Overcoming injuries is nothing new for Jets' Carl Lawson

Carl Lawson never let doubt creep in about whether he would be the same player in his return from a ruptured Achilles. He’s not wired that way.

Instead, the Jets’ edge rusher thought about coming back better than he was before the injury.

“There was never a point where I was like, ‘Hey, I want to get back to myself,’ ” Lawson said. “It was always, ‘I want to be better than what I was.’ So I never really put a time on when I was going to be back to where I was previously. I wanted to work to be better.”

The injury happened last August in a joint practice with the Packers in Green Bay. It was a devastating blow for Lawson and the Jets, who were counting on him to be a force in Robert Saleh’s 4-3 defense.

Instead of hunting quarterbacks, Lawson spent last year rehabbing and getting ready for this season. He’s back on the field now, practicing with the Jets for the first time in 11 months and believing he’s stronger from going through it.

“Oh, it was horrible,” Lawson said. “You grow stronger from it. Of course it was tough. It was ridiculously tough. I knew I was going to come out on top. You kind of build a callus of things. You just keep working and keep the process.

“Some of the greatest people in history have suffered and overcome. It’s kind of the people that don’t overcome that don’t get the results that they want. That’s kind of how I think about it.”

Lawson, who signed a three-year, $45 million contract last year, speaks from experience. He’s torn his ACL twice and said he came back better both times.

“A lot of players, they’re like, ‘I don’t know if I’m going to be the same,’ ” Lawson said. “It's more mental than physical. It’s almost like touching your hand on a hot stove. You burn yourself. You’re not going to go next to that stove again.

“You tear your Achilles in practice, mentally it’s like, ‘Do I go back in there? Do I play football again?’ Fortunately, by the grace of God, I don’t have that in me. I’m kind of the opposite. I need to not touch the stove. I keep touching it.”

Players returning from a ruptured Achilles usually aren’t the same their first season back, but the Jets believe Lawson will prove otherwise.

The Jets love his approach and work ethic. Saleh said Lawson was ready to practice in OTAs. The Jets wouldn’t let him on the field until this week, though.

Saleh said they have to hold Lawson back “to protect Carl from Carl.” They’ve limited him a little through the first week of practice, which Lawson was not happy about, Saleh said.

“Carl, he’s a freak,” Saleh said. “He still has all the power and strain and all that stuff. As he acclimates and gets comfortable and he’s working through his movements, he’ll return to form.”

The Jets were off Sunday and will wear pads for the first time in Monday’s practice. Saleh said that’s when you can really evaluate players, and he’s excited to see what Lawson can do.

Lawson, a former Bengal, dominated in practice last year, repeatedly getting to quarterback Zach Wilson. The players on the defensive line already feel his presence.

“Carl looks no different,” John Franklin-Myers said. “He’s strong, he’s fast. He’s a hell of a player. He’s a guy who makes everybody better out there.”

The Jets are expected to play it safe with Lawson, and it’s unclear whether he will play in the preseason. Lawson said he doesn’t care one way or another as long as he gets enough work in during practice. His goal is to be ready for Week 1 against Baltimore.

“It’s not fun to be on the scooter,” Lawson said. “I love feeling athletic. I love feeling like a super-human. I’ll do everything I can to possibly have that. So I never thought about it like that. I wanted to work to get back. It’s not fun being limited. It’s not fun at all. I wanted to work so I could be healthy.”

By Al Iannazzone

al.iannazzone@newsday.comAl_Iannazzone

Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.