New York Giants cornerback Janoris Jenkins had a big performance on Sunday, picking off two passes of Washington quarterback Dwayne Haskins.
One of the larger aspects of the underwhelming play of the New York Giants defense through the first three weeks was their veteran cornerback. Janoris Jenkins looked worse than he ever had, especially in their Week 3 win in Tampa Bay.
He’s a guy that was supposed to follow Buccanneers wide receiver Mike Evans much of that game. Evans ended up catching eight passes for 190 yards and three scores.
But Jenkins flipped a switch this past Sunday in a 24-3 win over the Washington Redskins, as did the entire defense.
The veteran had four combined tackles with two interceptions and three passes defended. Each of the interceptions was off rookie Washinton quarterback Dwayne Haskins. After the game, Jenkins revealed what his secret was when it came to changing his own narrative.
“I just played football, man, like I told you last week,” he said, per Patricia Traina of Sports Illustrated’s Giants Maven. “Ain’t no pressure; 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.
“We just believed in each other; like I said man, keep playing football, understand what is coming and what is not coming, and just continue to play football,” the veteran added.
Jenkins understands that there was this so-called “outside noise” regarding his play thus far. How couldn’t have there been? The Giants secondary had allowed 405, 253, and 380 passing yards in their first three games, respectively. Jenkins is supposed to be a staple of that secondary … a secondary that was most certainly falling into the abyss.
However, heading into Sunday’s victory, Jenkins shut out the critics in what was his best performance of the year.
“All I read about is what’s going on in the locker room,” he said. “Outside noise, I hear it, but I don’t think [about it] too much. Like I told you, 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.”
Jenkins and the Giants will play host to the Minnesota Vikings this Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET.
