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Teams not throwing Jenkins’ way
5 hours ago • By Jim ThomasOn Green Bay’s first pass play of the day, quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw deep down the left sideline toward wide receiver Ty Montgomery. Rams cornerback Janoris Jenkins was in tight coverage and the pass fell incomplete.
After that, Rodgers gave Jenkins the “Richard Sherman” treatment during the Rams’ 24-10 loss Oct. 11. Rodgers threw 29 additional passes that day at Lambeau Field; not one of those 29 was thrown in the direction of Jenkins, whose stat line consisted of all zeroes. No tackles, no interceptions, no pass breakups. …
“It was boring, but at the same time I still had to play football,” Jenkins said. “I couldn’t go to sleep out there because it was A-Rod. In my mind every play I was just thinking he was gonna come over there anyway.”
But Rodgers didn’t. Much was made of the fact that Rodgers didn’t throw at Sherman, the much-heralded Seattle cornerback, a year ago when the Packers and Seahawks met in their 2014 season opener.
Perhaps Rodgers was showing similar respect to Jenkins.
“I see it as a sign of respect,” Jenkins said. “But at the same time, he probably saw something on the other side that he liked better. Probably match-up wise or whatever.”
A week earlier in Arizona, Jenkins was involved in a couple of high-profile plays — one good (an acrobatic interception) and one bad (a pass interference penalty). But otherwise, Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer didn’t throw much in Jenkins’ direction either.
“Most times, what I’ve been noticing the first five weeks, teams are basically trying me with the double move,” Jenkins said. “If they don’t have any success with that, they just go away from me. But like I said, I just stay on top of my game and don’t go to sleep out there.”
The Montgomery route against Jenkins in the Green Bay game was a double move — a stutter-and-go to be precise. But Jenkins didn’t take the bait.
He has, of course, taken the bait in the past and that has led to some feast-or-famine moments for the fourth-year pro.
The feast has come in the form of six defensive touchdowns scored by Jenkins since entering the league in 2012 — more than any other NFL player. One of those TDs came on a recovered fumble; the other five have come on interception returns for TDs, a total that ties the franchise record for career “pick 6s.”
The famine has come when Jenkins has gambled, going for the interception and getting beaten for TDs by receivers fooling him with double moves.
But such plays have been few and far between lately. Jenkins is playing well entering Sunday’s home game with Cleveland, displaying more game-to-game consistency than he has displayed in the past.
Pro Football Focus has him ranked 16th among all NFL cornerbacks in terms of overall grade. Opposing quarterbacks have only a 79.3 passer rating against him according to PFF.
While acknowledging that the gambling and double moves have resulted in some problems in the past, Jenkins feels he’s playing some of the best ball of his career.
“Yeah I do,” he said. “I say that to myself, that I’m finally 100 percent. No nagging injuries. I’m not out there with a sore knee or a sore ankle, you know what I’m saying? I’m just finally healthy.”
Although the Rams didn’t make much of it last season, Jenkins suffered a sprained MCL in the team’s Oct. 19 Monday game with Seattle, and it bothered him for much of the season. Teams knew that, and threw at him.
“Once they knew that I was hurt, they were coming at me,” Jenkins said.
He was on the team’s injury report for most of November because of that knee injury and reappeared on the injury report near the end of the year with a back issue.
“Why I was getting beat, I was hurt last year,” Jenkins said. “I don’t care what anybody says. Double moves, I was just trying to make plays.”
So far this season, Jenkins has 23 tackles, two interceptions, and two pass breakups.
Even after allowing two TD passes against Rodgers and Green Bay, the Rams as a team have allowed only five touchdown passes on defense all season, which is tied for the league low. While recognizing that the NFL is very much a week-to-week league, the secondary is finally showing signs of gelling as a unit.
“We’ve been together for a while now,” Jenkins said. “So everybody’s got a feel for each other, how each other plays. Their strengths and weaknesses, so we’ve just got to keep putting it together week in and week out.
“We’re pretty technique-sound. I think Coach D’s doing a good job, fixing our fundamentals and techniques within press.”
(Dennard Wilson is one of the Rams’ defensive backs coaches.)
Jenkins and fellow cornerback Trumaine Johnson are in their fourth season together in the Rams’ secondary, although Johnson has not been a full-time starter during all of that time. At safety, Rodney McLeod and T.J. McDonald are in their third years as starters.
McDonald is the only one of those four starters who is under contract after this season. The others are scheduled for unrestricted free agency.
In the case of Jenkins, the Rams have had ongoing discussions with his agent on a new deal since last spring. Jenkins, in fact, said the Rams made an offer to him last week during the Rams’ bye.
But the numbers apparently weren’t to Jenkins’ liking because he indicated Wednesday that he plans to wait until the end of the season to act on a contract, hinting that he may test the market.
“I’m not talking about the contract,” Jenkins said. “I ended that last week, when they gave me those numbers. It was something I didn’t want to hear. I ended it just like that. I’ll play it out. I’m gonna bet on myself.”
The 16th CB gets ~8 million per year, according to “Over the Cap”. http://overthecap.com/position/cornerback
AgamemnonThe average if the top 5 CBs in terms of amount per year is about 13.2 M. The top 4 all get about 14 M a year. I doubt he would accept anything less than that.
That is what guys like Darrelle Revis, Patrick Peterson, Richard Sherman, and Joe Haden get. Do you or Jenkins think he can command that kind of money? If so, we will only have a bigger example of another Joe Barksdale.
What makes Jenkins a top 5 CB?
I doubt he can get more than ~10 M a year at best. imo
AgamemnonI think it is all about value. In the end the Rams/Demoff are going to spend to the cap. They will spend where they think they get the best value. imo
Agamemnonnot so sure about gaines. i think he might be fragile. what does the draft look like for corners? if they sign him, it’ll have to be at the expense of another player.
my only question with him is what happens when he gets that huge pay day? right or not i question his motivation.
This is how one draft site list the first 3 rounds by number at a position. I take that to be a rough estimate of the strength of how the draft plays out. The Rams have 6 picks. An extra 2 for Bradford, they used a 5 on Battle, and a 7 for Keenum. Most team needs for the entire NFL seem to be OT, CB, and of course QB. I don’t expect an epic draft, but with an extra 2, we are in good shape to find help at most of the positions we might need.
This appears to be a draft where that sets up so that we can match need to talent in a number of different directions. imo I don’t expect we will find a Donald, Gurley, or Quinn. Although we might find a couple of players in the 1st round that we like alot. There is a certain advantage to drafting players in the the bottom of the 1st round. It is the extra year you can keep them, like Ogletree.
I believe that we have enough depth, that we don’t have a compelling need to draft any specific position, especially in a draft that seems to offer a bit of everything..
AgamemnonAbout our FAs next year.
Jenkins
Johnson
Mcleod
Barnes are the only starters. Although,
Barron
Quick
Zuerlein are close to being considered starters. imoAll the rest are backups or rotational players.
AgamemnonAnother thing, in 2017 our FA situation is going to be similar to this year, about 15 FAs. In 2018 we have to deal with Foles, Robinson, and Donald being FAs. It never stops. 😉 So, we can’t solve free agency in 2016 by using the future. I think we pretty much have to strictly use “pay as you go”, no big second year jumps in contracts. etc.
The Rams might have to structure a contract with a jump in the second year if they extend somebody early this year. But that is a function of the limited cap space left this year and that you figure an early extension is a bit cheaper overall, than competing with the other teams..
Agamemnon
I have no reason to think the Rams would use the franchise tag, but it is out there.
Fisher likes CBs that can tackle. Which of the CBs can tackle?
Agamemnon
Kendall Fuller 5-11 200 Virginia Tech Out for year
Jalen Mills 6-0 195 LSU S
Fuller’s injury will drop him. How far???Hokies lose projected 1st round CB Kendall Fuller to knee surgery…What had been expected to be a terrific 2016 class of cornerbacks took a significant hit Tuesday with the news that Virginia Tech junior Kendall Fuller has opted for season-ending surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee.
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/2071630/kendall-fuller
AgamemnonWill Rams DBs press the issue vs. Cleveland?
57 minutes ago • By Jim ThomasPredating even the arrival of defensive coordinator Gregg Williams last season, the sight of Rams cornerbacks playing off coverage on opposing receivers in recent years has frequently driven fans and observers crazy.
The reasoning for the strategy is obvious. With a young secondary, the idea is to keep the play in front of you to avoid the big strike, the quick 60- or 70-yard touchdown pass.
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But the more skilled and savvy quarterbacks around the NFL have been able to exploit the soft coverage by simply playing pitch and catch underneath and methodically picking the defense apart.
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With that background in mind, it was eye-opening to see the Rams come out Oct. 11 at Lambeau Field and play press coverage against mighty Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers.
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Not on every play, mind you, but on the vast majority of plays there was Janoris Jenkins right in Ty Montgomery’s face at the line of scrimmage, or Lamarcus Joyner doing the same with Randall Cobb, or Trumaine Johnson getting face time with James Jones.
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They were all trying to contest a free release off the line and disrupt the rhythm of the pass play.
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“It worked a lot,” Jenkins said. “We took away some guys that we wanted to take away. Me and Tru, we had to hold up the outside by ourselves. And I feel like we did a pretty good job of that.”
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“We were pretty successful,” Joyner said. “We looked at the film and thought that we could have success doing it, so we went with it.”
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The Rams had seen enough of Rodgers on film, and in person in recent years, to know that if they sat back in coverage he would dissect them underneath. It would be a slow, painful death.Coach Jeff Fisher liked what he saw of the press coverage in Green Bay.
“Yes, with the exception of two plays,” Fisher said. “But when you’re playing Aaron, he’s gonna find somebody. We had a slip, and then we had a technique error on the pick (play).”
Joyner slipped in coverage against Jones, with the result being a 65-yard touchdown catch and run. The technique error that Fisher referred to came when Johnson lost inside position, leaving Montgomery free on a 31-yard TD catch.
But those were the only two offensive TDs for Green Bay that day, and most opponents will take that against the Packers’ high-powered offense. Rodgers committed three turnovers and just about every pass he threw was contested.
“That was our philosophy, to go in and challenge them,” Fisher said. “Make them hold the football knowing that the risk, the down side of that, is that once (Rodgers) recognizes that … then he can escape.”
Press coverage can leave mobile quarterbacks with plenty of running room if the QB can escape the pocket. Rodgers ended up leading the Packers in rushing that day, but as Fisher pointed out: “I’d probably rather have Aaron running the football than throwing it.”
The even bigger down side, as evidenced in Green Bay, is that if the receiver escapes press coverage, it can lead to a big play if there’s no help from behind.
“You see how deep we play our safeties?” Williams said. “Deeper than anybody in the National Football League. That’s Rodney (McLeod)’s job and that’s T.J. (McDonald)’s job, whoever it is depending on our press alignments.
“When you press and when you’re very physical with press, you’ve got to have an ‘angel’ back there in the secondary. We call it the angel. The angel player has got to be out there to help you out.”
More specifically, the angel is the deep safety help, usually McLeod at free safety. McLeod took a bad angel, uh, angle, on the Jones TD; otherwise he might have been able to tackle Jones after a moderate gain. For the most part, Williams said McLeod has done “a phenomenal job” of playing the angel.
In a copycat league, Williams said other Packers opponents may try more press coverage given the Rams’ relative success. In fact, he indicated that was the case from San Diego, which played Green Bay last week while the Rams were on their bye.
What about Rams opponents, starting with Cleveland on Sunday at the Edward Jones Dome? Should they expect more press from the Rams?
“Yeah, absolutely,” Browns quarterback Josh McCown said. “I think we’ll see press. I think it was effective for them, so we absolutely expect them to press. … We’ll have our hands full with that and what’s expected of us as far as that goes, and trying to get guys open and how disruptive it can be in the passing game.”
Cleveland’s top three wideouts are all smaller, quicker players, so it may be more difficult for Rams cornerbacks to get their hands on them. Travis Benjamin, Andrew Hawkins, and Taylor Gabriel range in height from 5 feet 7 to 5-10 and in weight from 167 pounds to 180. But if you do get your hands on such smaller receivers, you can easily knock them off their routes.
But there’s no guarantee the Rams will stick with the heavy dose of press coverage. That’s because Williams’ game plans tend to change from week to week, from opponent to opponent.
“We pick and choose our times to (play press),” Williams said. “But we’re going to press parts of all ballgames, but some games more than others.”
Ask a cornerback, however, and almost invariably they’ll vote for press coverage.
“That’s what I love,” Jenkins said. “I like zone every now and then, but I like (press) man-to-man because I don’t like to play off that much. That’s just a pitch and catch as you look at the game.
“I hope we play it a whole lot. But at the same time, you’ve got to play within the scheme and stay within the defense. So whatever they call, I’m gonna be ready.”
Agamemnon
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