EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Plaxico Burress stepped onto the football field, looked around and smiled.

It was exactly what he had been dreaming about for nearly three years. He was back, he thought, right where he should be.

“It was like an out-of-body experience, a surreal feeling,” the New York Jets wide receiver said. “I just tried to stay focused.”

No problems there. Burress caught three passes for 66 yards, including a terrific 26-yard, over-the-shoulder touchdown reception, in his first NFL game since 2008 to help the Jets beat the Cincinnati Bengals 27-7 in a preseason game Sunday night.

“Everything feels normal,” Burress said, adding that he wasn’t nervous at all. “It feels like football. To be honest, it feels like I never left.”

But the journey back was hardly easy. His last game was Nov. 23, 2008, at Arizona while with the Giants and a few days later, he accidentally shot himself in the leg in a Manhattan nightclub. He served 20 months in prison on a gun charge, missed the birth of his daughter and despite thinking he’d still be able to play, had to wonder if the NFL would even be an option when he got out.

Signed last month by New York, Burress made his debut with the Jets (1-1) a memorable one. He caught a 20-yard pass from Mark Sanchez on the Jets’ first offensive play, prompting huge cheers from the rain-soaked crowd at the New Meadowlands Stadium.

Burress had another 20-yard grab in the second quarter, but the highlight came on New York’s last offensive play of the first half.

Burress took off down the left side, drew separation from defensive back Fred Bennett in one-on-one coverage and hauled in the pass as he dropped into the end zone to put New York up 17-7 just before halftime. Burress got up and bowed a few times to the crowd, which had seen him make similar plays for years with the Steelers and Giants.