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Jeremy Kerley, who last year had twice as many receptions as any Jets wide receiver, is aiming to benefit from a new, more cohesive passing attack this season.

(Ed Murray/The Star-Ledger)

For all the renovating the Jets roster has seen since the conclusion of last season, one unit has remained largely intact. At a glance, the decision by general manager John Idzik not to tinker with his wide receiving corps seems quizzical.

Wide receivers on the Jets’ 2012 roster combined to catch 156 passes and nine touchdowns — the latter a mark topped or matched by 11 wide receivers leaguewide. Only the Minnesota Vikings and Kansas City Chiefs last season produced fewer passing yards than the Jets.

The unit, returning four players and adding Ryan Spadola, an undrafted rookie, views itself as one of the closest in the Jets’ locker room, referring to one another as brothers. They hold one another accountable on the field and spend time together off it. Despite low expectations again, Jets wide receivers sense an opportunity to take doubters by surprise.

On Monday night, Stephen Hill, Clyde Gates and Jeremy Kerley — last season’s leading receiver with 56 catches — walked through Times Square, quietly setting goals amid the megawatt bustle of midtown Manhattan.

"We talked a little about football and how we’re excited for this year, how we’re ready, how some people don’t feel we’re going to be good," Hill said.

This being the Jets, though, uncertainty hovers beside hopeful expectation. The unit’s most talented and experienced player has spent the past 11 months rehabilitating a foot fracture that required two operations. Santonio Holmes said that each morning he wakes up in pain. He missed all of training camp, and his next game will be his first since his left foot snapped apart Sept. 30.

Holmes bears a significant amount of responsibility. He is the leader among his peers and by far the most accomplished, not to mention the only one with a Super Bowl ring.

Not only is Holmes asked to be a pillar for fellow receivers, but once he returns to the field — perhaps even as soon as tomorrow — he will be asked to consistently provide an open target. For now, Geno Smith, a rookie, is starting at quarterback, and he needs a reliable weapon.

Marty Mornhinweg, the new offensive coordinator, has tasked Holmes with easing Smith’s transition to the pros. "For any quarterback, but certainly a young and inexperienced quarterback, it’s really key" to have reliable playmakers at receiver, Mornhinweg said.

If a splashy addition to the unit this offseason could be spotted, it is Mornhinweg. In 11 seasons as an offensive coordinator, he has run offenses that finished in the top 10 of the NFL in total yards eight times.

Mornhinweg has drilled Jets players relentlessly through camp, with an exacting eye toward detail. Often he will watch offensive drills with his arms folded across his chest. Occasionally, he speaks, either to praise one of his players or propose even minute corrections to technique.

"Coach Mornhinweg is a firecracker," Hill said. "We’re all, as a team and offensive unit, coming together as one. Not to say we didn’t have that last year, but it’s totally different."

Mornhinweg’s approach has sculpted two qualities: cohesiveness and confidence.

The offense functions on synchronization. During passing plays, receivers zip down and across the field, or sometimes settle in a designated zone. The routes are timed according to the quarterback’s footwork. When the drop is complete, the ball should have a pathway to an open target.

"As long as you know what you’re doing — which you will because Marty will beat it into you some kind of way — that alone is enough," Gates said. "Marty is going to put you in the right position to make plays.

"We can call a play and look at each other and think, ‘He’s about to win on this when we leave the huddle.’ "

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Sunday’s opponent, provide an intriguing challenge. Last season, no team defended the pass so poorly. But the offseason in Tampa was spent rebuilding the secondary. Dashon Goldson was handed a guaranteed $22 million check to play safety. Darrelle Revis, football’s best cornerback, was acquired from the Jets to tail receivers.

Revis returns from a torn knee ligament, having not played since Week 3 a year ago. Even for a group of wide receivers with grand designs, combating Revis is a tall order.

Asked this week whether the Jets will throw at Revis to test his rehabilitated left knee, head coach Rex Ryan shook his head.

"That might be some teams, but I don’t think that will be our philosophy," Ryan said. "I can’t even lie. I don’t see that happening."