Since the NFL began tracking tackles in 1987, four players have had more than three seasons with at least 150. New York Jets linebacker C.J. Mosley just completed his third season in a row with more than 150 tackles.

“No significance,” Mosley said of his achievement. “Just what I do. Not just to be funny, but I’ve been playing football my whole life. I can run and hit any time, any day. But to win the championship, you need more than that. We got that mental toughness part. That’s why I said I wouldn’t take anything away from this season because I learned so much as a player, but also as a leader.

“Every year, it feels like I just grow so much as a player, as a leader. I never take being voted as a captain for granted, so any chance I get to just give anybody some type of motivation, advice, belief, vision, whatever it is, that’s why I’m here. I can go out there and call plays and make a tackle, but if nobody believes in what we’re doing or if they don’t see why we’re doing it, then I’m not doing my job.”

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The Jets posted a disappointing 7-10 record in 2023. That left New York out of the playoffs for the 13th year in a row, the longest postseason drought in the NFL.

But Mosley said he did not think these were the same old Jets.

“At the end of the day, it’s about wins and losses, when you see the big picture, and getting to the playoffs,” Mosley said, “so in that aspect, you got me. We didn’t make the playoffs again. But if you look at when I first got here, I know what we do in this building, and we can only control what we do here. So it’s just my part to ignore the noise, as we say, and just bring the right mindset and work ethic to work every day.”

This season, only two NFL teams yielded fewer yards than the New York defense. But only one AFC team scored fewer points than the Jets, and the New York offense gained the fewest yards in the conference.

“It’s human nature,” Mosley said when asked about pointing the finger at the Jets offense. “Sometimes it’s like you can control what you can control, and other times it gets to you. You get frustrated. I can only speak for myself personally, but I don’t play my best when I’m frustrated, especially when I’m worried about the clock and looking at the score and focused on what the offense is doing. It just takes me out of my game.

“The only reason I know that is my dad told me that this past year. He told me that for the first time he saw me looking at the clock, at the scoreboard. I was like, ‘Wow, I really was.’ Once I took that part of the game out of it and just focused on our job on defense — and that’s getting off the field. We had a meeting as a defense: Let’s control what we can control.

“You want to make the extra plays when things are going tough. You want to be the guy to go make that tackle, but now you’re just putting yourself out of position. Now when you’re out of position, that leads to one guy being open. Now the next guy’s got to – so it’s just a trickle-down effect. It’s human nature to want to do more, especially when you’re losing, but we had to trust each other. We have to do our job. The team that does that, plays disciplined football, stays consistent, those are the teams that come out on top.”

The Jets weren’t supposed to have offensive problems this season. In April, New York obtained four-time NFL Most Valuable Player Aaron Rodgers in a trade with the Green Bay Packers. But the quarterback sustained a season-ending injury on the Jets’ fourth snap of the first game.

“Not as much as you would think,” Mosley said when asked how much he pondered how different the season might have been if Rodgers hadn’t gotten hurt, “because once you go down that path, it’s all imaginative. And so I just try to stay in the present. …

“Obviously, we all wish he would have played, and nobody knows how this year would have looked if he had played. We do have a great opportunity to run it back next year, so let’s do everything we can and plug in the right pieces and look at the right side of the ball that’s necessary to do so.”

Mosley said the opportunity will be in front of the Jets again in 2024.

“The door has been opened,” Mosley said. “We just got to kick it down. There’s something behind there that’s blocking it. We just got to knock that door down. …

“I think physically we’re ready for that challenge. Mentally, we were tested a lot this year, and, for the most part, we held it down. But it’s going to take a whole ‘nother level to get to where we want. It’s going to be tough. It’s not going to be easy. It’s not going to be fair. Just got to do it.”

When the 2024 season kicks off, Mosley will be 32 years old. He said his age isn’t something he considers, except when asked about it.

“It’s really not my fault because everybody else talks about the age,” Mosley said. “In my head, I’m really not old, if you’re talking life. But if you want to go football, all right, I’m older. But I feel great.

“I give credit to this organization, bringing the right people in. When I come to work, even if I do come in with an attitude or I’m not having a good day, as soon as I get in my linebacker meeting room, I’m good because those are my brothers. They share the same pain, the same passion, the same love. Just got a locker room full of great people, and our coaches, too, so even to come to work after a tough game, after a tough loss, after an injury and still find joy in and still find a way to improve and get better, that’s what it’s all about.”

Mosley was a two-time All-State linebacker for Theodore High School. In 2009, he earned the Class 6A Lineman of the Year Award and recognition as a Parade All-American.

At Alabama, Mosley was a consensus All-American in 2012 and a unanimous All-American in 2013, when he earned the SEC Defensive Player of the Year Award and the Butkus Award as the nation’s best linebacker. Mosley played for two national-championship teams with the Crimson Tide.

Mosley entered the NFL as the 17th pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, and he’s been a Pro Bowler five times.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.