It was when LaDainian Tomlinson, en route to the end zone in the second half of the Jets’ rout of the Bills ON Sunday, made the knee-buckling move that left safety Donte Whitner frozen as if someone had hit the pause button that Tomlinson thought to himself, “OK, it’s still there.’’
Others noticed, too, because Tomlinson on Wednesday was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week for his 19-carry, 133-yard, two-TD performance against the Bills.
“He’s lifted not only the offense but the defense as well,’’ Rex Ryan said. “He’s one of those rare players who had that kind of gift.’’
Tomlinson leads the Jets with 341 yards, a 6.1-yard average, and three rushing TDs. That has him almost halfway to his entire 2009 rushing total of 730 yards, a career-low.
“I don’t think there’s any question it was time, I needed a new challenge,’’ Tomlinson said of coming to the Jets from San Diego, where he played nine seasons. “This was the best thing for me.’’
The Jets play the Vikings on Monday night, the only other team that flirted with Tomlinson during the offseason in an effort to sign him.
Tomlinson revealed he never truly considered the Vikings, that the Jets were always his first choice.
“Honestly, it was never really close,’’ he said. “My wife had a lot to do with it. She said, ‘I don’t want to go to Minnesota.’ I said, ‘OK honey.’ ’’
There were football factors.
“When I went to (visit) Minnesota, my sense was that they needed a replacement for Chester Taylor,’’ Tomlinson said. “When I came here there was no ‘We need you for this position or this role.’ It was all about having an opportunity to get a role on this team. Rex said, ‘We’re just going to let you play.’ ’’
Tomlinson said he had a comfort level with Jets offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, who also coached him in San Diego.
“In Minnesota it was about learning a whole new offense and I felt like that would put me behind the 8-ball trying to learn a new offense at this point in my career,’’ Tomlinson said. “You get to a point where you’ve been in the league a number of years and mentally you can get to the point where you feel drained. This has refreshed me coming here.
“It’s only the first quarter. This is a long journey that we have. I expect to keep this up.’’
