Troubled TE sets life on right track
The Jets rookie class has one more member than you realize.
A 24-year-old, 6-foot-5, 259-pound tight end has added himself to the group.
“I’m treating this like my rookie year,” tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins said. “It’s a new me. I’m rededicating myself and pushing myself as hard as I can. I’m trying to get the most out of myself and trying to get the most out of my teammates. I just want to make other people better around me.”
In reality, this is SeferianJenkins’ fourth season in the NFL. But at Jets training camp he is getting his ankles taped in the rookie area, going in the ice bath reserved for rookies and treating every day like this is his first training camp. On Sunday, he was the last one off the field, spending time catching extra passes before taking off his sweatsoaked jersey and calling it a day.
It is all part of a new Seferian-Jenkins, who went to an outpatient rehabilitation program to stop drinking alcohol this offseason and changed his diet and exercise routine to lose 33 pounds.
“I just want to be the best me regardless of whether it’s on the field or off the field as a person,” SeferianJenkins said. “I just want to maximize it. I’m 24 [years old]. I don’t want to look back and say it’s too late. I want to do it right now.
“I got right with my life. I got right with God. Everything is going right.”
There is a clear change on the field for SeferianJenkins. He had the most impressive spring of any Jet and that has carried over into the first two days of training camp.
“He lost a lot of weight,” Jets coach Todd Bowles said. “He reshaped his body. He’s dedicated. He made a dedication to himself, so that’s a credit to him. He’s come in lighter, he’s leaner, he’s quicker and he’s moving a lot better.”
The Jets won’t have Seferian-Jenkins for the first two games of the season, though. He will be sus- pended for violating the league’s personal conduct policy after getting arrested for a DUI last year while still with the Buccaneers. It was his second DUI and an embarrassing arrest video made the rounds on the internet. The Jets claimed Seferian-Jenkins after the Bucs waived him, but he had very little impact (10 catches for 110 yards) for a Jets team that rarely threw to tight ends.
New offensive coordinator John Morton has shown a commitment to throwing to the tight end again and Seferian-Jenkins should benefit.
Seferian-Jenkins said he is confident he can make the plays this year after putting in the work he did this offseason. That is a change from other years.
“I wasn’t doing the right things,” Seferian-Jenkins said. “I wasn’t preparing like a pro should prepare. I am now. I feel confident when I step out on the field. I know everything I’ve got to do. Am I perfect every single time? No. But I have that confidence.”
Seferian-Jenkins said he came to the realization after last season that he needed to make changes.
“It really didn’t have anything to do with football,” he said. “It just had to do with, you know, as a person there comes a certain time in your life where your life can go one direction or another. I felt it going in a direction I didn’t want it to go. I figured out what I needed to do. I made a plan and I’ve stuck to it. I’ve continued to stick to that plan. My personal life is great. I’m happy. I’m doing everything I should off the field. The football stuff is easy for me.”
He just might be the Jets’ Rookie of the Year.