Braxton BERRIOS
Jets receiver and kick returner Braxton Berrios fields some Q&A from Post columnist Steve Serby:
Q: A quote on your Instagram: “It’s better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war.”
A: A) it’s a mindset, but B) it’s kind of all about preparation and preparing for the absolute worst, or the absolute extreme, you’re ready for anything. It’s better to be a warrior in a garden where you’re in a comfortable environment per se, but ready for a very uncomfortable one than to be the opposite, be a gardener in the war where you’re not really prepared for much, and then you find yourself in no man’s land.
Q: If you could pick the brain of any wide receiver in NFL history?
A: Steve Smith. I admire the way he played the game, and to play it like he did for as long as he did and as consistently as he did it, I think that’s worth studying.
Q: Your on-field mentality?
A: I know what I’m supposed to do and I need to execute it at the highest level, but I don’t think that really encapsulates kind of the warrior-in-a-garden mindset, because that’s kinda what it is. It’s kinda why I said Steve Smith a little bit earlier. He’s an absolute dog, and he was gonna do whatever he had to do to make that play or to make that block, or to win the game, or to help his team win.
Q: Does the word “fearless” fit?
A: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. I think that’s a good summary word.
Q: Why do you have to be crazy to return punts and/or kickoffs?
A: You probably need a little bit of a screw loose, no doubt. We’ll say punt return first — you’re back there, alone, and you have 11 guys sprinting at you. And your job is to catch it and go the absolute opposite way they’re going, which is downhill right at ’em. And forces can collide and to volunteer for that, and then you have any other factor that goes into punt returning especially — the wind, the rain, the different types of kicks, the timing of it. ‘Am I gonna have time, or am I gonna be a half-second late and you’re getting me at the moment I catch it, or am I timing it just right to where I catch it and I can take a step to the side if he misses me and we can get a big play?’ It’s all those things obviously that happen in a hundredth of a second that to some, they might hate, some might be somewhere in between, and I tend to love. I love doing both, but I do have a specific infatuation with punt returns because I think there’s nothing like it. I think that adrenaline rush is second to none in the sport of football to me. It’s a different animal, it’s a different beast.
Q: The criticism that has bothered you the most?
A: You obviously try not to pay too much attention to it. But the “quick and not fast” narrative is one that has been completely debunked, but you’ll keep hearing it for whatever reason. I think that one, just because it’s absolutely baseless. That one for sure is one I’ve heard my whole life. Maybe you can speak or somebody else can speak to the fact of why that is, why I get called quick but not fast, but that is what it is. That one always will bother me.
Q: Were you ever told you were too small or too short?
A: I’m sure along the way somebody had a low-hanging fruit opinion on it. That’s for the blind eye ... obviously the one who just wants a reason, looks for a reason.
Q: What is it about you that has made you refuse to accept mediocrity?
A: Honestly, a lifetime of it. I have a problem with average. And I don’t have any problem with any person who’s average, to each his own. But I have a problem with just doing anything averagely. I hate that. I always say I have a certain amount of time and energy each day. If I’m putting my time and energy in something, it better be a good cause and it better come out a great product. If it’s not, I’m probably gonna put more time and energy into it so that it does become a great product.
Q: You’ve always been that way, correct?
A: I’ve always been that way. I don’t know where it started, with my parents, my older brother, wherever it started, it started and it stuck. I just can’t stand it.
Q: What drives you?
A: I guess what we had just talked about, just trying not to be average at anything. I don’t want anybody to take it the wrong way in saying that I think I’m the best at everything, I know I’m not. I’ve always been competitive, I grew up competitive, I grew up competing with my older in everything that we did, especially sports-wise. I don’t have an obsession with winning. I have an absolute hatred with losing. And I think when you have that relationship with losing, I think that carries over to every aspect of your life.
Q: Why have you and Zach Wilson clicked?
A: I know the offense, and that helps. And I try to look at it through his shoes and through his eyes and try to see what he sees. I try to look at it through that lens to where, if I was him, where would I need me to be on this route? And obviously you do it within the structure of the offense. And I think that has definitely helped get the chemistry and really the trust going . ... Be friendly to the QB, we call it.
Q: What have you learned about him off the field?
A: We do have a great relationship off the field as well. He’s a great guy coming from a great family. We have a lot of common interests, similarities. Us spending time together outside of the facility does help that chemistry and does help that trust as well.
Q: Describe his arm talent.
A: He can sling it. He wasn’t the second pick in the draft for no reason. He’s a helluva quarterback, and he can throw it obviously in many different ways from many different angles ... he has a cannon.
Q: Robert Saleh’s electric meetings?
A: (Laugh) That’s in-house, and for me it’s gonna stay in-house. All I’ll say is he’s a great storyteller.
Q: Elijah Moore?
A: Oh, he’s phenomenal. You could tell from the day he walked in that he was gonna be special. Route running’s an art, and he’s an artist. He’s smart, he understands the offense, he picks up on it quick. He has all the intangibles, the skill set.
Q: Tell me why Braxton Berrios should be a Pro Bowler.
A: I can’t run without the other 10 guys on the field. We are No. 1 in the league in kickoff return average and we are No. 2 in the league in punt return average . ... What is it, men lie, women lie, numbers don’t? That’s why we deserve it.
Q: If you could go 1-on-1 against any cornerback in NFL history?
A: Probably [Darrelle] Revis.
Q: What do you remember about Revis?
A: Growing up when you used to shoot things in a basket, normally you’d be in the classroom and you’d ball a paper and shoot in the trash bin, you’d always say “Kobe,” right? That was obviously because was who Kobe [Bryant] was, he was basketball. In the football world, there’s a lot of different people known for different things, but when you were matched up 1-on-1 it was Revis Island. Q: Favorite movie? A: “Wedding Crashers.” Q: Favorite actor? A: Vince Vaughn. Q: Favorite actress? A: Jennifer Aniston. Q: Favorite singer/entertainer?
A: Drake.
Q: Favorite meal?
A: Oh, don’t have one, that just depends on my mood. I’m all over the map.
Q: You’ll be an unrestricted free agent. Do you want to stay in New York?
A: I would love to. I think this organization and this team is absolutely heading in the right direction. Obviously with this new staff and the overhaul they did, I love the direction this team’s going in and this organization as a whole. I love playing at MetLife, and I love New York, and there’s nothing like Jets fans.