A lack of big stats didn’t stop Quinnen Williams and Sauce Gardner from drawing big respect on Pro Bowl ballots.
Two of the Jets’ cornerstones were voted into the NFL’s Pro Bowl Games — both for the second time in as many years — as announced Wednesday.
Williams and Gardner finished ninth at defensive tackle and 10th at cornerback, respectively, in the fan vote, before player and coach ballots were added to the equation.
Williams’ 3.5 sacks are down from his career-high 12 last season but his quarterback pressures are up from 52 to 64 and he is graded as the No. 3-ranked defensive tackle in the league by Pro Football Focus.
Only the Giants’ Dexter Lawrence and Rams’ future Hall of Famer Aaron Donald fared better than Williams, who is graded tops in rush defense.
As an encore to his Defensive Rookie of the Year debut, Gardner allowed 29 catches for 251 yards and one touchdown, according to PFF.
After drawing 73 targets as a rookie, Gardner has faced only 50 through the first 16 games.
With that increased respect from opposing quarterbacks, Gardner is responsible for 10 passes defended and is searching for his first interception.
He forced one fumble.
The best case for a Pro Bowl snub belongs to linebacker Quincy Williams, who ranks fifth in the league in solo tackles (91) and has two sacks, two forced fumbles and an interception.
He has developed into one of the league’s best coverage linebackers.
As one opponent told The Post, “Quincy was a beast this year.”
Six Jets were named alternates, including kicker Greg Zuerlein and punter Thomas Moorstead as first-alternates.
The Jets didn’t bite on playing spoiler to what could be Bill Belichick’s final game as Patriots head coach after 23 seasons.
“That’s probably too much for me to think about,” quarterback Trevor Siemian said. “I think it sounds good, but I don’t think you need any extra incentive to play hard or try to win a game. It’s the last game of the season. We want this one badly. We want to finish with a win.”
Head coach Robert Saleh downplayed it as “every week is the same” — an unintended homage to Belichick’s fondness for clichés and disdain for bulletin-board material.
“He’s transcended the sport just in terms of how they prepare, their in-game management, their communication, everything they do,” Saleh said. “They’ve been a model of consistency.”
DE Jermaine Johnson is coming off arguably the best game of his breakout second season.
He scored a touchdown on an interception return and might have had another against the Browns if the officials didn’t blow dead his fumble recovery, which confused him because he “wasn’t touched.”
“Once I realized they called it dead, I was kind of upset,” said Johnson, a former high school receiver. “It was fun running with the ball again. I was … starting to slow up, seeing who I can juke out and everything. That was a touchdown. I knew it was going to be because I had nothing but O-linemen in front of me.”
QB Zach Wilson, TE Jeremy Ruckert and OL Jacob Hansen all remain in the concussion protocol and will not play against the Patriots, Saleh announced.
QB Aaron Rodgers (Achilles) and OL Wes Schweitzer (calf) were limited in Wednesday’s practice.