SPLIT WILKʼ

Gang Green left crying over star DT mega-deal

JETS defensive coordinator Kacy Rodgers is like the president’s press secretary. He faces the media every now and then and tries to put a positive spin on everything, even though he has no real power.

Ask him about the season defensive tackle Muhammad Wilkerson is having, and he gives you the half-full instead of the half-empty speech.

“We just like the way he’s battling,” Rodgers said this week. “The last couple of weeks, people have really been trying to pound the ball. They’ve been trying to get up on us and really trying to pound it. He’s slugging it out.”

I guess that means Wilkerson’s is trying, which hasn’t always been evident during this disappointing 2016 season. If the Jets were to make the playoffs in their second year under head coach Todd Bowles, the team’s highest-paid players would have had to play like their best players.

Instead, cornerback Darrelle Revis, who is making $17 million this year, is enduring the worst season of his career, giving up more big plays than anyone ever could have been imagined. Revis’ body could be betraying him after all these years of wear and tear protecting Revis Island.

What is baffling is the lack of production by Wilkerson, who has offered the Jets little return on the five-year $86 million contract he signed in July. He went into Saturday night’s game against the Dolphins at MetLife Stadium with just 2.5 sacks on the season with zero coming in the past five games. There’s little chance of him coming close to the 12.0 sacks he posted last year.

Once a force who disrupted opposing offenses, Wilkerson has been a non-factor in most games, his name hardly mentioned for something positive. It is known Wilkerson has been hampered by an ankle injury for much of the year, and if that is the reason for his decline, maybe the Jets would have been better off resting him somewhere along the way.

Perhaps even more egregious, Wilkerson was benched, along with defensive end Sheldon Richardson, for the first quarter of the Jets’ Nov. 6 game against the Dolphins in Miami. Later, it was reported they were benched for being late to “several team meetings.”

This might have been the first time the Jets started regretting their investment in Wilkerson. Given a rich contract and the financial security it brings, Wilkerson needed to step up his role as a team leader, someone who is expected to set the example for others to follow. Yet, he put himself in a situation where he was benched for the first quarter of a key division game the Jets lost 27-23 to start a four-game losing streak.

The Jets need Wilkerson to be a positive role model on the field and in the locker room. The ankle might be a legitimate hindrance, and anyone who follows football respects that. They also know no one cares. The NFL is about production, and Wilkerson hasn’t given the Jets much of that this season.

The Temple product always has been more about letting his actions speak louder than his words. That was OK when he was growing up in the organization and had more outspoken teammates like Damon Harrison, Calvin Pace and Antonio Cromartie. Now, he needs to be the face and voice of a franchise and accept the responsibility that comes with it.

The Jets didn’t have to give Wilkerson his rich deal, which came with $53 million in guaranteed money. It looked like the club was going to force him to play this year under the franchise tag for $15 million. But not wanting a disgruntled star, the Jets signed him to a lucrative long-term deal that most everyone applauded.

Now, the Jets are 4-9, and Wilkerson is a major disappointment, leaving Rodgers to put a positive spin on what looks like a financial disaster.