EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The New York Jets' marketing slogan asks fans to describe the team in one word. Let's have some fun and apply that to the offensive performance in Friday night's 30-22 win over the Atlanta Falcons at MetLife Stadium.

Pedestrian.

Other words might fit: Punchless. Blah. You get the point.

If you want to take the optimist's point of view, it would be: Growing.

Yes, Ryan Fitzpatrick & Co. have a lot of growing to do. In six possessions, the starting offense began ignominiously with five punts. It finally put points on the scoreboard with Chris Ivory's 33-yard touchdown run, a highlight-film play diminished somewhat by the fact that it came against the Falcons' backups.

It's no time to panic. The Jets (1-1) still have one more dress rehearsal for the starters -- next week against the New York Giants -- before they shift into regular-season mode. It's not easy to master a new offensive system, and it's definitely not easy to master a new system when you're forced to change quarterbacks two weeks into training camp. So far, they've displayed more pop in the locker room than on the field (sorry, Geno Smith), but they're still getting comfortable with Fitzpatrick and each other.

"It was an up-and-down performance," Fitzpatrick said. "It was nice to get the touchdown at the end."

Fitzpatrick blamed himself for missing "a few reads." He actually played a smart and cautious game, throwing everything short. He completed 13 of 19 passes for 118 yards, often throwing to his checkdowns. He didn't do anything spectacular, but he also didn't do anything stupid. It was a pass-heavy attack, and you have to think they'll be more effective when they balance things with a running game.

"He was steady," coach Todd Bowles said of Fitzpatrick. "He was poised. He knew where to go with the football. He did a good job."

Spoken like a true defense-minded head coach. Bowles wants Fitzpatrick to be a game manager, to keep the chains moving without committing turnovers -- a quarterback tradition for the Jets. With a potentially strong defense, it's the right approach, but their quarterback will have to ... you know, score points eventually. Five consecutive punts isn't going to win too many games.

"We're not going to be perfect," said Brandon Marshall, who caught four passes for 62 yards. "We know that, we understand it, but these are learning lessons. We have a bunch of smart guys on the offensive side of the ball that will be able to learn from this and get better. Some people aren't capable of getting better, but I think we are."

Marshall looks like he's ready to go, and the running game looks formidable with Ivory and a quicker-than-ever Bilal Powell. The tight end position is a black hole, but they can overcome that if the other facets of the offense are clicking. The alarming number of penalties, a bugaboo from last season, has to be addressed. They were flagged 17 times for 125 yards, including a handful of drive-killers.

In the end, the Jets' season will be determined by the quarterback play. They'll need more out of Fitzpatrick than they got Friday night, but the team still is recovering from the quarterback trauma of 10 days ago. It has to regain its bearings before it can move forward.