“Nobody’s Job Is Secure Or Safe”
May 28th, 2015
Cornerback Mike Jenkins
Today at Bucs practice, Joe watched nickel cornerbacks Isaiah Frye and Leonard Johnson work intently with their nickel position coach.
Sterling Moore, the likely No. 1 nickel, was busy with other cornerbacks.
Moore is a guy that has the regime all excited. And if you ask Moore, he’ll tell you that he sees himself as competing for an outside cornerback starting job.
That just further highlights the excellent competition brewing at cornerback. Former Pro Bowl corner Alterraun Verner isn’t even sure he has a starting job.
“It’s good. Mike Jenkins is definitely an X-factor. He brings a lot of intensity. He brings a lot of passion for the game. He’s somebody that’s been playing for eight years – he’s going to bring that [experience] to you,” Verner said after practice. “It’s been good to have him back competing. Johnthan [Banks] is growing as a player, as you saw last year. I like the depth and we’re just all pushing each other because at the end of the day he’s going to put the best people out there. Nobody’s job is secure or safe, so I love it. I love competition and I love us all being out there competing.”
Joe’s been shaking his head at all this Jenkins talk for more than a year. The former first-round pick hasn’t been a good player in an awfully long time, and now he’s 30, and he’s coming off nearly a full season on the injured list.
Joe’s loving the potential of Jenkins providing great depth, and he’s a spirited cat in practice. But Joe sincerely hopes Lovie Smith doesn’t get the wacky notion of forcing Jenkins into a starting gig, like he did last year.
Let Johnthan Banks blossom in his third year, and second in Lovie’s system.
The man can play, and he gutted through a good rookie season battling MRSA. Banks should be a starter, barring Superman-like preseason heroics from Jenkins or Moore.
May 28th, 2015 at 7:06 pm
Let Jenkins use all that NFL experience to be a versatile backup. Whatever his best was, it’s behind him. Happy if he makes our 53, concerned if he makes our 11
May 28th, 2015 at 7:12 pm
agreed Pick6…
amazing depth, but bottom line, we all remember revis going down and banks virtually shutting megatron down….
Until I see something from verner, banks is our #1 corner…
May 28th, 2015 at 7:14 pm
FUK! For a minute there I thought Mark “I took a bad angle” Barron was back.
May 28th, 2015 at 7:30 pm
Lets put him in at FS!
May 28th, 2015 at 7:44 pm
This will be banks first year in like 5 years where he’s not learning a new defensive system. I thought frye did okay late last year in the nickel.
May 28th, 2015 at 7:50 pm
Hate Leonard Johnson Buc out here
May 28th, 2015 at 7:53 pm
I love Verner’s attitude: “Nobody’s job is safe and secure” … “I love competition, and I love us all being out there competing.”
If everyone on the Bucs took that same attitude, and had that same confidence, this year’s record would look more like 14-2 than last year’s 2-14.
May 28th, 2015 at 8:06 pm
I will believe this when I see it. After last year all we heard was competition, only to watch just hand out jobs to his favorites.
May 28th, 2015 at 8:12 pm
Here’s hoping the Glazers don’t think Lovie or Licht’s jobs are safe. Time for some wins Lovie!!!
May 28th, 2015 at 8:21 pm
Seems like the CB position has quietly becoming the strongest position on the bucs. Verner, Banks, Sterling Moore, Frye, Jenkins, leonard… that’s a solid group right there. Won’t mean much though without pressure from the big fellas.
May 28th, 2015 at 8:40 pm
Banks will Beast out this yr if the Defense isn’t on the field for 40 minutes a game. I think with the commitment we are making to JW that the Defense will be more rested nowadays. At least I hope.
May 28th, 2015 at 9:16 pm
Leonard Johnson and Mike Jenkins are good for depth,i’m wondering about the young guys Brandon Dixon and Deshazor Everett.
May 28th, 2015 at 10:02 pm
You might be on to something with what you said Arealbucfan.
May 28th, 2015 at 10:05 pm
Banks arm tackles to much, he plays a little to timid, im sure Lovie see’s the same thing. Jenkins will put his nose in there and actually HIT. I think that counts a lot for Lovie.
May 28th, 2015 at 10:06 pm
Is that why Jenkins was known for pulling up short on tackles and letting guys score in Dallas?
May 28th, 2015 at 10:13 pm
You can hate Leonard Johsnon all you want Strider, but the guys comes to work every day with his lunch pail and works as hard as he can. Johnson’s only problem is god didn’t give him 4.5 speed. Other than that he is a hard working guy who is trying to get the most out of the abilities god gave him.
If everybody worked as hard as him, we would be in the Super Bowl.
May 28th, 2015 at 10:17 pm
Would you mind identifying Lovie’s favorites, Buc Realist. Other than McClown, McCoy and David, who started the season guaranteed a job last year.
Of is this just all about Mike Glennon.
May 28th, 2015 at 11:30 pm
Banks will shine. He did last year, unlike most of the other corners including AV. Banks keeps getting better and better. We were lucky to get him in the 2nd round the year we traded our 1st for _________. He may be a bit slow, but guy is tall and is physical. AV hopefully will be better this year after having experience in Lovies defense. Moore was a good pick up. The rest are just out there having fun.
May 28th, 2015 at 11:46 pm
@NoleBuc thank u. We dont have a real safety. Jenkins still has some wheels when healthy and maybe he’ll see the field better back there. And we kno he’ll be able to cover the TE bettee than who we currently have for that position.
May 29th, 2015 at 12:58 am
@DRDN
Are you FUKN serious? You would go to work everyday if you were making 6 figures for performing like that too! You can’t be serious about the 4.5 speed being his only problem. #FUKNDOOMAS
May 29th, 2015 at 8:58 am
The only player on this team more afraid of contact than Jenkins is Glennon. Jenkins does not hit!!! he ducks out of the way. He never met a tackle he could not fake… Jenkins is a bum, quieter with an injury history who has played 1 good season. I guess that’s why Lovie is so enamored with him they both only have one good season and have been milking it for years.
May 29th, 2015 at 10:19 am
drdneast, the players bucrealist might be referring to are mostly hand-picked free agents, he had no “favorites” among the guys already on the roster: anthony collins, EDS, and mike Jenkins were never going to lose their starting jobs to another player (in the case of the former 2 their closest competition was shipped out and the 3rd only lost his starting gig to season-ending injury). Of course there was michael johnson our elite RDE who faced no competition while 3 or 4 guys fought over LDE….and you have to count Josh McCown. so…that’s 5 BRAND NEW players of your 22 on offense & defense….nearly a quarter of your starting jobs manned by brand spanking new guys effectively promised starting jobs before they played a single practice snap. and of those 5, only 1 was considered a clear-cut starter in his previous stops (EDS)…everyone else was a platoon, backup, or role player type
May 29th, 2015 at 10:23 am
I do not get all the fans that are on the Banks bandwagon? Here are some stats from Pro Football Focus. Banks was ranked 60th overall for all NFL CB. Banks is rated 43rd in coverage and 73rd in tackling efficiency?
May 29th, 2015 at 10:28 am
when you think about the traditional “key 3” positions to building a franchise (QB, RDE, LT) and that we handed all 3 jobs to mercenaries, with no track record of being worthy of the role (MJ’s average healthy season was less productive than clayborn’s)……..and 4th on that list (shutdown CB) was voluntarily released…well, that just makes it more egregious. but, to make myself feel better, i’m just gonna tell myself they were creating a bottom-of-the-league formula to tank for a top QB from the jump and they were fully aware of and okay with how risky their decisions were.