C.J. Mosley needs to prove he’s not a Jets mistake

There isn’t a player on the Jets’ roster who has more to prove than C.J. Mosley in 2021.

Not even rookie quarterback Zach Wilson, who was absent from Tuesday’s training camp reporting day, still stuck in a nonsensical contract-language jam with Jets management that’s jeopardizing him being on the field for the team’s first practice on Wednesday.

Sure, Wilson is the most important player on the Jets, the latest face of the franchise. But his playing experience essentially consists of a year of college football, so he’s expected to have his struggles this season — whenever he arrives.

Mosley?

He was a proven commodity when the Jets signed him to a five-year, $85 million contract ($43 million guaranteed) before the 2019 season, a four-time Pro Bowler and tackling machine with Baltimore. And the Jets have gotten two games in two seasons out of that investment.

Mosley, who missed just three games in his first five seasons in the NFL, missed 14 of them in 2019 because of groin and core injuries he suffered in his first game with the Jets, a 17-16 season-opening home loss to the Bills. Then he missed all of last season when he opted out because of COVID-19 concerns.

Now it’s time for Mosley to prove he was worth the investment, something the Jets desperately need him to be, because he’s the Zach Wilson of their defense — as important to that side of the ball as Wilson is to the offensive side.

When Mosley was signed, he was the league’s highest-paid inside linebacker, and the Jets need him to play like the league’s best inside linebacker.

The Jets need him to play the way he played in the first game he played for them, that fateful September 2019 day when he looked like Lawrence Taylor — dominating the Bills with six tackles, a pick-six and a fumble recovery.

Mosley then got hurt while breaking up a pass in the end zone at the end of the third quarter, and the Jets who were leading 16-3 at the time, haven’t been the same since.

That Mosley, the player who was all over the field against the Bills for three quarters, is the Mosley Jets fans expect (hope and pray?) to see in 2021.

But Mosley on Tuesday made a rather bold proclamation that, if he backs it up, will be sweet music to the ears of every Jets fan who’s grown so sick of watching losing football for the past decade:

“Honestly, I feel like I’m a better player than what that game was,’’ Mosley said, referring to his performance in that Buffalo game. “I’m tired of seeing the same highlights for the past two years. I’m ready to put some new film on tape. [I have a] different body type [his weight is down to 231], different body feeling, different defense, different mentality, different mindset.

“Whatever everyone saw that game is going to be way better this year … and many years to come.’’

OK then. Bring it.

Questions, though, will persist until Mosley starts hitting people in games.

First and foremost is whether the two-year layoff will prove to be beneficial to Mosley, because it allowed his body to rest and heal, or whether it will be a hindrance, leaving him rusty, having not hit anyone for too long.

“Everything that he’s shown with his work ethic, the reps in OTAs, he doesn’t look rusty to me,’’ coach Robert Saleh said Tuesday. “He looks fantastic. He’s in amazing shape. He’s been here all summer. He asks all the right questions. He has a tremendous feel for football, so tackling would probably be the biggest thing [to re-acclimate].’’

Asked about his desire to hit opposing offensive players again, Mosley said he’s “halfway shaking right now, I’m so ready.’’

Asked about the long layoff, he recently told the Jets’ website that Tampa Bay tight end Rob Gronkowski “took two years off and won a Super Bowl,’’ adding, “I don’t have any doubts in myself.’’

Yes, Gronkowski won a Super Bowl, but he took only one year off, his quarterback was Tom Brady, and he wasn’t the same dominant force as a Buccaneer as he was with the Patriots before retiring.

“When you’re out for a while, you’re always in your head, thinking, ‘When I get back, how’s it going to feel? Am I going to be able to move like I used to?’ ’’ Mosley said to the team website. “I feel great.”

Now he needs to play great to prove that the two-year layoff wasn’t a detriment, that the Jets’ investment in him was a sound one and that he is, indeed, at least every bit the player he was in that impressive debut two years ago.