Janoris Jenkins is not for everyone.
His “Jackrabbit don’t travel no more’’ complaint not long after the Giants fell to the Packers, 31-13, can be viewed as selfish and ripping the coaching staff, but it is actually more team-oriented than it appears on the surface.
At least he has a pulse.
Jenkins is assigned to the left side of the field and does not travel from side to side to work against the top receiver on the other team. This simplified system was put in place earlier this season by defensive coordinator James Bettcher to help ease the transition for rookie DeAndre Baker. It was too much for Baker to handle, moving from one side of the field to the other.
Jenkins could easily keep quiet, collect his weekly game check of $597,058.82 and cover whichever receiver comes to his side. He is sick and tired of losing and wants to be more involved. Is this selfish? Don’t think so.
Sure, it would be cleaner if he voiced his displeasure directly to Bettcher, but Jackrabbit does things his own way, like it or not. He watched Davante Adams catch touchdown passes on Baker and Sam Beal and knows he could have done better. Aaron Rodgers threw in Jenkins’ direction four times, and Jenkins allowed one catch for four yards. Jenkins was called for defensive holding in the second quarter, a penalty on third down that kept the Packers on the field but did not lead to any points.
Jenkins whiffed badly when “traveling” to cover Mike Evans in Tampa in Week 3. A week earlier, after a loss to the Bills, Jenkins lamented it is impossible to cover ad infinitum when there is no pressure on the quarterback. His comment — “I can’t cover nobody for 10 seconds” — prompted a conversation instigated by head coach Pat Shurmur.
This is what you get with Jackrabbit. But he is easily the top cornerback on the roster and his job description has been dumbed down to accommodate the youngsters all around him.
“There’s reasons for [having a cornerback travel with a certain receiver] at times,” Shurmur said Monday. “We did it earlier in the season, and we felt with some of the guys we had out there playing, to settle down the whole unit we just felt it was best not to do that.”
Shurmur did not see this latest Jenkins salvo as undermining Bettcher.
“I’m not sure that’s what he was doing,’’ Shurmur said. “That may be the impression. I think coaches and players talk about a lot of things behind the scenes, but obviously anything that we do we should do behind the scenes.’’
The only real issue Shurmur had, it seems, is Jenkins saying all top cornerbacks get to travel with top receivers. Shurmur pointed out that was not the defensive approach in Minnesota when he was with the Vikings.
“You guys have gotten to know him and I know Rabbit real well, he’s a spirited guy and he wants to have an impact on the game,’’ Shurmur said. “He’s a competitive guy. I’m sure those are just immediately-after-the-game comments.’’
Jenkins and Shurmur did not speak about this on Monday as Jenkins had to attend to an illness in his family.
“I’m sure I’m gonna have a conversation with him when he gets back,” Shurmur said.
Keeping Jenkins on one side makes it easy for offenses to take him out of the game and go after weak links. How many times can the Giants allow Grant Haley to line up in the slot across from the top receiver and expect that matchup to work out in their favor? It is not even Haley’s fault – he should not be asked to deal with the top target. The same for Beal and rookie Corey Ballentine.
It is well within the rights of a head coach to call a player in and tell him to pipe down. But any additional consequences would be overkill. The team is terrible and the losing is an addiction. Within a team that is 2-10 and on an eight-game losing streak, a little cage-rattling is not a bad thing. Subdued acceptance of failure is more alarming than an emotional player sounding off about his usage and wanting to do more.
More that came out of the latest lousy loss for the Giants:
– This says a great deal about Darius Slayton. Immediately after Daniel Jones tossed his third interception of the game, throwing too long for Slayton and allowing Tramon Williams to pick the ball off, Slayton approached his quarterback for a rookie-to-rookie talk. There was not much Slayton could have done to prevent the turnover — he probably could have run his route harder and challenged the defensive back more forcefully — but Slayton offered a “My bad” to Jones anyway. “The DB played it well, he got over the top, it’s an over the top throw so it was kind of one of those deals I take personally, I take pride in, a 50-50 ball,” Slayton said. “I feel like I’m gonna catch ‘em or no one’s gonna catch ‘em. That’s what I went over to tell him, ‘That’s on me.’ A quarterback can’t make every throw perfect, make every read perfect. Sometimes you got to bail ‘em out. Right there I felt I should have, I don’t know, knock him down or grab him or something. Prevent him from picking the ball off.” Out of this miserable season, the Giants found something with Slayton.
– Daniel Jones has thrown at least one touchdown pass in 10 straight games, a franchise rookie record held for 71 years by Charlie Conerly, who had nine consecutive games with a touchdown pass in 1948. Among all players, Hall of Famer Y.A. Tittle holds the Giants record with at least one scoring pass in 15 straight games.
– After going 110 consecutive passes without throwing an interception, Jones threw three in a span of 21 passes. Jones giving the ball away on offense meant it was a quiet day for Riley Dixon, who punted the ball only one time. That is the fewest punts in a game for the Giants since they also punted one time Nov. 8, 2015 in a 32-18 victory in Tampa.
– Let’s hear it for Kaden Smith. The rookie tight end, claimed off waivers from the 49ers in mid-September, is showing an ability to catch the ball. He was Stanford’s third-leading receiver in 2018 and second among all tight ends in the Pac-12 that season. The 6-foot-5, 249-pound Smith was a go-to option for Daniel Jones against the Packers, targeted eight times. Smith had six receptions for 70 yards with a long gain of 32 yards. When you hear “These games mean nothing” after yet another Giants loss, do not buy into the rhetoric, because these games mean plenty for young players such as Kaden Smith.
– Rookie Julian Love played 65 of the 67 snaps on defense in his first NFL start and acquitted himself quite well. He must continue to play even after Jabrill Peppers returns from a fracture in his back. Love is the future and Antoine Bethea is not. Love must be paired with Peppers to show the Giants what might be possible at safety in 2020.
– Weekly Leonard Williams Watch: He played 55 defensive snaps and finished with three tackles, one quarterback hit and his first tackle for loss in his four games with the Giants. He has no sacks this season in seven games with the Jets and four with the Giants.
– Jerry Reese, not Dave Gettleman, drafted Wayne Gallman in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft. Ben McAdoo, not Pat Shurmur, gave Gallman 111 rushing attempts as a rookie. It now appears painfully obvious this new regime has no use for Gallman, not even as a seldom-used running back option when Saquon Barkley needs a rest. Gallman was in uniform for all 10 games he was healthy (he sat out Week 6 vs. the Patriots while in the concussion protocol) but he was a healthy scratch vs. the Packers, the first time that has happened. Barkley played 64 of the 67 snaps on offense and Buck Allen moved into the backup role with three snaps. Gallman will likely be elsewhere in 2020.
– As they came together for a brief postgame meeting at midfield, Aaron Rodgers shook Daniel Jones’ hand, patted him twice on the chest and said “Hang in there, bro. Long career, right? Learn from these days, and the good ones, too.” Jones’ only response was “Thanks a lot.” You wonder if one day Jones will be the successful veteran offering some advice to a rookie.