Improved Gholston volunteered to take pay cut

CORTLAND, N.Y. - Most Jets fans regard Vernon Gholston as something of a bust, but the biggest Jets fan, coach Rex Ryan, is in Gholston's corner. During the second episode of HBO's "Hard Knocks" that aired Wednesday night, Ryan not only praised Gholston's progress but revealed the third-year player volunteered to take a pay cut to help the team sign free agents.

Gholston wasn't surprised by Ryan's remarks because the coach has been very encouraging about the change he's undergoing from outside linebacker to defensive end. But this season's voluntary pay cut had been kept under wraps until now.

"For me, it's all about the team," said Gholston, the sixth pick in 2008. "That's the most important thing. If we get a Super Bowl ring out of the deal, there's more in the world than money."

Gholston approached the Jets with his offer before the free-agency period began in March. "We did the deal," he said. "It was more of a restructuring for this year and for the future."

That Gholston now seems to have a future with the Jets almost comes as a shock. But Ryan's hybrid defense offers multiple ways to use someone with Gholston's combination of strength, speed and length.

The key to unlocking that talent, Ryan decided, was to determine whether Gholston possessed the mental toughness to play as physically as hoped. So Ryan urged offensive lineman Robert Turner to goad Gholston into a training-camp fight.

"I didn't feel like I was being set up,'' Gholston said. "Tempers get going. Hey, it's a dogfight. I'm a competitor. When you challenge me as a person, I'm going to do what's necessary. I try to leave fighting out of football and make it all business, but if that's what it takes, I'm going to do that.''

Ryan acknowledged Thursday pushing Turner to challenge Gholston, and the coach was thrilled with the response.

"Sometimes you like to see if a guy will fight back,'' Ryan said. "All he needs to know is that he can do it. You have to have that warrior mentality. Now Vernon sees it, and he's knocking people around and playing with more confidence in the pass rush.''

Gholston won't believe he's made progress until he's in the regular-season mix, but he knows better what he has to do.

"It's not that I need to be dominant,'' Gholston said, "but I need to define my role, whether it's pass-rushing or helping out against the run game.''