Criticism finds tight end Julius Thomas on Mondays. A week after getting ripped for his blocking by the Arizona Cardinals, the Broncos star was knocked for his touchdown celebration against the New York Jets.

After his second score and ninth of the season, tying the Detroit Lions’ Calvin Johnson for the most ever through five games, Thomas punctuated it with howls of ” It’s so easy!”

Coach John Fox supported Thomas’ celebration, calling it genuine emotion in the heat of the moment.

“These guys aren’t at a desk in an accountant’s office .I’m not knocking accountants. It’s a very combative game,” Fox said. “It’s why we have initiated a 12-minute cooling-off period after games. He’s very enthusiastic. … And I am glad he his.”

A field microphone picked up Thomas’ gesture, and it quickly went viral. Thomas explained that he’s happy, and is not making a statement about the league or an opponent.

“They gave me a hard time for hearing on the camera me saying how easy it was. But there is no easy part about getting here and scoring touchdowns in the NFL. You have to go through so much,” Thomas said. “I just want to thank all the people around me. Everybody who has helped me get to this point. The coaching staff, drawing up those plays. I’m going to try to continue to play at a high level. It’s important to me to be a guy my team can count on to make big plays.”

While the offense received headlines, the defense stiffened, allowing just 31 rushing yards to the Jets. The Broncos lost weakside linebacker Danny Trevathan on the Jets’ second play — he will miss three to six weeks after he suffered a crack near the top of the left kneecap — but received strong play from reserves Brandon Marshall and Corey Nelson.

Nelson, a rookie from Oklahoma, played 36 of 63 snaps. He had participated in just two plays prior to the Jets game. Nelson finished with a team-high seven combined tackles.

“We expect a lot from our rookies,” defensive tackle Terrance Knighton said. “If you are suiting up you are playing. He handled it well.”

The win, the Broncos’ first on the road this season, came with blemishes. The Broncos were penalized 11 times for a season-high 101 yards. Fox “turned in a bunch” of the penalties to the league for review. However, he added there were too many mistakes.

“I can’t really talk about the specifics (of the plays submitted). But that’s not absolving blame for us either,” Fox said.

Denver will host San Francisco on Sunday night. The focus will shift to Peyton Manning who needs three touchdown passes to break Brett Favre’s all-time record of 508.

“You go about your business and play the game,” Fox said. “I think it’s a huge record, so we’ll see what happens.”

Troy E. Renck: trenck@denverpost.com or twitter.com/troyrenck