CORTLAND — It’s put up or shut up time for Vernon Gholston.
“He’s got to step up and show what he can do,” coach Rex Ryan said. “It’s that Year 3 . . . That’s when you’re gonna do it.”
After making a combined 30 tackles and no sacks in his first two seasons, the only way to describe Gholston, the sixth overall draft pick in 2008, is as a high-priced bust. In an attempt to change that, the Jets have moved the former Ohio State star from outside linebacker to defensive end.
“If I’m on the field playing, that [bust label] will shed itself,” he said after yesterday’s practice at SUNY Cortland. “People haven’t really seen me out there making a lot of plays, so when you don’t see nothing from a guy, it’s like, ‘He can’t be good.’ You know what I mean?
“One thing I know is everybody’s got their opinion. Obviously I could never blame nobody for their opinion, their views. . . . For me, it’s all about what I do, what I think. I’m the one who can change people’s opinions, but it’s all about going out there and making something happen.”
Mark Carrier, the Jets’ new defensive line coach this season, spent the past four seasons as the defensive backs coach for the Ravens. This offseason, he showed the 6-foot-3, 260-pound Gholston tape of Ravens pass-rushing menace Terrell Suggs.
“If you can get anybody to do 10 percent of what Suggs does, you’re excited about it,” Carrier said. “But I had him watch Suggs just because I think their styles are so similar. I wanted him to see that Suggs doesn’t always do it right, but what he does do is he’s always moving forward.”
Gholston made his presence felt in yesterday’s practice. He batted down a Mark Sanchez pass and got into the backfield to sack backup Mark Brunell. It proved to Carrier that Gholston is capable of making an impact, but now Carrier said he expects him to do that more often.
“I tell him, and I tell this to all my guys, if I keep getting happy when you make a play, that means my expectations were you couldn’t do it in the first place,” Carrier said. “When I get to the point where I say, ‘Nice job,’ and move on, and I’m all calm, that means you’re doing it consistently.
“I kind of get on him and say I’m excited about it because I wasn’t sure. But by seeing it more and more, I’m not gonna get as excited because I’m gonna expect you to do it, and more so, you should expect to do it.”
tbontemps@nypost.com