Plaxico Burress Victorious in Return for New York Jets
After more than three years away from the football field, New York Jets’ wide receiver Plaxico Burress has led his team to a 27-7 preseason win against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday night.
The wideout caught three passes for 66 yards, one being a touchdown pass from Mark Sanchez. The WR played in his first game since 2008, just before he was indicted on felony charges and forced to spend two years in prison.
However, Burress said his return to the field came naturally for him.
"It just felt good to get back what I love to do so much,” Burress said. “To be honest, it feels like I never left. The ball hanging up there in the lights, I just trusted myself."
Although Burress did not seem fazed by accomplishing the task at hand, he expressed the excitement he felt for returning.
“It’s a day that myself and my family have been waiting for that would inevitably come,” said Burress. “It just felt good to get back what I love to do so much and that’s run around on a football field and score touchdowns, and compete at the highest level of competition playing in this league. It’s definitely a privilege to play.”
Although Burress seemed to ignite the team’s offense on the field, it was Jets QB Mark Sanchez who held the team together. Aside from the big pass to Burress, Sanchez also threw Santonio Holmes a pass that resulted in a touchdown and connected with Dustin Keller for 73 yards.
According to Burress, Sunday night’s performance with Sanchez was only the beginning for Jets fans this season.
“I’m just getting started. For me and Mark to go out there and make some of the plays, I’ve only been practicing for three days,” Burress said, according to the New York Post. “There’s a lot of room for improvement. We left some plays out there that we should have hit. The sky’s the limit.”
Sanchez agreed with the wideout, saying that he is ready to shoulder the responsibility of leading his team to victory this season.
"Sky's the limit for this group. They'll go as I go," he said. "It's a matter of me getting completions and being efficient, putting the ball on them. It's going to work out well. It's my job to make it work."