San Francisco 49ers rookie receiver A.J. Jenkins shrugs off criticism – NFL News
San Francisco 49ers rookie receiver A.J. Jenkins has a lot to prove this year. He was selected in the first round of the 2012 draft and that has brought him under the limelight.
Had he been a sixth or seventh-round pick, no one would have cared that much about his performance during organised team activities (OTAs) and mandatory minicamp.
Since he is a first-round pick, all eyes are on him right from the start and that is why he was also brought in the line of fire for not being in proper shape soon after being drafted.
However, Jenkins is not bothered about the criticism and thinks that he has made many improvements in his game and fitness during the last couple of months.
According to the Bay Area News Group, he said:
"I've made long strides. Obviously, I had criticism when I first came in as far as being in shape. That's irrelevant now. I'm just trying to help the team win, whether that's playing special teams, offence or being a real good teammate."
Jenkins joined other rookies of the team on Monday and began training with their all four quarterbacks. The veterans are going to join the team on Friday and then the real test will take place. The rookie receiver said:
"It's good for us to have like an extra week of practice, get back into the playbook and back into football shape. The feeling of a football camp is definitely here, though."
Earlier, Jenkins was reportedly facing difficulty in learning the playbook as well, but after the rookie camp and some training sessions with the seniors, he started getting hang of the playbook.
It is still not known if 49ers are going to start with him in the 2012 season as they already have many experienced players on the roster for the position.
49ers have Randy Moss, Mario Manningham and Michael Crabtree to serve at the wide receiver position, but since Jenkins is a first-round pick he might also get some playing time alongside these senior players.
The decision of giving Jenkins more playing time will depend on the rookie’s performance during the entire training camp and preseason games.
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