It’s been an eventful few weeks for Janoris Jenkins.
When he was last at MetLife Stadium, Jenkins was passing blame for poor coverage in the secondary on the front seven not applying enough pass-rush pressure on the quarterback after a loss to Buffalo.
Last week in Tampa, he allowed Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans to catch seven passes for 146 yards and three TDs — in the first half of a game the Giants eventually won.
And on Sunday, Jenkins picked off two passes from Redskins rookie quarterback Dwayne Haskins Jr. to help seal the Giants’ 24-3 victory.
“Outside noise, I hear it, but I don’t think about it too much,’’ said Jenkins, who also deflected a Case Keenum pass in the first quarter that Ryan Connelly picked off. “Like I told you last week, there ain’t no pressure, it’s football. You’re going to have a good week, you’re going to have a bad week, it’s just all about how you bounce back.
“I just played football, man. You have games like that. I came out this week and worked in practice, critiqued what I did wrong last week, and I came out and played football.’’
No one inside the Giants locker room was saying they were worried about Jenkins.
“I had no lack of confidence in him, knew he would bounce back and have a great game,’’ safety Michael Thomas said. “That’s who he is. He’s one of the top corners in the league and he had two picks.’’
It was beauty to Giants coach Pat Shurmur’s eyes.
“That speaks to his resiliency,’’ Shurmur said. “He had a great week of practice and it showed up on the field. I am happy and pleased for him.’’
Of the first interception, Jenkins said: “They tried to hit me with a little double move, playing a little out-and-up and I kept my eyes on my man [Redskins receiver Paul Richardson Jr.] and just turned up the field with him.’’
Of the second INT, Jenkins said: “I just think [Haskins] threw it blindly to [Vernon] Davis, because he looked like he was about to block. It hit me in my hands and it looked like [Davis] wasn’t even ready for it. Up-front, our guys got after him and he [Haskins] threw it quick and threw it hot.’’
Two weeks and two wins later and Jenkins was standing in front of the same locker in the same locker room praising the front-seven pressure he’d criticized.“I don’t think that reflects [on] him that well [and] I talked to him about how things that we say can be interpreted,’’ Shurmur said after Jenkins’ critical comments about the lack of pass rush.
“It feels good,’’ Jenkins said of Sunday’s victory. “It’s a team win all around — offense, defense, special teams. Everybody playing fast … we played all-around great football. We started fast this week and we kept our feet on the gas.’’