FLOWERY BRANCH – Despite the Falcons’ 1-3 start and sagging Super Bowl odds,  tight end Tony Gonzalez remains steadfast that 2013 will be his last season in the NFL.

The future Hall of Famer returned for his 17^th season after contemplating retirement after last season. But with the Falcons coming up 10 yards short of the Super Bowl, the team was able to broker a deal, which included a light training camp schedule, for Gonzalez to return.

The Falcons (1-3) are set to face the New York Jets (3-3) at 8:40 p.m. on "Monday Night Football" at the Georgia Dome.

“Obviously, it’s now or never,” Gonzalez said. “We have to be able to get a roll here pretty soon.”    

Gonzalez hasn’t second-guessed his decision to return in light of the Falcons' start.

“You can’t keep chasing it,” Gonzalez said. “You can’t. I’ve chased it long enough. I’ve tried and I think I’ve chased it about three or four years longer than I thought I would. This is it.

“I’m going to enjoy it no matter what happens and go play my heart out every week. Hopefully, we’ll turn this thing around.

“I don’t want to be in that position where I’m even thinking about coming back because we are not having a successful season. This is something that I still think we have a very good football team and we can turn this thing around hopefully.”

Gonzalez, who signed a two-year, $14 million contract, will count for $5.25 million on the 2013 salary cap.

He’s set to receive a base salary of $3.5 million and he has a bonus of $3.5 million.

In 2014, his base salary is $4.0 million with a roster bonus of $3 million if he plans to continue playing.

A two-year deal was done in order to spread his bonus money out over two years.

Gonzalez is set to play his last home game on “Monday Night Football”  against the Jets. He’ll make his last appearance when the Falcons play the 49ers on the road on Dec. 23.

“All games are special for me at this point,” Gonzalez said. “I guess we’ve got one more Monday Night game, god-willing that I’m able to stay healthy until that game, but any time you get a chance to go out and put those pads on, it’s special for me knowing that this is my last year. But it’s always special, because you know that everybody is watching.”

At the outset of the season, the Falcons, after going 13-3 and reaching the NFC championship game last season, were considered Super Bowl contenders. They were giving 12-to-1 odds by Las Vegas oddsmakers, bovada.lv. Last week, the odds were dropped to 33-to-1.

NFC teams Seattle ( 9-to-2), New Orleans (9-1), San Francisco (12-1), Green Bay (14-1) Chicago (28-1) and Dallas (28-1) all have better odds than the Falcons.

Gonzalez is approaching the game against the Jets as a “must win” situation for the Falcons.

“We don’t want to go to 1-4,” Gonzalez said. “That’s definitely not where we want to be. It’s a pretty important game for us.”

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