No one popular ranking captures how an offensive line is performing but several suggest the improvement the Jets need to make. The offense is ranked 32nd overall, 28th on the run (and 29th on yards/carry at 3.03), 32nd in net passing yards, 31st in sacks/attempt, 31st in third-down percentage. Those rankings suffered when Sam Darnold had to exit for the past two weeks with mono, but Pollack wasn't making excuses for the QBs lining up behind his unit.

"That doesn't affect us at all," he said of trying to protect three different starting QBs in those first three weeks. "Whatever the reason is, we've got to get it fixed and resolved. I'm looking forward. We've got to get it fixed, we've got to get better. We'll use the bye to analyze where we can do things maybe a little bit differently, how we prepare, how I coach them. Moving forward, we'll get it fixed."

Popular theories abound. C Ryan Kalil's coming out of retirement to join the Jets in August and not play in a game until the opener against Buffalo is one. But Pollack likes what his veteran pivotman has brought to the room.

"Kalil's a pro, he's preparing the right way and doing great things," the coach said. "All of us as a unit have got to get better. We're the ultimate group in all of sports, judged as one unit, not individuals. So we need to play like that, communicate like that, and get better in those areas."

And to be sure, all lines go through slow periods in their developments, as Pollack has observed for two decades.

"Yeah, you coach long enough, you're going to have the group not clicking on all cylinders. I've had that everywhere I've been at some point through the process. This is nothing out of the ordinary in that regard," he said. "You've just got to keep chipping away and grind, put your nose down and go to work."