CLEVELAND — Ashtyn Davis isn’t close to the top of the list of Jets players the Browns need to be aware of when they play Thursday night in Cleveland.
The Jets fourth-year safety, in fact, is probably not even on the list at all.
Unless the Cleveland coaching staff has a short memory or is taking the selective-amnesia approach, perhaps Davis should be on its radar — even though he plays only 16 percent of the Jets’ defensive snaps.
It was Davis, after all, who closed out the Jets’ improbable 31-30 comeback victory over the Browns in the final two minutes at their house in Week 2 last season, picking off then-Cleveland quarterback Jacoby Brissett with six seconds remaining to seal the victory.
It was Davis’ only play on defense that day and it came on a defensive alignment the Jets call their “bandit package.’’
“That was when my number was called,’’ Davis recalled to The Post on Tuesday. “I was just sitting there robbing the quarterback, read his eyes and he gave me a gift.’’
Davis won’t play a lot of plays on defense Thursday night, but he might make a few of them. Given his uncanny knack for being around the football, he may have another gift or two in store for the Jets.
Despite his limited snaps, Davis has three fumble recoveries this season, the most recent coming on special teams in this past Sunday’s win over the Commanders, against whom he also made a violent pass breakup 10 seconds into the game that resulted in a Tony Adams interception deep in Washington territory.
He has two interceptions this season and helped force a safety in the Jets’ win over the Texans.
“My college defensive backs coach at Cal, Gerald Alexander, always used to say the ball is like oxygen, that the ball will change your life,’’ Davis said. “It’s all about the ball, always and forever. I live that and try to show it on Sundays.’’
His coaches and teammates have noticed.
“You mean the guy with the most turnovers per play in the world?’’ Jets linebacker and captain C.J. Mosley said with a smile when The Post asked him about Davis. “Every time he’s been on defense, he’s always around the ball and he’s been productive. He does the right things, he’s reliable, he’s a smart guy, We love him as a player and as a man. And when he steps onto the field, we expect him to get the ball. He’s one of our closers at the end of games.’’
Just ask the Browns.
“That was his one play in the game on defense and we needed him,’’ Mosley said.
“I love AD, and he’s definitely not a guy for us who’s forgotten at all,’’ defensive end Solomon Thomas told The Post. “We understand who he is and his percentage rate that he gets the ball, how cognizant he is about getting the ball and his skills to get the ball. He’s just a guy who’s always going to get the ball when he’s out there. It’s crazy to think what he can do with more playing time.’’
This is a question Davis ponders as well, though you’ll never hear him complain about it.
“It’s a natural thing to wonder,’’ Davis said. “But I can’t control that. I just try to make the most of the opportunities that I do get. And, if it increases, great, I think my production will increase as well. But if it doesn’t, I’ll just keep doing my thing.’’
Adams, a starting safety, was glad Davis was on the field doing his thing Sunday when he blew up Commanders tight end Logan Thomas on a pass breakup and sent the ball fluttering into Adams’ arms on the second play from scrimmage.
“ ‘AD’ is a hell of a player,’’ Adams said. “That guy’s special, man. The ball just seems to find him. Wherever he goes, the ball is usually there.’’
Consider this tongue-in-cheek post on X from Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner on Monday: “AD gotta be living right when nobody’s watching. The ball always finds him.’’
Jets head coach Robert Saleh recently marveled: “All Ashtyn does is find the ball. He been a valuable and very underrated piece of this defense. He has earned his right to be on the football field. He is forcing his way on the field. He may be underappreciated, but not in this building. He embodies everything we believe in with regards to playing defense on this football team.”
Mosley called Davis “like the story that you want for players who are trying to make it,’’ adding, “He’s just a guy that proves that if you do the right things, stay consistent and do what the coaches ask you — and outside of that you keep doing more and you keep getting better — those opportunities are going to come.’’
Browns beware.