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Coach: Jenkins' Struggles "The Norm"
Josh Ellis
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
INDIANAPOLIS - After making the Pro Bowl in his first full season as a starter in 2009, it seemed the sky was the limit for cornerback Mike Jenkins, but he quickly returned to Earth last year.
Head coach Jason Garrett said Thursday he wasn't surprised to see gravity catching up with the 2008 first-round pick.
"I think it's probably more the norm," Garrett said. "You see guys early in their career maybe have some success, and then maybe they're not able to sustain it as much as you want the next year. And then they're able to come back and learn from that experience and go forward."
Garrett said he trusts Jenkins will be able to turn things around after leading the team in defensive penalties last year and struggling at times in coverage.
"You have to be the right kind of guy," Garrett said. "And we think he is."
Some link Jenkins' apparent regression last season to that of outside linebacker Anthony Spencer, who was a genuine difference-maker at the end of the '09 campaign, when the defense was dominant, but went eight straight games without a sack in 2010.
New Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan gave Spencer a vote of confidence last week, but didn't entirely do the same for Jenkins, saying only that he was excited to work with him. Garrett, on the other hand, expressed a belief that the young cornerback can get back to doing the things that put him on the verge of shutdown-corner status in his second pro season.
"Well, I've seen him do it," Garrett said. "I've seen him play at a very high level. He's a talented guy, I think he wants to be good, and we as coaches are going to try to get him back where he plays with the right frame of mind and plays with the discipline necessary to allow his talents to come out."
Coach: Jenkins' Struggles "The Norm"
Josh Ellis
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
INDIANAPOLIS - After making the Pro Bowl in his first full season as a starter in 2009, it seemed the sky was the limit for cornerback Mike Jenkins, but he quickly returned to Earth last year.
Head coach Jason Garrett said Thursday he wasn't surprised to see gravity catching up with the 2008 first-round pick.
"I think it's probably more the norm," Garrett said. "You see guys early in their career maybe have some success, and then maybe they're not able to sustain it as much as you want the next year. And then they're able to come back and learn from that experience and go forward."
Garrett said he trusts Jenkins will be able to turn things around after leading the team in defensive penalties last year and struggling at times in coverage.
"You have to be the right kind of guy," Garrett said. "And we think he is."
Some link Jenkins' apparent regression last season to that of outside linebacker Anthony Spencer, who was a genuine difference-maker at the end of the '09 campaign, when the defense was dominant, but went eight straight games without a sack in 2010.
New Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan gave Spencer a vote of confidence last week, but didn't entirely do the same for Jenkins, saying only that he was excited to work with him. Garrett, on the other hand, expressed a belief that the young cornerback can get back to doing the things that put him on the verge of shutdown-corner status in his second pro season.
"Well, I've seen him do it," Garrett said. "I've seen him play at a very high level. He's a talented guy, I think he wants to be good, and we as coaches are going to try to get him back where he plays with the right frame of mind and plays with the discipline necessary to allow his talents to come out."
