Plaxico comes up big on field and off

First, Plaxico Burress took the high road to make a pivotal, pirouetting reception late in Sunday's victory over the Bills.

Then he spent the next 24 hours taking the high road about an incident that inspired one Bob Costas essay, an avalanche of tweets and a fierce, mostly intergenerational debate about the ethics of touchdown celebrations.

How Burress handled both situations bodes well for him and the Jets.

Last things first: From the moment he learned Bills receiver Stevie Johnson had punctuated a second-quarter touchdown reception by pretending to shoot himself in the thigh, Burress refused to fire back.

He exhibited more class than Johnson deserved after the game, shrugging off the reference to the 3-year-old incident that landed him in prison and saying, "I've seen worse and I've heard worse.''

Then he went on 1050 ESPN Radio Monday and again declined to rip Johnson, saying his counterpart spoke to him and apologized, explaining to Burress that he only wanted to have fun and "bring some life to the game.''

"He's young and he made a mistake,'' said Burress, 34, who has nine years on Johnson. "I don't want everyone to say he's a bad guy because he made a mistake. I've made a few in my life. I talked to him. I have a lot of respect for him as a player and I think he's going to rebound from that.''

Many of the other Jets were not as magnanimous, but many sports fans -- especially young ones -- who weighed in leaned more toward Johnson's receivers-just-want-to-have-fun take.

Some took to Twitter to attack an essay Costas delivered on NBC on Sunday night in which he asked this seemingly reasonable question about excessive end-zone celebrations:

"Hey, knuckleheads, is it too much that you confine your buffoonery to situations that don't directly damage your team?''

Anyway, back to Burress: How might the pre-prison Plax have dealt with the Johnson diss? "Oh, man," he said in the radio interview. "I probably would have met him outside before he got on his bus.''

Burress laughed, but it probably was no joke. Fact is, all available evidence suggests the punishment he received for shooting himself with a real gun and bullet was a wake-up call that he has turned into a positive. And it appears not to have stripped him of his usefulness as a player.

His totals of 34 receptions and 479 yards -- with no play covering more than 30 -- are nothing special. But he has seven touchdowns (five in the past five games) and is a significant factor near and in the end zone.

He surely was on his 14-yard TD catch that followed Johnson's ill-fated celebration by 63 seconds. But his biggest catch came on the winning drive when he leaped for the ball on a third-and-11 and made a one-handed grab. If he had missed it, the Jets would have needed a 54-yard field goal just to tie the score.

"Oh, man, phenomenal,'' defensive tackle Sione Pouha said, adding there were oohs and aahs when the team watched the video together. "I described it as one of those spectacular Michael Jordan dunks when he gets the ball out in the open. You want to be amazed, but you can't really be amazed because it's Michael Jordan. That's the same with Plax.''

Patrick Turner, who made a critical third-down reception of his own earlier in the drive, said Burress has become noticeably more comfortable in the offense during the past several weeks.

There might only be five weeks to go for the Jets, after which the one-year, $3.017-million deal he signed last summer will expire. That bill didn't seem too steep after what Burress did Sunday, and how he comported himself Monday.

So what should the Jets do with him in 2012? In August he will turn 35, but come September, he still will be 6-5. If he still is riding high on and off the field, the Jets should bring him back for more.