Entering Sunday’s game against the Chargers, Plaxico Burress had spent several weeks having a minimal impact on the Jets’ offense.
But that all changed against San Diego. Burress torched the Chargers’ secondary for three touchdowns in the Jets’ 27-21 win, including the go-ahead score midway through the fourth quarter that put the Jets ahead for good.
“It feels good to go out and have an impact and go out and make a few plays and kind of get in a little groove and establish some consistency, and just let this be a stepping stone,” Burress said. “We’re going to keep getting better.
“That’s what you come to work, and work hard for, to play at a high level. You know those times will come, but you’ve just got to be patient.”
The next step for Burress, whose three touchdown catches combined to cover 10 yards, is to become a threat all over the field for Mark Sanchez. But after his dominant performance in the red zone Sunday, Burress said he expects to see the Jets’ offense open up near the goal line as defenses place their focus on keeping the ball out of his hands and up opportunities for his teammates.
“You would think it’s going to change the next couple of games, because teams know we still have a good shot of making some high-percentage throws in the red zone,” Burress said. “All it’s going to do is open up guys like Santonio [Holmes] and Dustin [Keller].”
After seeing the way Burress was able to exploit San Diego’s secondary on Sunday, Keller also could see the beginnings of big things to come for the Jets offense.
“It’s close,” Keller said. “I think we can be better in the red zone, coming away with touchdowns rather than field goals. There’s another step we can take.”
It has been an up-and-down season for Burress, who caught a touchdown pass in two of the Jets’ first three games — sandwiched around a game where he didn’t catch a pass — then spent the past three weeks mostly in obscurity.
As he has attempted to resurrect his career this season after missing the last two seasons and spending 20 months in prison for shooting himself in his right leg, Burress said that he has had to change his work habits in order to try to get back up to speed.
“It’s probably the first time in my career where I’ve really had to just come to practice, and really just focus on getting better,” he said.
That said, Burress had no regrets about the way he went about his business in practice in the past.
“You just mature as you grow older in this business,” Burress said. “The longer you play in it, you just love it more. When you’re young, you want to come in and make a big splash. You want to go to the Pro Bowl. You want to make all the money. But as you grow older you just want to enjoy the game and enjoy the competition and try to win championships.”
Burress, who spoke at a fundraiser at the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence on Monday night, said he isn’t worried about what anyone else is saying about his past, either.
“It will always be a part of my history,” he said. “I’ve dealt with it and moved on. One day, I hope everybody else will, too.
“I’m here, just trying to get better.”