Looking For A Rebound
April 25th, 2014
Bucs CB Mike Jenkins hopes playing in Lovie Smith’s defense revives his career.
Joe knows when the Bucs signed Mike Jenkins it ended a years-long crusade of many Bucs fans to have the Pewter Pirates obtain his rights.
Joe never understood why. The guy had a chequered career with the Cowboys, probably more bad than good, though Jenkins’ good was pretty good, albeit brief.
In 2009, Jenkins made the Pro Bowl. But his success did not last. The Cowboys and Jenkins parted ways last year, a season after the Cowboys drafted a cornerback in the first round and signed a big-name, high-priced free agent cornerback that signaled Jenkins’ days in Dallas were numbered.
After 2013 in Oakland, Jenkins, a South Florida product, returns to Tampa Bay, now wearing the Bucs’ red as opposed to the Bulls’ green. He’s hoping he has a renaissance playing for Lovie Smith.
“Definitely want to get back to that [Pro Bowl season],” Jenkins said. “It is a great opportunity to get there with this scheme. The [starting secondary is] wide open but everybody is playing football right now.
“There are a lot of great guys out here. It will bring everybody to another level. One of the best secondaries I have ever played in. Just looking at OTAs, the athletism [is impressive]. I am excited to get in.”
Joe was not thrilled with the Jenkins signing because his bad plays were woeful beyond words. Almost shameful.
But Jenkins is a Buccaneer, so Joe now hopes Lovie, a former secondary coach himself, can work his magic and turn Jenkins’ talents around.
Joe has the feeling if all goes well, this secondary could be something special, especially if the pass rush is resurrected. If nothing else, the Bucs secondary should be deep.
April 25th, 2014 at 12:11 pm
I wouldn’t bank on him. Unless he shines in minicamp we need to operate as if he’s as bad as he was with the cowboys.
April 25th, 2014 at 12:33 pm
i think some of the CB’s on the roster have better drop percentages than most of the Wide Receivers… Turnovers ratio should be sickening if Josh can limit turnovers.
Jenkins I am on the fence. Hope it works but I was taken back that Lovie used the words settle down when describing what Jenkins needs to do. what does that mean… playing to hyper or rushed or settle down meaning stay out of the clubs and no stripper poles.
April 25th, 2014 at 12:36 pm
Mike jenkins is similar to aqob galib he is a gambler, but but unfortunately he is it as successful
April 25th, 2014 at 12:41 pm
Lets hope playing at home will inspire Mike to great heights!!!
April 25th, 2014 at 12:50 pm
TBBF…let’s hope the away team’s fans stop outnumbering the Buc fans at RJS first.
April 25th, 2014 at 1:10 pm
Verner, Banks, Jenkins back in Tampa at home stadium… looks pretty good for a Tampa-2 defense.
I trust that Lovie knows WAAAAYYY more than sports writers who don’t even understand how to watch game film and tell if a guy is in or out of position.
April 25th, 2014 at 1:27 pm
Joe, as a third corner, I think the opportunity is pretty good. He’s goin to be the nickle, and cover slot guys. That’s much more his game. I think he’s right. This secondary could be really good
April 25th, 2014 at 1:29 pm
Jenkins could surprise some people this year.
April 25th, 2014 at 1:36 pm
I am a huge believer in the system and scheme fitting players. Maybe just maybe this system and scheme will fit him better. Cowboys played a lot of man with Ryan as the D.C. and left him on an island. feast or famine. this is not one of those systems. I agree with Patrick above. he could surprise people this year.
April 25th, 2014 at 1:51 pm
I just read the funniest series of comments from non-Buc fans about Lovie Smith.
From Sam on Yahoo:
“… you’ll be surprised at how bad your offense can be under Lovie Smith — and the fact that he signed Josh McCown and named him the starter leads me to believe the Bucs offense will be in trouble this coming season. (and no Lovie Smith does not change QBs, no matter how bad they play and how much their bad play hurts the team. I still have nightmares from press conferences that went like:
“Coach Smith, Rex Grossman has averaged 4 interceptions a game for the past 2 months, while your offensive line has given up a league leading 60th sack — any plans to make a change on offense to maybe help out your league leading defense”
Lovie Smith: “Rex Grossman is our Quarterback”
“But Coach.. he threw 6 interceptions and openly talked abotu how he had a bad game because he goes out partying he night before”
Lovie Smith: “Rex Grossman is our Quarterback”
“Coach you have the worst line in football, any plans to make any changes there?”
Lovie Smith: “We have all the talent in the world at offensive line”
“But… you gave up 10 sacks in the first half alone”
Lovie Smith: “We have all the talent in the world at offensive line”
“what about tight end — Kellen Davis continues to trip over his own feet when he tries to run routes”
Lovie Smith: “Davis is as skilled at Jimmy Graham”
“No, the ball literally hit him in the face and he fell down”
Lovie Smith: “Davis is as skilled at Jimmy Graham”
Lovie Smith is a good defensive coach, but offensively he seems to have NO clue what is going on how to make adjustments or anything else. Even play calling wise, be prepared for a TON of delay of games because Lovie likes to relay the calls in to the QB, and for some reason no matter who the OC was, he could never figure out how to get the play call in before the play clock was almost about to run out. So you’ll have a ton of wasted time outs on offense. ”
yahoo sports “NFL Draft Preview: QB McCown key in Bucs’ overhaul”
April 25th, 2014 at 1:53 pm
Mike Jenkins > Myron lewis
April 25th, 2014 at 2:00 pm
Okay, last set of comments… but they are like a completely new angle for Buc news. Joe, you should interview od Bear fans and get their take. Wouldbe quite commical.
“NFL Draft Preview: QB McCown key in Bucs’ overhaul” article on yahoo sports.
Ron said
“McCown looked good last year, BUT, his good games came against some of the NFL’s WORST pass defenses last year. The Vikings were ranked 31st and Dallas 30th, the Rams were 19th, and Packers 24th. He didn’t look very good, when Lovie was Head Coach. He had 1 TD to 2 INTs with a 76 QB rating, in 2 games. His completion percentage wasn’t bad, but his best of 2 games under Lovie, was for 242 yards. I think in the end, he’s an average QB, with a large paycheck.”
LN said
“One thing I will say for Tampa Bay, from a Bears’ fan, is that you will have a head coach that will give your team a chance to win. He will run a defensive scheme that is effective and a conservative approach which was proven to work. Not flashy but he was a winning coach. He is best, however, as purely a defensive coordinator. The Bears only made the playoffs 3 times in 9 seasons and once in his last 6 seasons with the Bears. Partially, it was due to personnel. Some argue that his success was largely because of Devin Hester, in his first couple of years which were incredible. This may be true. Either way, Tampa Bay fans should be happy with the hire and you are getting an NFL coach that will be better than what you’ve had for a long time.”
The last comment was a positive one for those keeping score at home.
April 25th, 2014 at 2:19 pm
I think former first rounder Mike Jenkins will excell in the Tampa 2 and be very successful and maybe even be a starting CB once the year begins, like stated above this isn’t the press man scheme of the ryans, not sure what was run in O-town defensively but they pick ahead of the bucs so not much better than last year…..it should be good though, and the yahoo article, I really think with Lovie having a year off after going 10-6 with the bears it has made him see things and trends that you may miss when you are right there in the middle of it…..GO BUCS….can’t wait for August
April 25th, 2014 at 3:07 pm
It all depends how they play as a unit. The Bucs biggest problem this season will be stuffing the run. That and working the seam behind the MLB and safety is how you beat the T2.
April 25th, 2014 at 3:10 pm
@pablo: Well articulated
April 25th, 2014 at 3:19 pm
Looking at this site and other sites for Bucs news, I see a lot of hopeful comments, but still an awful lot of negativity. And maybe that’s understandable. When fans have been beaten up as much as Bucs fans have over the past few years, it’s probably natural to expect more beatings.
Granted that we haven’t played any 2014 football yet, but the changes that I’m seeing give me lots of hope. Been a season ticket holder since RayJay was built, and I can’t remember being this excited for the season to start. Won’t make any predictions on what our record will be this year, but I have to believe that the quality of football will be much, much better than what we’ve had to endure for these past few years.
The changes that have been made in just these past 3 months have all been positive. Lovie has put together a coaching staff which is head-and-shoulders over what we had, and in short order will be the envy of most teams in the league. We didn’t have any depth last year, but we had a good nucleus of quality first team players like McCoy and Jax and quite a few others. Lovie and Jason have definitely improved on that by adding players like Josh McCown, Michael Johnson, and quite a few others. And we still have the draft to fill a few more holes and provide even more depth.
Things are definitely looking up for our Buccaneers … and for us fans. I’ve got a really good feeling that the beatings will end soon.
April 25th, 2014 at 7:13 pm
After the Pro Bowl season, Jenkins had hamstring issues that limited his ability to perform. Then they signed Carr in free agency and drafted Claiborne, so he was relegated to 3rd/nickel CB, and apparently again hobbled by hamstring issues. Then he went to the Raiders where players go to die.
Hopefully his hamstring issues are done (seems like that’s always been a problem for the Cowboys, hamstring issues. We have knee issues, Cowboys have hamstring issues. That’s how Miles Austin basically disappeared too). If he is healthy and used as a slot CB in a zone based defense (yes, zone-based, but they will play some man coverage too), I think he can revitalize his career here. Could be a solid nickel package.
April 25th, 2014 at 8:22 pm
He is a zone defender, and struggles with man to man. The Tampa 2 scheme should be able to maximize Jenkins abilities.
April 26th, 2014 at 2:39 am
I wasn’t thrilled with our slow 2d round CB last year so I am thrilled Lovie signed a Veteran CB to help from USF and has been a Pro Bowler!
April 26th, 2014 at 11:17 am
Buc1987 Said:
“TBBF…let’s hope the away team’s fans stop outnumbering the Buc fans at RJS first.”
Really. It is embarrassing. On another note. I sure hope Lovie lets Tedford do his work.