Burress and his son fired up for opener
New York Jets wide receiver Plaxico Burress is seen during NFL football training camp. (Aug. 17, 2011) Credit: AP
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- Plaxico Burress is psyched for his true return to the field in just two more days, his first regular-season action since November 2008.
But there's a certain someone who may be even more pumped up to see the 34-year-old wide receiver in action when the Jets meet the Cowboys in Sunday's season opener at MetLife Stadium. Someone in particular who Burress hears it from daily once he walks in the door after a day loaded with meetings and practice.
"My son is through the roof right now," Burress said Thursday, referring to 4-year-old Elijah. "He's running around in his Jets hat, his Jets jersey. When I come home, he has a mouthpiece in, running up and down the hallway. I mean, he's fired up. He's ready to go.
"So every day he wakes up, he wants to know, 'Is it Sunday yet?' No, today is just Thursday."
Elijah's inquisitive approach doesn't stop there, though.
"He wants to know who throws the better ball," Burress said, "Sanchez or Eli?"
Burress laughed when curious minds wanted to know the answer, wondering whether Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez or the Giants' Eli Manning has the superior skills, and who zips the perfect pass into Burress' hands.
He left it open to everybody's imagination to figure it out, but Burress is happy he's even in the position to compare New York's two quarterbacks and be playing football. He said he didn't think about that too much during his 20-month prison sentence for weapons violations.
"I thought that I would have another chance to come back and play, but going through everything that I was going through mentally at that time, I wasn't focused on football," Burress said. "It was more about life and getting into my family and those kinds of things. And then when I came home and I was able to spend some time with the family, I started concentrating more on getting myself back into pretty good physical shape."
Burress, who signed a one-year contract for $3.017 million guaranteed, was sidelined for about two weeks during training camp, nursing a sprained left ankle he thinks is between "92-93 percent." He admits he might be a bit winded by the time the fourth quarter rolls around because he hasn't played in a real game in nearly three years. Still, he's sure his conditioning will come.
In the meantime, it's all about picking up the Jets' offensive scheme.
"Right now, we're focused on him learning this offense," wideout Santonio Holmes said, "him being in the right place, him running the right routes, making sure he's blocking for everybody, making sure he's doing his right keys."
Burress isn't truly an interchangeable part yet. To help with the transition, he mostly has been lining up at split end, the position where he feels most at ease.
"There's a few tags that move him around," offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer said, "but he's primarily playing the 'X' position just because that's what he knows and what he feels really comfortable with."
Burress said: "I believe we'll get to the point where they are moving me around from 'X' to the 'Z' to the 'F' to wherever it may be. But there's a lot of verbiage in this offense to where you really have to hang in the huddle, sit to really listen to the call or you can mess the whole play up with just missing one word."
Come pregame Sunday, there may be one word floating through Burress' head: Finally.
"Now that I have that opportunity to go and play again, I'm going to be just as fired up as I can be in a long time," he said. "It's been a long time coming for me and my family, and I'm just embracing it every day. I can kind of feel the excitement inside as the days get closer."
