you're doing,'' Gailey said, "and maybe if we just get back to our base offense and things we've been working on since training camp, hopefully our execution will be better and we can start faster. That's the goal.''

The offense's success is tied primarily to its efficiency in the running game, so it's no surprise that during the Jets' 1-4 streak, featured back Chris Ivory has averaged only 44 rushing yards a game.

"If we can run it, we're going to run it,'' Gailey said. "That's just what I believe in and what we want to do. But when you don't have early success, then the situation in the game dictates you can't run it as much as you'd like, so it pushes you away from it a little bit.

"We're trying to make sure we execute properly so that we can have better early success and we can stay with it longer.''

Notes & quotes: Cornerback Darrelle Revis (concussion) again did not practice, and it's looking more and more unlikely that he'll be able to suit up against Miami . . . Gailey said center Nick Mangold (lacerated hand) took limited snaps, adding: "That was positive. He didn't look any worse for the wear out there.''