The way Daniel Brown entered the NFL is exactly how he’s stayed in pro football.

Earlier this offseason, Brown, the former James Madison standout wide receiver, inked a one-year contract extension with the New York Jets after earning five starts at tight end and appearing in all 16 games for Gang Green last season.

“Every year for me has been a one-year deal,” Brown said in a phone interview with the Daily News-Record. “So that’s really just scratching and clawing to keep my spot, which maybe helps so I don’t get complacent or anything like that.”

Brown said he gained more and more opportunity this past fall with New York. He was a primary player on special teams from the opener to the finale – he said he led the club in special teams snaps. And down the stretch, as the Jets improved, he became an offensive starter when the franchise needed him to.

New York finished 7-9 overall but won six of its last eight contests - including games at Washington and at Buffalo when Brown proved reliable for quarterback Sam Darnold.

Brown made a season-high three catches against the Bills in Week 17, and versus the Redskins, he snagged a 20-yard touchdown catch to open the scoring in an eventual 34-17 win for the Jets. On the play, the 6-foot-5 ex-member of the Dukes adapted and improvised to sneak past the defense as Darnold maneuvered left before throwing to Brown past the pylon.

“So it probably ended up being the most offense I played since I’ve been in the league,” Brown said. “Granted there were some injuries [to other Jets tight ends] toward the end of the year … but I think I showed them enough offensively in the last four games and throughout the year on special teams that I’d be an asset to be brought back for this year.”

Following Brown’s touchdown grab in Washington, Darnold told reporters post-game: “[Brown] did a really good job. He wasn’t supposed to be over there, but he did a really good job once I broke the pocket to find the open space and get in the end zone.”

And Brown said knowing the ins and outs of the Jets’ offensive system was an edge for him over others on the roster. Jets offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains held the same job in Chicago in 2016 and 2017 while Brown was with the Bears.

On special teams, Brown tallied six tackles, the most he’s had in any of his five NFL seasons, and he said he also learned what was important to New York special teams coordinator Brant Boyer.

“Versatility, honestly,” Brown said. “I think there were only a few positions I didn’t play throughout the whole year. I played every position on punt besides gunner. I was the third-string [personal protector], the second-string long snapper and then I played guard, tackle and slot. Then on punt returns, the same thing with being able to play all the spots and the same on kickoff return. So I’d say versatility and doing well at each position.

“That let them trust me and allowed them to put me anywhere.”

He said he’s kept the same philosophy to be versatile and show coaches, front office personnel and teammates his value ever since his NFL career began in a rookie minicamp tryout with the Baltimore Ravens following five years at JMU.

With the Dukes, Brown recorded 91 catches for 1,450 yards and 17 touchdowns and was an All-Colonial Athletic Association second-team wide receiver as a senior.

“I didn’t have high hopes of getting drafted,” Brown recalled. “I just didn’t think I was going to. I kind of hoped that I would have free-agent buzz and it was a little disappointing that I didn’t. The only opportunity I had was the rookie minicamp tryout with the Ravens … so it was a little frustrating, but it gave me a little chip on my shoulder going into that camp.”

But that was nothing new for Brown, who had no scholarship offers upon graduating from the Isle of Wight Academy in southeast Virginia and was a preferred walk-on at JMU under former coach Mickey Matthews.

For Matthews’ Dukes, Brown notched his first college touchdown on a 41-yard grab in a 2011 game at North Carolina. As a junior, during Matthews’ last year at the helm of Madison, Brown had three touchdown catches – still tied for the most touchdown receptions in a single game in school history – to help JMU rout Albany.

“And I think Mickey was one of my biggest supporters in terms of trying to play [in the NFL],” Brown said. “He’d been telling me ever since my sophomore year that if I stuck with it and trained the way I should that I’d have a shot at the next level because he had been around big programs before, so he knew talent when he saw it, so I’d say he was probably my biggest supporter for it.”

As for how Brown is preparing for this coming fall, he like everyone else is stuck at home while the world deals with the COVID-19 pandemic.

He lives in New Jersey and is working out at home. He said the Jets' strength and conditioning staff set up an app filled with at-home workouts focused on body-weighted exercises for players to do daily since NFL club facilities have been closed since March 26. Once football does return he’ll be excited to see how the Jets can build off their strong finish from last year, he said.

“I think when Sam came back and got into his groove and we went 6-2 down the stretch,” Brown said, “it just showed the potential that the offense does have.”