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Jets rookie Malachi Corley turned the ball over for a touchdown after dropping the ball in front of the goal line against the Texans.

DENNIS WASZAK Jr., AP Pro Football Writer

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Malachi Corley thought he had scored his first NFL touchdown for the New York Jets — but the rookie receiver dropped the ball before it crossed the goal line.

And he rolled out of the end zone. So, no touchdown, no Jets turnover, and one huge rookie mistake.

“First of all, you can’t do that,” interim coach Jeff Ulbrich told Corley. – Secondly, you owe us.

With the Jets down Houston 21-13 early in the second quarter at the Texans 19 early in the second quarter, Corley took the ball from Aaron Rodgers and raced down the right sideline. Corley raced toward the end zone, but just before crossing the goal line, he dropped the ball from his right hand to celebrate.

Video review showed he missed the end zone before throwing it away. So Corley was credited with an 18-yard run and a fumble. And since the ball rolled out of the end zone, it was a touchback and a turnover.

The performance stunned the crowd at MetLife Stadium, which was only three-quarters full on Halloween night.

“I’m definitely upset, to be honest,” Ulbrich said of his initial reaction. “And at the same time I’m angry. But what an amazing opportunity for this child to grow and learn. I promise you that in 10 years, when he’s still playing in this league, this will never happen again.”

Corley was a third-round draft pick out of Western Kentucky and hasn’t seen much action this season. In four NFL games, he entered with just 4 yards catch.

The early touchdown celebration was reminiscent of DeSean Jackson’s gaffe as a rookie for Philadelphia during a Monday Night Football game during the 2008 season. He celebrated a touchdown prematurely against Dallas, throwing the ball behind him at the 1-yard line before running into the end zone.

Rodgers said during his weekly appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Friday that the Jets actually showed players the mistake last week of Atlanta’s Kyle Pitts stopping near the end zone at the end of a 49-yard touchdown and safety. Antoine Winfield knocked the ball out of Pitts’ hand. The officials ruled that Pitts had crossed the goal line before the ball was released.

“So that’s definitely on his radar,” Rogers said of Corley. “Great play challenge, great execution. The only thing I could say to Malachi, and I told him this on the sideline, was, “Why would you even drop the ball?” This is your first landing. You celebrate with this thing, you run to the sideline with this thing.”

And then, Rodgers told him, he should have given the ball to one of the team’s equipment crew members to make sure he kept his memento of the touchdown.

“And you say, ‘I want this back. I’m just giving it to you right now, but it’s mine,” Rogers said. “I mean, this is his first touchdown. But look, he was excited. This is a play that happened. It sucks, it’s disappointing. Nobody feels worse than him, but it’s kind of crazy.”

During a video call Friday, Ulbrich echoed Rodgers’ sentiment that Corley should never have given up football.

“Don’t ever come close to that,” the interim coach said. “For example, we never put anything in the referee’s hands, so it’s 100% on us as coaches to emphasize that and the player executing it is squeezing the ball hard enough to push it out until you’re absolutely sure are in the end zone.”

The Associated Press contributed to this article.