Jets' Taylor makes it clear: Ring or bust

Their first practice preparing for their AFC wild-card matchup with the Colts had just wrapped up and Rex Ryan sought out Jason Taylor, figuring it was the appropriate time to get a little inquisitive.

With the entire team on hand, Ryan started peppering the Jets linebacker with questions, asking the 14-year veteran when was the last time he won a playoff game. That’s when Taylor went into his testimonial, explaining how it had been nearly a decade since he’s tasted a postseason victory.

"I wanted them to know how hard it is," Ryan told Newsday yesterday. "Here’s a Hall of Fame player and yet he hasn’t been on a winning playoff team in nine years. I also wanted them to realize that he came here for one reason and that’s to play meaningful games in January and so forth. That’s why he’s here.

"He uprooted his family. Nobody was as comfortable as Jason Taylor was in that Miami community, yet he uprooted everything to come here for this opportunity."

Taylor tied Lawrence Taylor and Leslie O'Neal for eighth place on the NFL's all-time sack leader by recording a sack in Sunday's win over Buffalo to raise his total to 132 1/2. His five sacks are second on the team, he’s recorded eight quarterback hits, a team-high eight tackles for loss, and forced and recovered two fumbles.

However, stats are no longer what motivates the 36-year-old. It’s all about that Super Bowl bling.

"Yeah, that's the only reason I play this game anymore," Taylor said. "Really, from day one, there were a lot of great byproducts from playing: you're playing at a high level, you get paid, you're having fun and all that stuff, and the fame and all that. But the reason we play this game is to win the championship, so you can't do that if you don't make the playoffs and this is the first step."

Taylor was just like most young players when he first came into the league out of Akron in 1997: a bit naïve, thinking he’d be cutting a postseason check each year. To him, it was a given.

"We made the playoffs for five straight years and the talk was always about getting past the second round," he said. "We never got to the championship games, it was getting past the second round of the playoffs. It was never a question of whether or not we were going to make them, just the question of going further. And then I guess ‘02 was the first year I missed and after being there for five years in a row."

Even then, Taylor was sure he’d be stamping a postseason ticket sooner than later, and that’s essentially the message he tried to deliver to his teammates when Ryan called on him.

"You miss ’02 and you think, ‘I’ll be back in ’03,’ " Taylor said. "Well, I haven’t been back since. I wanted to let guys know that although a lot of them were here when they played in the AFC Championship game, it’s not a given. It really is a privilege and very difficult thing to do in this league. Kind of cherish the moment, don’t take it for granted, but take advantage of it."

Otherwise, they could one day find themselves in Taylor’s shoes, chasing that elusive jewelry as their playing days dwindle with each snap.

"The older you get in your career you realize the end is getting closer and closer," said Taylor, who played for the Redskins in 2008. "You can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The light’s coming quicker and quicker to the point where it’s not blinding yet but you need sunglasses on. You realize the end is near."

How much longer before the sun sets and Taylor walks away for good? He has one more year left on the two-year free agent deal he signed, and insisted he hasn’t given much thought about whether he wants to go for season No. 15.

"I’m looking forward to Saturday, and winning that game and moving to the next one. There’s so much uncertainty in this league right now -- labor and everything and contracts. . . So nah, I don’t think anybody in this locker room is thinking about next year and I’m certainly not."