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Sheldon Richardson and the Jets' defensive front were stingy against the run last year.

(Ron Antonelli/Getty Images)

FLORHAM PARK – A dentist walked into the Jets’ facility this week, to help one of their best players prepare for Sunday’s season opener against the Raiders.

Defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson, the NFL’s reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year, opened his mouth, and the dentist stuffed a chalky, clay-like substance around his bottom teeth. It is the same sort of stuff dentists use to make molds of kids’ teeth. Sometimes, it comes in more palatable flavors, like grape. Richardson’s did not.

“That (stuff) was gross,” he said. “It was original flavor.”

But it achieved the intended purpose all the same. Richardson wanted a different mouth guard to wear in Sunday’s game – one that only fit over his lower teeth. Usually, he wears a mouthpiece that he calls a “pacifier” – the type of mouth guard that, when inserted into a player’s mouth, covers his lips with a flat, rubber oval.

Richardson’s pacifier somewhat impedes his ability to talk during games. He has to spit it out and let it fall between his chinstrap and face mask, then push it back in before the snap. His new mouth guard allows him to talk while keeping it in. That will be important Sunday because the Raiders’ frequency of pre-snap shifting will require Richardson to communicate “a lot more” then usual with his fellow defensive linemen, he said.

Will Richardson’s mouth, and the dentist poking around in it this week, contribute in some small way to the Jets defending the Raiders better than they did last year?

The Jets won the game, 37-27, but the Raiders gained 383 yards, the fifth-most the Jets allowed last year. The Raiders ran for 150 yards – the most, by 19, that the Jets surrendered in 2013. Fullback Marcel Reece ran 19 times for 123 yards, including a 63-yard touchdown.

Jets defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman said the Raiders still do “about the same” amount of pre-snap shifting as they did last year, their first season under offensive coordinator Greg Olson. Tony Sparano also debuted last season as the Raiders’ offensive line coach, immediately after being fired as the Jets’ offensive coordinator. Thurman said the Jets are plenty prepared for Oakland running the Wildcat plays that Sparano favors.

“They haven’t shown any of that in preseason, but I know better,” said Jets coach Rex Ryan, who calls his team’s defensive plays during games.

In the most basic sense, Ryan said, the Raiders’ pre-snap motioning is “window dressing” simply designed to confuse the defense.

“They are looking for you to make a mistake,” Ryan said.

The Raiders’ movement before the snap is designed to get the defense out of position, thinking about one play, and then having to react to another play at the last moment. This will require the Jets’ defenders to quickly process the final formation alignment they see before the ball is snapped. That alignment is all that really matters.

Thurman said the Jets’ biggest challenge this week is “to see the final picture,” because “when a team shifts and motions and does all that, they have to line up and snap the ball. And the final picture is what you believe.”

Calvin Pryor, the Jets’ rookie safety, said the Raiders tend to run a lot of the same plays out of different looks, with the pre-snap shifting thrown in to keep defenses guessing. Pryor said Oakland likes two-back formations and running play-action passes out of them – a bluff Pryor must be careful to not bite on.

Richardson does not really see the point of all this pre-snap movement. Yes, he understands that the Raiders’ shifting will force him to perhaps slide over a gap along the defensive front. He primarily communicates during games with nose tackle Damon Harrison and rush outside linebacker Quinton Coples. So he must alert them of what he sees, and how he is adjusting.

Richardson’s increased comfort level with the Jets’ defensive playbook this season should allow him to react quicker. So he does not expect to be easily fooled by all of the Raiders’ moving parts, because what follows is often a rather simple play.

“They motion a guy three or four times, might shift the whole formation just to do a power (run) play,” Richardson said. “Some people like to say it’s a waste of their time.”

Does Richardson believe it is?

“We like to think that (it is), most games, especially if it’s a running play,” he said. “If you’re going to run it, just run the ball.”

Nobody can blame opposing offenses for trying to trick the Jets’ rushing defense. The Jets last season ranked third in the NFL in fewest rushing yards allowed and first in fewest yards per carry allowed. So why not opt for deception against a stingy front?

“That (stuff) doesn’t work,” Richardson said with a hearty chuckle. “We do a lot of film study, so it’s not often you catch us messing up, as far as gap alignment and assignments.”

The Raiders’ rushing attack did fare well against the Jets last season. Perhaps something just as simple as a power run play – like a new mouth guard – will help change the Jets’ fortunes.

Richardson said he got the idea for a lower-teeth mouth guard from left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson. Richardson saw Ferguson wearing it and inquired. Ferguson told him the mouth guard is comfortable and allows him to breathe and talk more easily. Richardson wanted this mouth guard specifically for the Raiders game.

Before Thursday’s practice, Richardson slid the guard over his teeth, eager to try it out. In the locker room later, he grinned as he talked about it.

“It worked like a charm,” he said.