New York Giants' high-priced free agent cornerback acquisition Janoris Jenkins has scored some points for honesty but may have also given the team and its fans cause for concern.
After inking a five-year, $62.5 million contract with New York that includes $29 million guaranteed, Jenkins was asked on a conference call on Thursday about the strengths of his game and where he might need improvement.
Per ESPN's Giants beat reporter Dan Graziano, Jenkins said his strengths are in man coverage and the thing he'd like to improve is to "just stop being lazy at the end of games or whatever."
That ... is interesting. Maybe it's a good thing Tom Coughlin is out as head coach because his head may have exploded if a player of his said that. The response necessitated some elaboration about what he meant by "lazy."
"Just relaxing, thinking about the ball not coming to my side, and focusing more on the game," Jenkins said. "It's just a mind thing, easy to control. Playing on this level, some things are going to happen and you've just got to improve, man."
Well he's certainly being paid to focus for the entirety of games and there's no team that needs a full 60 minutes from its defenders more than the Giants, who blew an astonishing five fourth-quarter leads in 2015.
Jenkins proved to be a playmaker over his fourth seasons in St. Louis with 10 interceptions and 34 passes defended, but the risk-taker also allowed 22 touchdowns in his coverage.
He took another risk with that self-assessment but he'll have plenty of opportunities to show it was just a clumsy choice of words. Otherwise he won't see the $10 million base salary he's due at the end of his contract.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.