NFL

Mason says time with Jets never existed

BALTIMORE — The record books will tell you Derrick Mason debuted for the fourth team of his NFL career when he played for the Texans against the Ravens yesterday at M&T Bank Stadium.

Mason will tell you the Texans are his third NFL team.

The Jets?

As far as Mason is concerned, his five-game career with the Jets — before he was unceremoniously traded to the Texans last week for what amounted to a pack of bubble gum — is blank space on the back of his football card.

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“To me, I went from Baltimore to here [the Texans],” Mason told The Post after the Ravens beat his new team 29-14. “I don’t know what you’re talking about when you mention that other place, but this place here I’m excited about.

“The two teams that I’ve played for — Tennessee (where he spent his first eight seasons) and Baltimore (where he spent the last six) –that’s all I care about. They respected what I did as a player — inside the locker room, on the field and outside the locker room. That’s all I care about.

“What went on with that other team . . . it won’t tarnish my career, not one bit.”

This was the beginning of a series of thinly-veiled shots Mason took at the Jets, who traded him to the Texans for a conditional seventh-round draft choice last Tuesday night, scapegoating him for the team’s sluggish 2-3 start and using him to send a locker room message that no player is safe.

Mason has been careful not to lash out at the Jets, committed to keeping his good-guy reputation intact. But there were several pointed references he made about the Jets and Texans that didn’t require very strong prescription glasses to read between the lines.

The Jets’ public spin on why they traded Mason — despite being thin at the receiver position even with him — was all about his lack of production. Privately, team sources said Mason was having trouble learning the offense.

Mason heard that talk and it rankled him, which is why he took delight in the fact that, despite having less than four days to learn the Texans’ system, he caught three passes for 27 yards, including an 11-yard third-down catch on Houston’s opening drive.

“Listen, I’m a very, very bright young man,” he said sarcastically. “I’m very smart. I was here for three or four days and I picked up on a lot of plays and they threw a lot at me.”

Mason’s repeated high praise of Texans quarterback Matt Schaub clearly indicated he wasn’t very high on Mark Sanchez, who when Mason was traded had a very disinterested, lukewarm response — an indication he wasn’t heartbroken to see Mason dealt.

Mason said Schaub throwing to him on the first series “showed that Matt has a lot of confidence in me. I instantly smiled [when he learned about the trade] because this offense scores a lot of points and they have a very good quarterback. That’s a wide receiver’s best friend when you have a good quarterback.”

You might wonder what all the fuss is about over a 37-year-old No. 3 receiver, and that’s a fair question. But the way the Jets so cryptically handled the issue publicly added intrigue to the entire episode.

And Mason, after days of stewing about the way he’s been portrayed in New York, finally vented yesterday.

“I fell, I got back up, brushed myself off and moved on,” he said. “I’m very resilient. I’m in a place where I’m wanted now. I’m happy.”

Asked if he felt he wasn’t wanted by the Jets, Mason said, “I continued to smile. That’s one thing they were not going to take away from me. Even when they did some things that I thought were a little questionable, I still smiled when I went to work.”

Now the only question that remains from this saga is: Who’ll have the last laugh?

mark.cannizzaro@nypost.com