Stephen Hill confirms his reps will go down

The news was delivered Wednesday in matter-of-fact fashion by his receivers coach.

Something had to change on offense – and it wound up being Stephen Hill’s playing time. Told Rex Ryan was considering benching him, the Jets second-year wideout confirmed to reporters that his reps will go down.

"Some things will be cut down, but I’m still going to get enough reps,” Hill said, adding that position coach Sanjay Lal “was just straight up with me” when he broke the news.

Rex Ryan said on Monday that he would consider benching Hill -- their former second-round pick in 2012 who has zero catches the past two games and no touchdowns since Week 3.

Hill, whom the Jets traded away a fifth and seventh-round picks to get, insisted he isn’t pressing. He also downplayed the effect of nagging injuries on his lack of production.

Hill expressed disappointment over not catching a single pass, despite seven targets, in Sunday’s road-loss against the Bills. As for his demotion, he seems to be taking it in stride.

“Hey, look, I mean, I have nothing to feel about it,” said the receiver, who participated fully in practice despite a nagging knee injury. “It’s the big man’s decision. I just have to do what I have to do every day. Come out here and play hard.”

Rex Ryan reiterated his disappointment in Hill’s progress from Year 1 to 2, saying: “For whatever reason, he hasn’t been there yet,. It doesn’t mean that we’re giving up on the young man.”

But they are giving away some of his reps in an attempt to see more on-field production from other guys. Hill acknowledged that he has areas that need improvement and he also admitted “I’m not where I should be. …I definitely didn’t expect it to be like this this year.”

At 6-4, the speedy Hill was supposed to serve as a much-needed deep-ball threat for the Jets this season. Instead, their offense is ranked 20th overall in the league, is second-to-last in receiving touchdowns with 9 (only Jacksonville has less) and has only six passes of 40 or more yards.

Hill said “it would be good” to incorporate more shots downfield. “Maybe we could take a little bit more shots,” he said. “But Geno’s doing a great job with throwing the ball downfield. (Receivers Greg) Salas and David Nelson are doing a great job of catching the balls like that.”

And what expectations did Hill have for himself heading into 2013? Simple.

“Basically, just catching a pass every game,” he said. “Making sure that I’m helping out the team as much as I can to score points. Catch balls and get yards. …Certain things just didn’t happen.”