Bless Austin has spent a calendar year playing in the NFL. It was Nov. 7, 2019 when the team activated him off the non-football injury list and he saw his first action that week against the Giants.

The Jets second-year cornerback has had ups and downs since then and is one of the young players the Jets must evaluate to determine whether he is part of the future and, if he is, how big a part of it he can be.

“I see him still getting better,” defensive backs coach Dennard Wilson said last week. “He’s working every day. It’s starting to click. I felt bad for him last week, giving up two explosive plays, but he was competing. He didn’t care who he was going up against and he was going up against a good player and a good player made a play on him.”

Wilson was referring to the Chiefs game when Austin gave up two touchdowns. He had a rough day against Chiefs receivers Tyreek Hill and Demarcus Robinson. In all, he gave up nine catches for 99 yards and two touchdowns. Austin said he moved on quickly after that game.

“People who watch the game linger on the game longer than we do,” Austin said. “After the game is over, corrections are made, and we move on. We’re not worried about that last game. It’s time to move on and get ready for this next game.”

Wilson said he thought Austin did not look like himself early in the game.

“The thing about him, early in the game he wasn’t as aggressive as he normally is,” Wilson said. “He found confidence. One play, for example, he lined up in man-to-man against [Travis] Kelce. He got in his grill and he tried to challenge him. Then, he started to have confidence. On a situation where they were in shotgun, they ran a double move against the young man. It was a good player that’s been good in this league making a good play on another good player. It happens. He has to learn from it. He has to understand that he has to be detailed in his technique every time he lines up. It will allow him to get through plays like that. He’ll be better for it. He wasn’t that rattled. He shook it off. He’s out there competing again and he’s up the challenge.”

Jets general manager Joe Douglas has work to do at cornerback in the offseason. The Jets don’t appear to have any certain long-term answers at the position. Austin could change that if he plays well down the stretch and convinces the front office he should remain a starter. Austin is a tough tackler and definitely looks like he belongs in the NFL, but sometimes he struggles in coverage.

Austin had to sit out the first half of last year as he recovered from knee surgery that he underwent while still at Rutgers. He became a starter in the second half of the season but then lost his job when he got burned before halftime in a Week 16 win over the Steelers. He has started six of the Jets’ eight games this year, missing time with a calf injury.

“I feel like I’ve been doing well,” Austin said. “There’s definitely room for improvement in a lot of aspects. For the most part, I’m trending the way I want to trend. I’m making progressions. Not everything is figured out, but I’m definitely taking those steps from last year, no doubt.”

Wilson said Austin has impressed him with how he practices.

“He’s trying to detail his work,” Wilson said. “He’s trying to be the best that he can be. He shows it at practice. He’s tough. He hasn’t given up and the arrow is still going up on the young man.”

Austin said it does not matter to him that the Jets played on “Monday Night Football” this week. He does not care what day they play.

“It just means a lot to me to be playing in the league period,” Austin said. “I don’t really care what day it is. I just want to play football. I don’t get into the details of things. It’s 8 o’clock, prime time. It’s football.”