Three seasons after winning the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year award, Jets defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson has decided to get with the program.

Richardson won’t be playing in New York’s season opener against the Bengals following his one-game suspension – the second season in a row that Richardson opens the season while serving a suspension (Last season Richardson began the season on a four-game suspension).

According to Richardson, suspensions are now a thing of the past.

“I got my head right,” Richardson said Monday, according to Kimberley A. Martin of Newsday. “I’m a little more compliant this year. Last year, I was a little more hardheaded. I felt my way worked. I felt like I knew the system. We were trying new stuff, so I just was being hardheaded. That’s all.”

For Richardson’s sake, he better be telling the truth as the Jets have exercised their fifth-year option on the former first-round pick and will hold his rights until the conclusion of the 2017 NFL season. If the former Missouri tiger standout fails to grow up, he’ll miss his chance to cash in with a huge payday during his free agency.

Buying in and keeping himself eligible to play will be among teams main concerns when considering the possibility of signing Richardson in free agency, as his play on the field speaks for itself.