OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- When Tyrone Wheatley was cut by the Miami Dolphins in August and arrived at Raiders training camp with the label of "underachiever," Skip Peete reminded Wheatley of his earlier days.

Now the Raiders' running backs coach, Peete was an assistant coach at Michigan State in 1993-94, when Wheatley was starring at Michigan. And he remembered a power rusher who broke through holes in the line, not the tentative runner rejected by the New York Giants and Miami.

"I told him, `I watched you in high school and at Michigan,"' Peete said. "I knew he was capable of running that way. He just hadn't done it in recent years. Now he's doing the same things he did then."

Wheatley has flourished with the Raiders, long known as a team willing to gamble on castoffs. He is tied for the AFC lead with five touchdowns on the ground, and has helped give Oakland the league's top rushing offense with 140 yards per game.

Wheatley gained 1,280 yards in four seasons with the Giants, during which he feuded with coaches, then was traded to Miami and cut during training camp. He said the Giants never gave him a chance to run straight ahead, his forte.

"I was just basically used outside, all my runs were sweeps. Opponents knew it and were waiting for it," Wheatley said. "The time in New York opened my eyes. I realized that the best 11 don't always play, that there's a lot of politics. I really didn't know how to handle it."

Wheatley will have a chance Sunday to show New Yorkers what they're missing, though the opponent will be the lowly Jets (1-5) instead of the Giants. The Jets will be playing in Oakland (3-3) for the first time since 1972, when Joe Namath threw for 403 yards for the Jets, but lost to Daryle Lamonica's two TD passes.

When Wheatley was signed by the Raiders as a free agent, a few hours after being cut by Miami, he was thrown into the backfield mix with Napoleon Kaufman and Rashaan Salaam. All three were drafted within a span of five picks in 1995 -- Wheatley was 17th, Kaufman 18th and Salaam 21st.

Wheatley won a backup spot, leading to Salaam being cut, and in recent games has taken over Kaufman's starting spot. Now it's Kaufman who comes in to provide the slashing, cutting style that the Giants thought suited Wheatley.

"We think we're a good running team. We're capable of running the ball against anybody," said Raiders coach Jon Gruden, whose club ran for 195 yards in a 20-14 win last weekend against a Buffalo team with the league's stingiest run defense. "It's hard to run the ball in this league. But if you establish it early, you can set up some play-action passes."

The Jets hope to make Wheatley, who had 97 yards and two touchdowns against the Bills, resemble the tentative runner of his New York days.

"Wheatley looks real good, he's working hard. I've seen plays where he's been on his knees trying to get more yards," Jets nose tackle Jason Ferguson said. "He's running hard on every play. Somebody sparked him. We've got to put something on him and make him into the old Wheatley."

The Jets have much more to worry about than Wheatley. They have struggled on offense since quarterback Vinny Testaverde tore an Achilles' tendon in the season opener. Rick Mirer was so ineffective as his replacement that the starting job went to Ray Lucas, who sprained his ankle on the final play of last week's loss to Indianapolis.

So Lucas became the seventh Jets starter sidelined for at least a game this season, while Mirer reinherited the job.

"What's gone wrong is we don't have a lot of margin for error right now, and we're making mistakes," Jets coach Bill Parcells said. "We're in the midst of a disappointing streak. I don't think our team is brimming with confidence."

But Parcells said he learned from Raiders owner Al Davis, an old friend, that such troubles are just part of the game.

"You've got a guy out there who owns that team that taught me something a long time ago," Parcells said. "He says, `Nobody cares, just coach your team.' I've tried to do that for a better part of my career and I'm doing that now."

NY JETS Season schedule and results

OAKLAND Season schedule and results

September 12 New England L 28-30 September 19 @Buffalo L 3-17 September 26 Washington L 20-27 October 3 @Denver W 21-13 October 11 Jacksonville L 6-16 October 17 Indianapolis L 13-16 October 24 @Oakland 4:15pm ET November 7 Arizona 1:00pm ET November 15 @New England 9:00pm ET November 21 Buffalo 1:00pm ET November 28 @Indianapolis 4:15pm ET December 5 @NY Giants 1:00pm ET December 12 Miami 4:05pm ET December 19 @Dallas 4:15pm ET December 27 @Miami 9:00pm ET January 2 Seattle 1:00pm ET

September 12 @Green Bay L 24-28 September 19 @Minnesota W 22-17 September 26 Chicago W 24-17 October 3 @Seattle L 21-22 October 10 Denver L 13-16 October 17 @Buffalo W 20-14 October 24 NY Jets 4:15pm ET October 31 Miami 4:05pm ET November 14 San Diego 4:05pm ET November 22 @Denver 9:00pm ET November 28 Kansas City 4:15pm ET December 5 Seattle 4:15pm ET December 9 @Tennessee 8:20pm ET December 19 Tampa Bay 4:05pm ET December 26 @San Diego 4:05pm ET January 2 @Kansas City 1:00pm ET

Records source: STATS, Inc.

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