Plaxico Burress on Randy McMichael’s comments: “We got the win and they gotta think about it for a long plane ride home.”

Plaxico Burress was feeling the heat this week from the New York media after having a sub-par start to the season. Plax took all the criticism in stride and only blamed himself for his struggles. His hard work paid off against the San Diego Chargers as New York posted a much-needed win over an AFC opponent that’s likely to be in the hunt for the playoffs this winter. Burress had a game for the ages in the Meadowlands. He finished with three touchdown catches and finally looked like the unstoppable red-zone monster that many people in the New York Jets organization felt like he could become again. It’s refreshing to see an athlete like Burress so humble after such a huge performance. Plax has a new lease on life after coming out of jail and he’s making the most out of his opportunities this season. Plaxico Burress joined ESPN New York with “The Michael Kay Show” to discuss his three touchdown performance against the San Diego Chargers, waking up on Sunday morning knowing he would have a huge game against the Chargers, taking the blame personally for his struggles early on in the season, developing a better rapport with Mark Sanchez and Randy McMichael’s post-game comments regarding the Chargers beating themselves.

Three touchdowns. Plaxico Burress is with us. Plax that had to make you feel great?

“Oh man no doubt about it. It was a long time coming and you wake up on Sunday morning and dream about having those kind of days. I had that kind of day yesterday and it was a humbling feeling.”

Now some baseball players wake up and feel like they are going to have a good day. Did you feel that way on Sunday against the Chargers?

“You wake up and try to focus on staying positive and playing well. I woke up yesterday thinking I am just going to go out and play as hard as I can and as well as I can to try to just catch everything that comes my way. That was my goal going into that game because I had a couple of drops the past couple of weeks and I said you know what I am just going to focus on the ball and go out and make plays and play well and not have any mental errors and it ended being a great day for me.”

Now last week the New York media was saying you were too old and finished. You could have blamed anyone for your struggles, but you didn’t. Why didn’t you take that route?

“I’ve always been an accountable lead guy. I’ve never been one to blame anybody else because I am not having success. I am a big evaluator of myself. I look at myself in the mirror and say hey I am not playing well. I am not catching the ball as consistently as I am suppose to. I need to go out and play better if I want to contribute and help this team get better. When I woke up yesterday I said I am going to play hard. I am going to go out and try to have an impact and just play as hard and as well as I can possibly can.”

Are you starting to feel comfortable with Mark Sanchez? Did the lockout along with your ankle injury have any kind of impact to your slow start?

“I mean there is no doubt about it. I wanted to be out there the first day, but I ended up rolling my ankle the day before I was suppose to go out and I said what kind of luck am I having? Already it is starting off on a bad foot. We have been working tirelessly at it every day. It’s a work in progress and like I have been saying it’s going to come around right at the right time when we need it to going into November and December and the playoffs. I think that once we get that chemistry together where we can just pitch and catch the offense can be really dangerous. It can be really explosive and the kind of level that I play at…I think we can be a great offense.”

After the game Randy McMichael of the Chargers claimed San Diego beat themselves and the referees didn’t help them out. What do you think when an opposing player says something like that?

“I really like Randy McMichael. He’s a friend of mine and sometimes as a player you forget that the guys you are playing against – those guys get paid too. We went out and practiced hard this week just like those guys went out and practiced hard. Sometimes as a player you do feel like you give games away, but you gotta give the guys across from you some kind of credit, but it really doesn’t bother us. We got the win and they gotta think about it for a long plane ride home.”