In a perfect world, C.J. Mosley is owed some things. Team success. Playoff games. Maybe even a championship.
The rock of a linebacker in the middle of the Jets defense does everything the right way. He’s a model of consistency.
He’s the unquestioned leader of a defense that ranked third in the NFL last season and was fourth in 2022.
He’s a consistent tackling machine, having amassed 478 of them in the past three seasons, during which he’s missed only one game.
Football has given Mosley a terrific life, made him more money than he and his family may ever need.
But Mosley, for all the things he has, lacks team success with the Jets. He last played a postseason game with the Ravens in 2018 and has played in only three of them in his career.
There might not be a player on the Jets hungrier to win than Mosley. And there’s definitely not a player more deserving of tasting the nectar of team success than him.
In a post-practice sit-down with The Post this week, Mosley conceded he dreams about winning a championship with the Jets “every single day.’’
And, with a healthy Aaron Rodgers at quarterback, some tantalizing skill-position players such as receiver Garrett Wilson and running back Breece Hall and most of the players from the third-ranked defense back, Mosley can’t help but believe his time is now.
And should the Jets finally reach the Promised Land, where Joe Namath was the last to walk, Mosley knows exactly what he’s going to do.
Bask in being a champion.
“The last time I held up a trophy was 2013 when I was at Alabama and we beat Notre Dame in Miami, and one thing I always regretted was, after that game, not enjoying that moment,’’ Mosley said. “Because with coach [Nick] Saban, the way it was set up was always, ‘What’s next?’
“So, when we win with the New York Jets, after the game I’m definitely going to allow myself to enjoy it.’’
Mosley said the Super Bowl is on his mind every day he comes to work at the Jets’ practice facility, because the Super Bowl III trophy sits on display just inside the front door.
“What’s cool is once Aaron got here, people — mainly him — weren’t afraid to talk about the Super Bowl, like saying it loud, like it’s a thing and we can do it,’’ Mosley said.
Mosley recalled seeing a social media video of Rodgers at a Taylor Swift concert with confetti raining down at MetLife Stadium and saying, “I can’t wait to see this at the Super Bowl.’’
“That gave me chills,’’ Mosley said. “You envision that. When he said that, I was like, ‘Yeah, I see it and I feel it.’ ’’
Mosley, in a different, quieter way of leading than Rodgers, has joined forces with the uber-confident quarterback in trying to convince the players around them that this is possible.
“I love C.J. — he’s a pro’s pro,’’ Rodgers said. “He goes about it the right way. He doesn’t say a whole lot, but when he does everybody kinds of perks up. He reminds me of Julius Peppers [the linebacker/edge rusher who Rodgers played with in Green Bay]. And Julius is going to the Hall of Fame. Julius kind of led by example. “The play style is always the same with C.J. He’s tough, he’s physical, he’s athletic, he’s smart. He just has that lead-by-example [way about him], which you appreciate. You always know what you’re going to get with him.’’
You root for players like Mosley, who do everything the right way, to get what you believe they deserve. Mosley, though, is very pragmatic about life and doesn’t buy into the thought that he’s owed anything by the game.
“Not in this sport,’’ Mosley said. “You’ve still got to earn it every single day.’’
Mosley said “every now and then’’ a poster of the 2019 Jets, his first year with the team, “pops up’’ on his social media feed and it reminds him about how quickly things change in the NFL.
“It shows how I’m the only one still left,’’ he said.
It, too, is a reminder of how difficult his Jets journey was at the beginning.
There was the severe groin injury he suffered in his first game with the team after signing a five-year $85 million contract. Mosley had a pick-six and a fumble recovery in that game before the injury wrecked the rest of his season.
Then there was the COVID-19 year in 2020, during which Mosley opted out for the safety of his family.
Adam Gase, the Jets head coach when Mosley was signed, was fired after 2020 and replaced by Robert Saleh.
“For any athlete, once you sign a contract, a big contract, the two things you don’t want to deal with are injuries and coaching changes, and that happened my first two years … plus COVID,’’ Mosley said. “So, looking back on it, it wasn’t meant to be at that time.’’
He believes it’s meant to be now.
“We’re at a point now, collectively as a team, that this is a playoff team,’’ Mosley said. “But we just can’t say that. We have to go out there and execute it.’’
And earn it, which is the Mosley way.