Mark Cannizzaro

Mark Cannizzaro

NFL

Belittled Jets wide receivers helping team stay afloat

Professional athletes who have endured public criticism always tell you they don’t pay attention to the naysayers. They insist they don’t read the newspapers, listen to the radio or watch television.

They are lying.

Professional athletes know exactly what people think about them. The Jets receiving corps, for example? They know exactly how little they were thought of entering this season, how they were perceived as the team’s biggest weakness.

It was only one week — albeit a crucial overtime victory over the rival Patriots with the division threatening to slip from their reach — but without the contributions of receivers Jeremy Kerley and newcomer David Nelson the Jets do not beat New England and creep to within a game of first place in the AFC East.

Kerley’s eight catches for 97 yard and a touchdown represented the second-best output of his career. Five of his catches went for third-down conversions.

Nelson, despite having been with the team for less than three weeks, caught four passes for 80 yards, three of which were third-down conversions.

Stephen Hill added one catch for 17 yards.

This is not exactly Jerry Rice and John Taylor during the 49ers’ dynasty or the “Marks Brothers’’ — Duper and Clayton — with the Dolphins in their heyday. But the 4-3 Jets are surviving at receiver despite the fire drill the position has become with Santonio Holmes (hamstring) unable to get back onto the field and Clyde Gates out for the season.

The injuries have opened the door of opportunity for Nelson and former Brown Josh Cribbs, both of whom were signed in the last three weeks.

The best story of the group is Nelson, who was a productive receiver with the Bills (61 catches and five touchdowns in 2011) before he blew out a knee in the season opener last year against the Jets.

Nelson, who was not brought back by the Bills, lasted from Aug. 8 to Aug. 31 with the Browns before they released him and was signed by the receiver-thin Jets on Oct. 5. Little did the Jets know how badly they would need him last Sunday against New England — and now, going forward.

“Kerley doesn’t surprise me because he’s been making plays for us,’’ coach Rex Ryan said Wednesday. “Nelson was a great pickup for us. Having coached against him when he was in Buffalo, I knew he was a good player, a good blocker, a competitive guy. But you don’t really know what you have. He’s come here, had to learn the system and has been almost forced into playing a little, and the guy’s really stepped up. Sometimes these things happen.’’

If the Jets are to remain in contention with the Patriots, these things need to continue to happen.

The constant personnel shuffle does not make the job any easier for rookie quarterback Geno Smith, and it has surely contributed to Smith’s (and the team’s) on-one-week, off-the-next play.

When Nelson was on the outside, without a job, looking in at the Jets’ receiving situation this is what he saw: “I knew they were talented, just unproven, hungry to prove that they belonged and were a strength of this team.’’

Now, after last week’s eye-opening performance against New England?

“I think we’re a strength of this team now,’’ Nelson said. “Look at the way we played the other day. New England came out in man-to-man coverage and we did a great job handling it. Any time you have a team that’s going to play man-to-man across the board your receivers are going to have to step up. Jeremy had five third-down catches, I had three, and Stephen had a couple big plays. The plays we made last week really fired this team up and took it to the next level.’’

Make no mistake: This is not a stable of Pro Bowl talent the Jets have catching passes for them. Kerley’s team-leading 24 catches do not even rank among the top 50 among NFL receivers. Hill is second on the team with 19 catches, which do not rank him among the top 50 in the AFC.

So let’s not send these guys to Hawaii in February. But collectively, the group has a chance to keep the Jets offensively competitive, which coupled with their stout defense, should be enough to keep them in the playoff conversation well into December.