Keller back in spotlight in first half

Once considered a vital cog in the Jets' offense, third-year tight end Dustin Keller has become a forgotten man in recent weeks. But that changed a bit last night.

The former Purdue star made his presence felt in the first half of the Jets' 26-10 victory over the Bengals, contributing three catches for 46 yards. The big play was a 21-yard grab in the second quarter that led to Nick Folk's 27-yard field goal. He also had an 18-yard catch in the first quarter. It was Keller's longest two plays since a 25-yard catch against the Lions.

Through no fault of his own, Keller, who had 16 catches and five touchdowns through the first four games, had 19 catches and no TDs in the next six contests.

It's no coincidence that the return of Santonio Holmes, who sat out the first four games for violating the NFL's substance-abuse policy, came at Keller's expense.

Keller, a first-round pick in 2008, was a highly touted pass-catcher who was expected to be a force over the middle and on third downs for the Jets. He showed flashes of excellence through his first two seasons, totaling 93 catches and five touchdowns.

Keller had 254 yards in his first four games, including a seven-catch, 115-yard performance in the Jets' 28-14 win over New England in Week 2.

Not finding Keller on a regular basis hasn't done much to slow down Mark Sanchez, though. He had only three games of at least 250 yards passing in the regular season and no 300-yard performances his rookie season. Sanchez already has surpassed that with five games of at least 256 yards passing and two 300-yard games. The two 300 plus-yard passing performances came in his last three games, including a 336-yard, three-touchdown explosion in Sunday's 30-27 win over the Houston Texans.

All of this has been accomplished without Keller making a big splash. But Keller, one of the more affable players on the roster, hasn't made any noise about his lack of production. The Jets haven't addressed the issue either.

Considering the team is in a tight division race with the Patriots, dissension among the ranks is the last thing Rex Ryan needs. The Jets entered last night's game a half-game behind the Patriots (9-2), a 45-24 winner over the Lions earlier yesterday, in the AFC East.

And with a remaining schedule that includes road games against the Patriots, Pittsburgh and Chicago and home dates with the Dolphins and Bills, the Jets need all hands on deck.