On one hand, Bless Austin can quickly forget a bad play. That's the mentality the Jets' second-year cornerback has always had on the football field.
But on the other hand, Austin is smart enough to realize he has to learn from the mistakes he made as a rookie. The Queens native wants to ensure his miscues are far less frequent as he prepares for Year 2 with Gang Green.
Specifically, the Rutgers product remembers one crucial play late in the first half of a Week 16 game against Pittsburgh. Austin got beat by Diontae Johnson for a 29-yard touchdown pass with four seconds left before halftime that helped the Steelers tie the score at 10. Austin was benched for the rest of the game as well as the team's season finale the following week at Buffalo.
"I think that needed to happen very early on in my career," Austin said on a Zoom call after Thursday's practice. "No doubt, it was definitely a pivotal moment, because I just learned the severity of not paying attention to details.
"When you're a young guy you can't get away with not paying attention to details _ you just want to go through the motions. That was a situation, right there, where I learned the severity and the consequences you pay for not honing in and paying attention to details."
Austin, a sixth-round pick of the Jets in 2019, was critical of his lack of focus on the play. "It was not understanding situations in the game," said the 6-1, 198-pound Austin. "It was the last play in a half _ they only had one more play _ so understanding that, they got to take a shot into the end zone.
"You know me having that lack of awareness in the situation is what got me yanked out of that game, which should have happened when you're out there and you're unaware of the situation in the football game. You placed your team in a bad position to come out victorious ... I learned a lesson from it and it's time to move on."
Austin was able to move on this offseason. For the first time the 24-year-old could remember, he was 100% after missing most of his last two seasons at Rutgers with knee injuries.
"I was able to keep my conditioning and my strength up, everything," said Austin, who had 25 tackles, four pass breakups and one forced fumble in seven games (including six starts) last season. "I didn't really have any kind of drop-off and I was super excited, too, because this was one of the first offseasons that I was healthy and got a chance to really get after it and continue to build, rather than building from the ground up."
Jets coach Adam Gase likes Austin's confidence and his ability to forget when an opposing receiver makes a big play against him.
"If something bad happens he moves on to the next play," Gase said. "It's the hardest thing to learn as a young corner is that you're going to get beat. It's how you bounce back and what you do the next play."
Gase also appreciates the former Campus Magnet High School star's focus on improving his understanding of the game and the Jets' defense.
"Last year he started playing for us and he didn't even know what he didn't know," Gase said.
"He's trying to learn every day, and something I really do appreciate about this kid is that he studies other corners, and he'll ask questions like, 'Why are you guys doing this?' He's trying to do everything he can to get better."
