The last goodbye? Jenkins expects to leave
GREEN BAY There was a sadness in Cullen Jenkins voice that was unmistakable, but if you didnt want to read into the free-agent defensive ends tone of voice, all you needed to hear to get an idea of how little hope he has of returning to the Green Bay Packers was how he referred to the team.
Green Bay has a heck of a team. The talent level and the depth, especially on defense, they have a lot of big-time play-makers on it, Jenkins said during his appearance Wednesday on Green and Gold Today. Its a great defense. Green Bay definitely has an opportunity to compete, not just next year but years down the road. And it would be nice to be a part of that.
Green Bay, they. Not us, not we.
Jenkins, who first joined the Packers in training camp in 2003 as an undrafted free agent before being cut and made the roster for good in 2004, saw his four-year, $16 million contract he signed in February 2007 expire when the league year ended and the lockout began.
While his seventh season with the Packers was a challenging one he suffered a broken left hand in the first quarter of the Sept. 12 season opener at Philadelphia and also missed five regular-season games with a pulled calf he managed a career-best seven sacks in the regular season (second only to Clay Matthews on the team) and played in all four playoff games, registering seven tackles and a half-sack.
But having turned 30 in January and having battled injuries two of the last three seasons his 2008 season ended after four games because of a torn pectoral muscle it seems likely that general manager Ted Thompson will let Jenkins walk and turn his starting spot over to promising 2010 second-round pick Mike Neal, who played in just two games as a rookie because of a torn rotator cuff in his shoulder.
Mike has the ability to take over the game, Jenkins said. For him, its just a matter of getting in there and continuing to be a student of the game and learn it and hell take it over.
Jenkins certainly had that ability as well, with 31 sacks in 101 regular- and post-season games. While he did express his unhappiness in the 3-4 scheme midway through the 2009 season, he eventually found his comfort zone in the scheme and said hes not looking to leave so he can play in a 4-3 again, a la former Packers defensive end-turned-linebacker Aaron Kampman, now with Jacksonville.
Im a whole lot more comfortable. I had not played a 3-4 before; Id been in a 4-3 as long as Ive been playing defensive line, so it was a tough adjustment, Jenkins said. But for me to say Id only play in this scheme and Id only do this, that would be fighting against who I am as a player and what got me to where I am. The thing that has helped me out is being so versatile and being able to play in any scheme.
Jenkins reiterated what hed said after the season ended, that he approached the Packers before the season about a contract extension and that he was willing to give them the hometown discount because he wanted to stay in Green Bay, where his wife Pashun and daughters Jasmin and Ashanti enjoy living.
Heading into last year, Ive always been up there and always been a Packer, and I wanted to stay a Packer, Jenkins said. So we approached the team and wanted to get some type of security, some type of longer-term deal before the season so I would know I would be there. It wasnt about money, it was about security, about trying to see if we could work something out.
Asked directly if hed have taken less money to stay, Jenkins replied, Yeah. That was the thought then. I knew in going to them, I know Green Bay, I know the market, I know how they handle business, and the thought was if we could get something reasonable worked out, I knew I would take less than what I couldve gotten in free agency. But they never approached me with anything and never got any type of negotiations going. Its just how the business is. They had a lot of younger guys and felt they could move forward in that direction.
That said, the Packers depth chart at defensive end is hardly set. While Neal is coming off an injury, the Packers ends on the roster for Super Bowl XLV were starter Ryan Pickett, journeyman Howard Green and youngsters C.J. Wilson and Jarius Wynn.
Former starter Johnny Jolly, who it appeared the Packers were counting on to be reinstated from the reserve/suspended list, avoided prison time in his felony drug possession case but the future of his reinstatement application with the league is unclear. Meanwhile, the Packers took just one defensive lineman in the three-day NFL Draft last week seventh-round pick Lawrence Guy of Arizona State.
The possibility is there, I guess, Jenkins said. Its one of those things that Im not really looking into (though). Im just waiting for this lockout to be over with so I can figure out what options Im going to have. with this dragging on so long, its almost like you have to put it out of your mind and not think about it.
Its one of those things that tests your patience. For most players, its a matter of when they get to get back to work and when they get to start working out with their team. For me, id not even know that. Heck if the packers were to decide to get together and start holding workouts together with the players, I dont even know if I would be included in that.
That said, Jenkins said he cherishes his time in Green Bay and winning Super Bowl XLV in perhaps his final season I cant wait to get that ring on my finger show I can show it off, he said and said he doesnt harbor any ill will toward the Packers for not re-signing him before now.
I think a lot of people, they get a false sense of whats going on when people speak up or when people talk about whats happening, Jenkins replied when asked if he felt hed been treated fairly by the Packers. Throughout my whole career, Ive had a great time in Green Bay. The things that Ive gotten to experience heck, I was given my opportunity in Green Bay. And although this whole thing with them not approaching me about a contract and things like that, that may not be the way I would have liked things to happen, you cant base your whole experience with Green Bay off of that.
Green Bay is a first-class organization, its a heck of city to play in, its a heck of a city to have your family in, and the experience has been a heck of an experience up there.
540ESPNMilwaukee Jason Wilde wrote: