Sometimes a player figures out that self-improvement beats self-destruction, that winning isn’t just done on Sundays, but on Saturday night and every day in-between. Sometimes he just grows up.
It happened to DE John Abraham, and his dominating three-sack performance yesterday – which helped lead the Jets to a 16-14 win over Buffalo – was further proof, prompting Herman Edwards to say simply “John’s a force.”
His 8 ½ sacks of Drew Bledsoe are his most against any QB, but he’d been benched for the Jets’ 30-3 Meadowlands win over Buffalo last October because of a DUI incident that resulted in an accident and arrest. Two weeks later, he suffered a season-wrecking groin injury that triggered some soul-searching.
“Just watching and not being in it . . . it hurt not being able to contribute,” Abraham said. “Today I was able to contribute. I’m reading leadership books to make me a better player and a better person. Last year I was out in the club doing something crazy. My whole mindset is changed. My mind is focused on this team.
“As a person and a man I’ve grown. Before, I had other people controlling things in my life I needed to control. Now I’m controlling myself. I don’t let people drag me into things I don’t want to do.”
The results have been stellar. His 39 ½ career sacks are eighth best in Jet history, but his five over the last two games left him with six this season, equaling his total from last year.
While bye-week tweaking has helped – after playing a hybrid DE-LB, coordinator Donnie Henderson has unleashed him – the big change is mental, not tactical.
A performance like this last year, and Abraham said, “I would’ve went out to the club and got drunk. Now I go the training room and get treatment and get ready for next week.”
That sort of discipline helped in the waning seconds, when – with the Bills taking over on their 35 with :58 left – he sacked Bledsoe on first down to cripple Buffalo’s comeback bid.
“When I look at John now I see a focused individual,” RB Curtis Martin said. “I see someone who’s there as early as I’m there and later than I’m there. When you become a veteran, you begin to understand what it takes. John’s figuring that out.”
