Finally healthy, Bless Austin heads into second year with the New York Jets ready to fight for playing time
Bless Austin is ready for his second year in the NFL, the New York Jets cornerback looking to build on a strong rookie year and sounding like he spent the offseason memorizing the messages on motivational posters.
Last year, Austin bounced back after missing the first half of the season due to an injury suffered in 2018 while playing at Rutgers. Once he got on the field, he impressed. In seven games (six starts) he had 25 tackles, four passes defended and a forced fumble.
He debunked the idea that there is an opportunity for significant playing time for him following some solid games his rookie season.
“I really don’t look at it like that. I’m really attention oriented and I take this game so seriously – I just want to maximize my ability,” Austin said Thursday on a virtual press conference with the media.
“I don’t look at it is opportunity, I just want to maximize my ability – with me doing that and I can continue to progress every day, I ultimately can help the team out regardless of what role I’m in.
“I don’t view it that way. There is competition, no doubt but I just want to maximize my ability.”
Head coach Adam Gase said on Wednesday during his virtual press conference that he likes what he has seen in Adams, calling it "Confidence, you know like real confidence."
"If something bad happens he moves on to the next play. To me it’s the hardest thing to learn as a young corner, is, you’re going to get beat," Gase said.
"It’s about how you bounce back and what do you do the next play. I do think his knowledge of the playbook is getting better day to day."
Austin is long and with a good wingspan. He has good man-coverage skills, a requisite in defensive coordinator Gregg Williams’ defense where cornerbacks are often on a coverage island.
Which is why the second-year cornerback said he spent the offseason trying to understand the mental side of the game better. Austin said that it was a lot of film study to gain this insight – “understanding the why behind the things.”
“Just understanding situational football at the NFL level, that’s one area I wanted to hone in on. Just understanding schematics on the offensive side of the ball, what they want to do, what part of the field they are in, certain situations…second and long, third and long…” Austin said.
“Things like that, that’s the area of the game I’ve really been studying.”
After battling injuries his final couple of seasons in the Big Ten at Rutgers and then at the start of his rookie season in the NFL, Austin was pleased that this offseason he was finally healthy and not stuck in the trainer’s room. This meant that he didn’t spend as much time rehabbing but rather was able to make gains.
He worked out at TEST Football Academy in New Jersey this offseason, located about 25 minutes north of Rutgers where he played his college football.
“I went to TEST. A lot of guys know TEST, great facility. Was able to keep conditioning, my strength up. I didn’t really have any drop off,” Austin said.
“I was super excited too, it was one of the first offseasons where I was healthy.”
