NFL

Bengals’ Geno big challenge for Jets line

Jets rookie left guard Brian Winters has never battled someone like Bengals All-Pro defensive tackle Geno Atkins. But he has seen someone like him every week.

“He kind of reminds me of Sheldon Richardson,” Winters said, comparing Atkins to the Jets’ rookie defensive tackle. “This week in practice I’ve asked to go against him, just to kind of get a feel for [Atkins] because they play similar.

“[Atkins has] got the leverage and he’s really aggressive. He’s a tough player. He goes to the end of the whistle. You can’t ever give up or go light on him. You always got to attack.”

On Sunday in Cincinnati, Atkins will lead one of the league’s most dangerous pass rushes against a Jets offense that has allowed 25 sacks this season, the fifth-most in the league.

Winters, who allowed two sacks last Sunday and will be making his fourth straight start since replacing Vladimir Ducasse, will face the toughest test of his young career, going against a player with 20 sacks over the past two seasons and four this year.

Atkins is a new challenge for Winters — he played left tackle at Kent State and is learning a new position — but is a familiar foe for right guard Willie Colon, who played Atkins twice a year for the past three years while with the Steelers.

“The thing that people don’t understand is he’s not a tall guy, but as short as he is, he’s strong as a bull,” Colon said of the 6-foot-1 Atkins. “If your hands and your feet aren’t correct, he’ll take advantage of that.

“His center of gravity and my center of gravity are two different places. You just have to be extremely conscious of where your hand placement is at. Some of the things you may do against a bigger guy, you can’t do against him or he’ll take advantage of that.”

Jets coach Rex Ryan said Atkins is as difficult a player to stop as any his line will see all season, but the coach also noted the rest of the Bengals’ unit — Carlos Dunlap, Michael Johnson and Domata Peko — can be just as troublesome, earning an additional eight sacks this season.

“This defensive line, it’s outstanding, it really is,” Ryan said. “Man, [Dunlap’s] really playing well as the left end. Of course, the Atkins kid is becoming a household name having 12½ sacks last year, a Pro Bowl guy. And he earns that reputation, he really plays hard. Then Michael Johnson, the big, huge guy they franchised last year. … It’s a huge challenge for us.”

The Jets have alternated wins and losses since the season-opening win against the Buccaneers, and though Colon can’t figure out why, he admitted the team’s preparation and focus suffered in the weeks they lost.

An identity, he said, is emerging though, seen in the Jets’ throwback ground-and-pound performance against the Patriots, with Chris Ivory running 34 times for 104 yards.

Cementing that identity is what Colon thinks can make them great.

“One thing I give credit to about the Patriots and I hate to even talk about them, they’re just good at what they do,” Colon told The Post. “They don’t blitz a lot, they don’t give you a whole lot of exotic things, they’re just great at what they do. They’re disciplined, they’re focused and that’s what makes them a great team.

“We have to get on a level where what we do is just great. Pittsburgh, they’re just great at power, that’s just what they do, they run the football. We want to find that niche and just perfect it. … If we come out and play physical and we block them up front, the sky’s the limit for this team.”