New York Jets defensive lineman Javon Kinlaw speaks with reporters after practice at the NFL football team’s spring training complex, Monday, July 29, 2024, Florham Park, N.J. (AP Photo/Dennis Waszak Jr.)

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — Javon Kinlaw couldn’t say the words. Memories flooded his mind.

The New York Jets defenseman was just talking about his journey through football and life when his eyes became moist and he had to take a break from the podium.

“I’ve been through a lot, you know,” Kinlaw said Monday, wiping away tears. “That’s all I can say, but I never gave up. A lot of people would have given up. But I never gave up.”

Kinlaw, 26, is entering his first season with the Jets, who signed him to a one-year, $7.25 million contract in March. He played his first four NFL seasons with San Francisco after being the 14th overall pick by South Carolina in 2020.

But he hasn’t lived up to his lofty draft status yet.

“I always dreamed of being a top executive,” Kinlaw said. “I still do. I’m super excited.”

After recording 1 1/2 sacks as a rookie, Kinlaw was limited to 10 games the next two years due to injuries that put him on the injured list both seasons. He didn’t have a sack again until last year, when he had a career-best 3 1/2 while playing 17 games for the first time.

The 49ers declined the fifth-year option on his rookie deal, making him a free agent last offseason, and the Jets jumped at the chance to add Kinlaw to their already formidable defensive line.

“JK, he’s been a little unlucky with injuries the first couple of years, and last year was the first year he was able to keep it all going,” said coach Robert Saleh, who was San Francisco’s defensive coordinator during Kinlaw’s rookie season.

“He’s done a lot of work this off-season and the guy is built the right way,” Saleh added. “He’s got a great mindset and he wants to be great, just like everyone else. So I know he’s going to take every opportunity he gets here.”

Kinlaw is sure of that too. He’s come too far not to.

As a boy, Kinlaw spent time homeless in the Washington, D.C., area with his mother and two brothers, never knowing where he would sleep—or eat—next. Sometimes it was a friend’s basement. Other times it was somewhere warm. And often, there was no electricity or running water.

He didn’t play football until he moved to South Carolina, where his father lived. And Kinlaw told ESPN before he was drafted that there were problems there, too — in school with grades; off the field with family issues — and he dropped out of high school as a senior.

Kinlaw got back on track by earning his GED from Jones County Junior College in Mississippi and earning an associate degree before transferring to South Carolina, where he fell in love with football and became one of the nation’s top defensive linemen.

It was a long, emotional road that brought him here: to the Jets, with another chance to make his family and himself proud.

“I’ve had a lot of dark days and just to be able to touch that grass is a blessing, man,” Kinlaw said. “You know, I’ve been through a lot, bro.”

The 6-foot-1, 300-pound D-lineman will team with the likes of Quinnen Williams, Haason Reddick, Solomon Thomas, Leki Fotu, Micheal Clemons and Will McDonald to give New York a massive defensive front.

“I think I’m a great fit,” Kinlaw said. “Just another power guy. I think I’m really explosive, too. As good as anybody on the D-line. I just can’t wait to battle these guys.”

Kinlaw said he has gained 35 pounds of muscle mass since the end of last season, with the goal of feeling “solider” when going up against double teams of blockers.

To do that so quickly, Kinlaw said, he trained — and ate. And ate.

“Well, my girl, she would make me nine chicken eggs in the morning,” he said. “A whole avocado, a handful of spinach. For lunch, I’d have six chicken breasts. A little salad on the side. And then (at night) I’d probably have a little pasta, a pound of ground beef, but then a couple noodles mixed in.

“I did it every day and it paid off. I still eat the same way now, just a little less. I don’t want to be too muscular.”

But he is impressive.

“He’s a huge human being,” Saleh said of Kinlaw when asked to compare him now to when he was a rookie. “But his mindset is the same. Knock on wood for good health. He’s a dominant football player and he has a chance to prove it.”

And that’s exactly what he plans to do.

“Even though I’ve been through a lot, I’ve always worked super hard,” Kinlaw said. “The chips, they fell where they fell. But I never gave up on myself.”