Brandon Marshall didn’t keep his word last night.
The Dolphins’ mercurial wide receiver was still on the field after halftime, thereby breaking his bizarre promise last week to get ejected midway through the second quarter of his woeful team’s matchup with the Jets at MetLife Stadium.
Marshall did live up to his vow to “play like a monster,” at least in the first half, but it wasn’t enough to stave off a 24-6 Jets victory that kept Miami both winless (0-5) and seemingly hopeless.
Was his ejection pledge just a joke?
“Obviously,” Marshall testily told The Post.
The Dolphins, starting a new quarterback (Panthers castoff Matt Moore) because of Chad Henne’s season-ending shoulder injury, looked as if they believed Marshall’s promise by how furiously they fed him in the early going.
Despite being matched up against Darrelle Revis, Marshall got the call on the Dolphins’ first pass of the night and repeatedly after that as Moore showed no fear of the Jets’ All-Pro cornerback on an early field-goal drive.
“We’re not afraid of anybody,” Miami coach Tony Sparano said.
But it didn’t take long for Moore and the Dolphins to pay dearly for that bravado. Moore’s goal-line throw to Marshall on Miami’s third possession was picked off by Revis and returned 100 yards for a game-turning touchdown.
That backbreaking mistake appeared to scare Moore away from Marshall, who didn’t see another pass his way until the Jets put Antonio Cromartie on him late in the first quarter.
Marshall quickly took advantage of that matchup, hauling in a 46-yard reception down the left sideline after Cromartie inexplicably lost track of the Pro Bowl wideout and left him wide open.
That play apparently emboldened Moore, because he went back to Marshall on a third-down play from the Jets’ 3 moments later with Revis draped all over the receiver. Marshall couldn’t hold on in the end zone, leading to another Dolphins field goal.
The rest of the night was equally frustrating for Marshall. He ended up being targeted 13 times, but caught just six passes for 109 yards and was practically invisible in the second half.
“We’re just not making plays,” Marshall said. “Guys just aren’t playing well. At the end of the day, we just didn’t get it done.”
Marshall only perked up afterward when asked about his entertaining — and unexpected — matchup with Revis.
“I guess they respect me over there,” Marshall said. “I was expecting Cromartie, so it felt good to have Revis on me. You want that challenge. You want that opportunity.”
Marshall wanted it badly enough, in fact, to stick around for the second half.