AGING REVIS’ PLAN TO ADAPT
Revis acknowledges difficulties of sudden decline
Darrelle Revis is a player in transition … and sometimes transition is tough.
The 31-year-old Jets cornerback has endured a difficult season, something he does not shy away from. He has failed to get an interception this year and has given up more passes than he would care to recall. But Revis does not think he is finished. Not even close.
Revis said he believes the struggles have come as he has adjusted from a cornerback who can play in a receiver’s face at the line of scrimmage on every play to one who has to play “off ” coverage, lining up 5-7 yards off the ball.
“When you play bump-and-run, you can kind of dictate and disrupt the timing with him and the quarterback,” Revis told The Post this week. “You can kind of wash him out to the sidelines. That was something that at one point in time in my game I was, bar none, probably the best at doing it during my younger years. I just have to make adjustments and transition my game to somewhere I’ve never really been in my game. It’s just growth. That’s how I look at it.
“Has it been a struggle? Yeah, it’s been rough. At the same time, I know what I need to do from here on out and moving forward to fix this and change this. The only time I really have to do it is the offseason and evaluate myself a little big more.”
The Jets’ season ends in four weeks. Revis’ plan is to meet with coach Todd Bowles after the season to discuss where Bowles sees him fitting in next year. Is he still an outside corner? Is he going to move to safety? Do they want him to move inside to nickel?
Once Revis has an answer, he can get to work.
Revis views this as an important offseason, which he will try to reinvent himself. Wrist surgery in March disrupted last offseason. He switched teams in the three offseasons before that. It has been a while since he could just concentrate on football.
Helping him along the way this winter will be mentor Ty Law. The two have known each other since Revis was a little boy in Aliquippa, Pa., and Law was friends with Revis’ uncle Sean Gilbert. Law, a twotime All-Pro cornerback with the Patriots, watched Revis grow up and ended up playing with him briefly in 2008 with the Jets.
Now, the two live near each other in Florida. Law has watched this season. He knows what Revis needs to do.
“He’s done such a great job in doing what he specialized in,” Law said by phone this week. “That’s what got him all the accolades. That’s what got him the big bucks. But at some point, your body is going to tell you, ‘Hey, this is a lot.’”
Law said he remembers adjusting to playing off coverage late in his career when he left New England for the Jets. He describes it as a whole different view of football. Instead of limiting a wide receiver’s options off the line, now the cornerback has to react to where the receiver is going.
“It’s hard because being up in a guy’s face is his comfort zone,” Law said. “That was my comfort zone. I know I can control my own destiny when I’m in his face at the line of scrimmage. Now when I back off of him he has [route options].”
Revis’ transition began last year after he injured his wrist in his first season back with the Jets. He had trouble jamming receivers at the line and moved back. This year, he has played off the line almost exclusively. The results have not been pretty. He has given up 41 catches on 60 targets for 534 yards and three touchdowns, according to Pro Football Focus. He has no interceptions and two passes defended.
Revis said when he studies his mistakes he sees a little thing off here or there, and it usually involves being off the line.
“It’s a different viewpoint,” Revis said. “There’s a lot of stuff involved with it that I’m trying to transition my game into, which this year has been a little rough. I’ll figure it out moving on here and getting into the offseason. I’ll work on that a little more come this offseason.”
The critics have come out in force this season. Law said that happens to all the greats who play for a long time, citing Peyton Manning last year. It is a shock to see a great player stumble.
“You don’t see that much on a guy like Darrelle in his career,” Law said. “Then there is the whole marketing thing with the Revis Island, and rightfully and deservedly so. But you open yourself up for the criticisms and everything that goes along with it when you set the bar so high.” Does Law think Revis is done? “There’s no way that he’s done,” Law said.
Questions about his future have dogged Revis all season. He is making $17 million this year and is scheduled to make $15 million in 2017. There is no way the Jets will pay him that, raising questions
“Has it been a struggle? Yeah, it’s been rough. At the same time, I know what I need to do from here on out and moving forward to fix this and change this.” — Darrelle Revis
about pay cuts and retirement and if he will change positions to safety. Revis was emphatic this week that he wants to keep playing.
“We know it’s a business,” Revis said. “I understand that. You understand that. It is what it is. This is every year. We get evaluated on performance, and that’s understandable. There’s no question about that. For me, I still can play. It’s just adjusting my game.
“If I can still play outside, if that’s what coach feels I can do in the scheme. I can play more slot. I can play safety. The dime position. There are a lot of variables that are tied into it that me and coach will have to sit down and hash it out and see what’s the best thing.”
Revis said he believes he may have come back too soon from the wrist surgery this year.
“I should have maybe sat out early in the season, but I’m not that type of person, I’m not that type of player,” Revis said. “I feel if I can go out there with nicks and bruises and bangs, which I’ve played plenty of time with pulled hamstrings and dislocated fingers and we could go the whole nine yards with the injury list, but if I feel like I am able to go out there and be productive and try to help the team win, that’s what I do.”
The doctor who performed his surgery told him it could take a year for him to feel 100 percent. Revis went through something similar in the 2013 season with the Buccaneers, his first after ACL surgery.
“Injuries with me have always been an uphill battle,” Revis said. “With the ACL, I had a rough year in Tampa. I knew I didn’t play to my full potential. This year has been an uphill battle as well. I never really got in a rhythm this year. You take the lumps and you persevere through these things.”
In a few months, Revis said he hopes to be healed up from the season. Then, he and Law will sit down and get to work on his technique.
“I have to be all ears,” Revis said. “This is an area I’m not good at and other people are. I have to take notes and evaluate myself. I’ll figure it out.”