NFL

Jets’ Maybin back to being a bust

Aaron Maybin’s redemption story is going south again.

The former Bills first-round bust rejuvenated his career as a Jet last season, but Maybin is looking a lot like the guy who washed out in Buffalo again through the first five games this year.

The Jets’ designated third-down speed rusher not only is absent from the sack chart, but Maybin also is pretty much missing in action from the stats sheet. He has played just 18 percent of the snaps this season (62 of 353) while recording a grand total of one solo tackle — repeat: one — in that span.

“It hasn’t been going the way I’ve wanted it to,” Maybin said yesterday as the 2-3 Jets prepared to play host to the 2-2 Colts tomorrow at MetLife Stadium. “Am I frustrated and disappointed? A little bit.”

A big part of Maybin’s problem getting to the quarterback this year is out of his control. The Jets’ defense on first and second downs has been so poor that it cancels the need to bring in a pass rusher on third down because opponents frequently need just two or three yards and more likely to run instead of pass.

That’s a far cry from last season, when the Jets were much better on early downs and Maybin was free to do basically the only thing he is qualified to do in the NFL — use his speed to sprint after the passer.

After failing to record a single sack with the Bills his first two seasons (a distinction that resulted in Buffalo cutting the former Penn State standout after drafting him 11th overall in 2009), Maybin was a candidate for comeback player of the year with six sacks in 2011.

But all of those sacks came in the first 12 weeks, and Maybin disappeared after opponents finally began to game-plan for him and account for his presence. He hasn’t had a sack since last December in a victory over the Redskins — a drought that is now at nine games and counting.

“I’m not going to sneak up on anybody at all this year, but it doesn’t have as much to do a lot with the teams we’re playing as much as it does ourselves,” Maybin said.

Maybin’s minimal playing time is even more glaring because he added 20 pounds in the offseason (to 251) in hopes of cracking the base defense. Maybin thought the extra weight would help him shed tacklers — his biggest weakness — and play the run, but neither has happened.

For his part, coach Rex Ryan is still preaching patience with Maybin.

“A lot goes into it the way teams are attacking us on third down,” Ryan said recently about Maybin’s performance. “They’re moving the pocket, and it’s hard to get to a guy then. At the end, I’m sure those [sack] numbers will come.”

Maybin might not be posting any numbers (or even seeing the field, for that matter, but he certainly hasn’t lost his confidence.

“I’m still the fastest linebacker on the team — you won’t find anybody that second-guesses that,” he said. “And as soon as we take care of business on first and second down, third down will be a party for me again.”