Plaxico Burress fails to catch a pass in Jets victory

It’s so much that he didn’t make a catch in the New York Jets 32-3 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars yesterday, and it it’s that Mark Sanchez only appeared to target him twice all game, it’s that WR Plaxico Burress is not worried about it at all.

Previously hearing the name Plaxico Burress brought thoughts of guns, 20 months at Oneida Correctional Facility, and complaining at the lack of passes thrown to him.   Not this Plaxico.  Not after what he has been through.

“It’s easy for me to stay motivated, everything that I’ve been through. . . . Little things like that — it doesn’t bother me. . . . I don’t let something like that get me down. I got 14 more games to play, with a lot more in me to let loose. So when that time comes, everybody’ll see it.”

When asked if he could remember a game where he didn’t catch a pass, Burress laughed; “Yeah one. . . . I believe it was the Carolina game [the Giants] played back in . . . ’06, in the playoff game,” he said.  (The Giants lost 23-0 to Carolina and Burress blew off the season-ending team meeting the next day).

“I’m a rhythm player, so you really want to get a ball early, and kinda get into a groove,” Burress said. “I didn’t have a ball in the first half last week, so you just stay patient, just keep fighting. Just one of those days where they just weren’t allowing me to try to beat ’em.

“They weren’t gonna let me line up and just play single coverage. They played a split-safety, a lot of two-high coverages to stop me from getting deep or going down the field or stuff like that. . . . Just run the little slants and those routes and try to keep everything in front of ’em.”

“This is how this game is, you know?” Burress said. “Made some plays last week. . . . Didn’t make any this week. . . . Then [Sunday] we play Oakland; they’re an all man-to-man team. You never know. That’s just how this game is, man. No plays this week. Big game next week.”

“There’s no need for us to try to force the ball into me in double coverage just to get me a catch,” he said. ” If teams want to pay me that much respect, then hey. . . . they went out and played me like that, hey, it says a lot about me too.”

For his part, Jets QB Mark Sanchez apologized to Burress about the big zero.