With the wound still raw from Sunday’s devastating AFC Championship loss to the Steelers, Rex Ryan did everything he could yesterday in the exit meeting with his players to accentuate the positives that came from the Jets’ second consecutive march to within a game of the Super Bowl.
The prevailing message he delivered was the Jets were the only team among last year’s final four conference championship participants to return to the title game this year.
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The reality is the Jets, with Ryan and Mark Sanchez in place, indeed do have a chance to remain a force in the AFC for a while.
But there are uncertain times ahead and crucial decisions that must be made this offseason that could alter the shape of the 2011 Jets. That makes getting to a third consecutive AFC Championship hardly a lock for Ryan’s Jets — if there even is a 2011 season considering the impending labor issues between the owners and players that threatens to devolve into a lockout.
“These opportunities aren’t guaranteed,” right guard Brandon Moore, a veteran conscience in the locker room, said yesterday. “You just don’t know if you’ll ever get back to that point. You know you’ve got a good team and you know these opportunities don’t come often.
“I’ve been in the league eight years and to be in contention for the Super Bowl and to be that close and knowing you literally ran out of time to get seven points — it’s just a huge letdown. You think about all the work you put in and all the things you put your body through.”
Will Ryan’s Jets be able to shake the disappointment of the past two seasons and reboot?
Defensive tackle Trevor Pryce said he believes they can and will.
“When I was in Denver, [coach] Mike Shanahan said every year there are seven or eight teams you know that can win the Super Bowl,” Pryce said. “This [Jets] team will be one of those seven or eight teams. The next step for this team is to win the division and have home-field advantage. If this team wins the division, I guarantee it will host the championship game.”
Before they get to that point, though, the Jets must figure out if they want and are able to keep receivers Santonio Holmes and Braylon Edwards or keep only one. Both are unrestricted free agents seeking lucrative long-term contracts.
The Jets must decide what to do with a defensive line that is thin and aging. They almost have to keep defensive end Shaun Ellis because they don’t have enough experienced bodies.
They must decide whether they keep running back LaDainian Tomlinson for one more year as the complement to Shonn Greene or if they develop Joe McKnight in his second season.
In all, the Jets have 18 restricted and unrestricted free agents. The one lock to be re-signed is linebacker David Harris, their leading tackler and quarterback of their front seven.
Do-everything star Brad Smith is someone the Jets desperately don’t want to part with, but he might be seeking Josh Cribbs-type money (about $6 million per year), which could make it hard for the Jets to budget — particularly depending on what they do with Holmes and Edwards.
Cornerback Antonio Cromartie had an inconsistent, sometimes spectacular season. It’s tempting to let him go and make a run at former Raider Nnamdi Asomugha to pair with fellow shutdown corner Darrelle Revis.
Among the other players the Jets must make a decision on are safeties Brodney Pool, Eric Smith and James Ihedigbo, fullback Tony Richardson, cornerback Drew Coleman, kicker Nick Folk, punter Steve Weatherford and backup QB Kellen Clemens.
“I would love to have this entire group back next season, but I recognize that’s not realistic,” Ryan said. “There’s going to be some guys that are going to make a lot more money than we can afford to pay, but it doesn’t mean we don’t appreciate them, because we do.”
mcannizzaro@nypost.com