New York Giants cornerback Janoris Jenkins has been named this week’s NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts against Washington.
What a turn around for Janoris Jenkins. In Week 3 against the Tampa Bay Buccanneers, the veteran New York Giants corner was torched for 60 minutes. Jenkins, who was supposed to follow Mike Evans, allowed him to catch eight balls for 190 yards and three scores.
However, in Week 4, Jenkins really stepped it up against the Washington Redskins. He combined for four tackles, three passes defended, and two interceptions. Both picks were off Redskins rookie quarterback Dwayne Haskins. Because of his efforts, the 30-year-old corner was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week.
After the 24-3 win on Sunday, Jenkins revealed how he was able to turn his play around. Jenkins had struggled much of the first three weeks of the regular season.
“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.”
Jenkins now has 21 combined tackles on the season with five passes defended and two picks.
Other defensive standouts for New York on Sunday were safety Jabrill Peppers (six combined tackles, two passes defended, and one pick-six) and linebacker Ryan Connelly (five combined tackles, one sack, and one interception). The latter is unfortunately now out for the season after tearing his ACL in the win.
