HIS SWEET 16
With a career marred by injury, new Jets CB eyes full healthy season
T O DATE, Morris Claiborne might not have come close to touching the potential he had as the sixth-overall draft pick in 2012 by the Cowboys.
You, however, will have a difficult time finding an NFL pl ayer with more resolve than the talented but star-crossed cornerback.
Claiborne — whom the Jets signed to a one-year, $5 million contract in March — is nothing if not resilient.
He has not blinked in the face of adversity, which is one of the virtues of playing his position, one which requires a short memory and supreme confidence — as preposterous as that confidence may seem to outsiders.
That is why — despite the fact that a laundry list of injuries has limited him to just 47 games in his five NFL seasons — you should not be surprised when you listen to Claiborne speak of how good he can be as a Jet as he embarks on a new chapter to his life.
“I feel like I can be the No. 1 corner in this league if I’m healthy … when I’m healthy,” Claiborne told The Post after his first OTA practice as a Jet earlier this week. “When I’m out there playing and I’m healthy and I’m on my game, I don’t feel like there is anybody better than me.’’ Though these words — taken at face value without any context of how they were delivered — sound cocky, t he 27- yearold Claiborne does not come off that way at all. He simply comes off as a determined young man hell-bent on fulfilling the potential the Cowboys saw in him when they traded up eight spots in 2012 to snag him.
And t hat is i mpressive considering the injury history he carries with him, having played in just 47 of a possible 80 games in his career.
Claiborne’s run of bad luck began in 2013, his second season, when he injured a knee in preseason, then suffered a dislocated shoulder in the season opener and endured the stress that came with the death of his father. He played in 10 games and started seven that year.
After that came a shoulder separation and a torn patellar tendon in his knee, limiting him to just four games in 2014. Hamstring a nd a nkl e injuries that caused him to miss f ive games in 2015. A severe groin i njury ended his 2016 season after just seven games.
All of these injuries left Claiborne disillusioned, but not defeated.
“When I was young, I felt like I had everything in front of me,’’ he said. “I felt like nothing can stop me. I was going to go do whatever it takes to succeed and be a Pro Bowl player that first year with the Cowboys. But, God had other plans for me, and I ended up taking a different route than most guys do. “I don’t care where my career has been, I will never quit, I will never stop.’’ Jets cornerback Buster Skrine sees the potential in his new teammate. “When I watched him on TV, every time he was in the game he got his hands on the ball,’’ Skrine said. “[Tuesday] was our f i rst time on the f ield together, and I think he got his hands on three balls in practice. He got a pick and two pass breakups. He can be great. Stay on the field 16 games and I think he can have a really tremendous season.’’ The n u mber 16 is more i mportant to Claiborne than any other right now. Playing 16 games is more important than how many interceptions, tackles or pass breakups he might make.
“Oh, that’s the No. 1 goal,’’ he said. “Everything else comes after that, because when you’re on the field you can make those plays. But when you’re not, you have zero chance.’’
What differentiates Claiborne from so many other athletes who’ve endured injuries in their careers and grow agitated when being asked about them is this: He doesn’t run from his past, nor does he hide from it. He owns it. Embraces it, even.
“It’s a part of me,’’ he said. “Wherever I go, that’s a topic of conversation because that’s what’s happened to me. I can take that, because that’s what happened. I can’t take it back.’’
Claiborne, in fact, wears his narrative on his chest like a badge of honor.
“When I’m on the field, I use it as a big chip on my shoulder,’’ he said. “On the inside, I’m smiling like I’m going to show you.’’
In a Jets season that already seems to be defined by the lowest of low expectations based on their poor recent history, Claiborne serves as a symbol.