Jeff Fisher stands by Janoris Jenkins
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/12699/jeff-fisher-stands-by-janoris-jenkins
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- St. Louis Rams cornerback Janoris Jenkins' latest coverage miscue resulting in another long touchdown pass hasn't changed how he's viewed by coach Jeff Fisher.
Two days after Jenkins was beat for a pair of touchdowns in the Rams' 31-17 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Fisher offered a vote of confidence for his third-year cornerback.
Brandon Lloyd was able to beat Janoris Jenkins for a long touchdown on Monday.
Asked whether Jenkins' boom or bust tendency -- the bust showing up most recently on Brandon Lloyd's 80-yard touchdown past Jenkins just before Monday night's halftime -- makes him a high risk/high reward option, Fisher made it clear he doesn't see it that way.
"I disagree," Fisher said. "He's playing corner, it's the hardest position to play in this league. The great part about him is that he's got a short memory. He doesn't let those things bother him. He doesn't make mistakes on purpose, understands our defense. Like I said he will take responsibility for the play. I think it was more of something that we should have kept him out of. I have no concern with his production and his play at this point."
More than a quarter of the way through his third season, Jenkins has been a starter for the Rams since his arrival in St. Louis. In 36 games, he's offered his share of game-changing plays (his five defensive touchdowns are the most in the NFL in that time) while also surrendering plenty of big plays. Lloyd's 80-yard touchdown catch was the second consecutive "Monday Night Football" game where Jenkins has allowed a touchdown covering that distance after then Seattle wideout Golden Taint beat him for one last year.
At other times in his career, Jenkins has been victimized by Atlanta's Julio Jones, San Francisco's Anquan Boldin, Dallas' Dez Bryant and others for big plays. Taking his cues from Fisher, Jenkins points to the ups and downs as part of playing one of the league's most difficult positions.
"They make plays and we make plays," Jenkins said. "You've just got to put it behind you because everybody is going to make a play. It's just when the play is going to be made and how it's going to be made."
The play against the Niners came at the worst possible time. Just before the end of the first half, Rams defensive coordinator Gregg Williams called for a basic three-deep zone in which it was Jenkins' responsibility to show that he was in a Cover 2 zone before the snap but then back off (known as bail technique) at the snap to stay deep keeping the receiver in front of him.
Instead, Jenkins got caught starting into the backfield and Lloyd beat him with a double move. That's been a common issue for Jenkins since he arrived in the league with that tendency leading to big plays for him but even more against him.
"It was all on me," Jenkins said. "I take full responsibility as a man. I just know on that particular play, I was doing the wrong thing, I was doing my own thing and it won't happen again."
While Jenkins and Fisher are right that the cornerback position is going to come with its ups and downs, it's not the big touchdowns so much as how they're happening that should be concerning. Jenkins' mistakes have come as a result of the same thing happening over and over. That's not a function of simply getting beat so much as a stubborn refusal to make the changes to minimize risk consistently.
With fellow cornerback Trumaine Johnson set to return from a knee injury soon, the Rams will have to do some reshuffling at cornerback. Based on Fisher's comments, it seems unlikely Jenkins' role will be a part of any adjustments.
"It makes me feel like I have always been feeling, normal, comfortable, just eliminate what I can eliminate and just continue to play," Jenkins said.
