Taking it to the next level
Lost amid all the plaudits hurled at the Seattle Seahawks secondary last season just happened to be the guy who made the most improvement, right cornerback Kelly Jennings.
Sure, Marcus Trufant earned his trip to the Pro Bowl with seven interceptions and finishing second on the team in tackles. Undoubtedly, the signing of free agent safeties Brian Russell and Deon Grant was a big difference-maker. But with the hiring of Jim Mora as the defensive backs/assistant head coach, it also created a diving board of sorts for Jennings, and he scored a 10 when it came to growth at the position.
“He has turned into a very good cover corner,” Mora said. “We brought Deon and Brian in and they solidified the safety position, and Tru had a Pro Bowl year, so Kelly kind of got lost in the shuffle. But he had an equally good year. He made a ton of improvement and helped us get to the next level back there.”
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Two years ago, the Seahawks used their No. 1 draft choice for Jennings, a billed as a “cover corner” from the University of Miami. The staff stressed his extreme quickness, his affable personality and being very bright – his degrees in both finance and business management from the private school telling the story.
At 5-11, 180, and surrounded by veterans coming off a trip to Super Bowl XL, he didn’t play much. He was nicknamed “Slim,” the joke being he didn’t have to fly across country when he would return home to Florida from Seattle when he could simply be faxed.
Jennings didn’t play much early in the year, other than some nickel, and then when injuries necessitated him moving into the starting lineup late. Irrespective of Jennings and his improvement as a rookie, the secondary struggled all season, ultimately causing their demise in the NFC Divisional Playoff game at Chicago.
Seahawks president Tim Ruskell responded by signing Grant and Russell. He stuck with the talented young Trufant, moving him back to left corner and the inserted Jennings as the right corner. And Mora coaxed and cajoled them into leading the NFL with fewest touchdown passes. Suddenly this was a unit and Jennings became a significant factor.
“I love the success we had as a group,” Jennings said. “That has to do with the great safeties we brought in, the experience of Tru and me trying to learn from them. All of that with Coach Mora helped us have great success last year. And after having a year together, I think we’ll be even better.”
All eyes, of course, are always on the corners, out there on the island with the marvelously talented NFL wide receivers staring them down on ever play. They’re going to get beat. It’s inevitable. The key is how they react to that, and when they start winning the war. It required five years and veteran safeties for Trufant to reach the next level, and he had a spectacular year.
The question is how quickly Jennings will get there.
“The next step for Kelly is the one that Tru made last year in terms of down the field, making plays on the ball,” Mora said. “He’s really working hard on that, and it is coming. It gets frustrating to him when he doesn’t get a lot of interceptions, but he’s a hard worker. He has a great attitude and he listens to everything we tell him, and that’s why we’re confident he’s going to make that jump.
“He works hard to understand what you’re saying. Things don’t just go in one ear and out the other. He listens to what he’s told, he writes it down, he studies, and comprehends it. He’s very smart and so is his approach to the game. Really, it’s a real smart group, and I don’t just mean book smart or street smart – which they are – I’m talking about football smart. They all have real good football intelligence and it shows on the field.”
It’s no accident with Jennings. He learned how to accept coaching as soon as he was old enough to play, and he’s been reaping the benefits ever since. His logic is simple, if a guy is hired to coach you, he probably understands the game.
Besides, the coach is the one deciding who plays and who sits. It’s his goal to reach the level of confidence he had at Miami so he is more consistent making plays on the ball. Nonetheless, he was ninth on the team in tackles with 55 and second in passes defended with 12 and tied for first with two fumble recoveries.
“When I was young, whatever the coach said I took heed to because the coach knows what he’s talking about otherwise he wouldn’t have his job,” Jennings said. “Just by getting into the habit of that example and holding onto what the coach said, I’d have a chance to play. By doing that from the beginning, it instilled good work habits and I’ve tried to stick with it. I still believe if I take what the coach says and apply it to the field I’ll be a better player.
“My next step is to trust myself and trust what I see. I’ll see something, but then I’ll hesitate because I don’t want to give up the big play. And if I don’t trust myself, I won’t make a big play. I just need to let go sometimes and play. I had a lot of pass breakups. But my next step is to go up, get my head straight and find the ball. The interceptions will come too instead of just knocking the ball down.”
All of that figures to pay dividends as virtually the entire starting unit that played together at the end of last season is back intact. Their goal is obviously to be the stingiest defense in the NFL, and the secondary fully intends to do its share as well – with Jennings continuing his improvement.
“It’s a matter of getting back to the state where I’m comfortable and trust that I can go up and intercept the ball instead of just knocking it down,” Jennings said. “I want to get to the confidence level I had at Miami - knowing the defense so well, I wasn’t stressing so much on one thing because I understood the whole picture. Now I’m getting to that point here, and let my talent show instead of cancelling out things in my mind that get in the way.
“I take great pride in last year. The biggest thing a defense can do is limit teams from scoring touchdowns throwing the ball. That’s a great accomplishment. We’re striving to do that again this year and get more interceptions than we had. With the great players that we have back there, I think we can do it again and help us win more games.”
Sure, Marcus Trufant earned his trip to the Pro Bowl with seven interceptions and finishing second on the team in tackles. Undoubtedly, the signing of free agent safeties Brian Russell and Deon Grant was a big difference-maker. But with the hiring of Jim Mora as the defensive backs/assistant head coach, it also created a diving board of sorts for Jennings, and he scored a 10 when it came to growth at the position.
“He has turned into a very good cover corner,” Mora said. “We brought Deon and Brian in and they solidified the safety position, and Tru had a Pro Bowl year, so Kelly kind of got lost in the shuffle. But he had an equally good year. He made a ton of improvement and helped us get to the next level back there.”
.
Two years ago, the Seahawks used their No. 1 draft choice for Jennings, a billed as a “cover corner” from the University of Miami. The staff stressed his extreme quickness, his affable personality and being very bright – his degrees in both finance and business management from the private school telling the story.
At 5-11, 180, and surrounded by veterans coming off a trip to Super Bowl XL, he didn’t play much. He was nicknamed “Slim,” the joke being he didn’t have to fly across country when he would return home to Florida from Seattle when he could simply be faxed.
Jennings didn’t play much early in the year, other than some nickel, and then when injuries necessitated him moving into the starting lineup late. Irrespective of Jennings and his improvement as a rookie, the secondary struggled all season, ultimately causing their demise in the NFC Divisional Playoff game at Chicago.
Seahawks president Tim Ruskell responded by signing Grant and Russell. He stuck with the talented young Trufant, moving him back to left corner and the inserted Jennings as the right corner. And Mora coaxed and cajoled them into leading the NFL with fewest touchdown passes. Suddenly this was a unit and Jennings became a significant factor.
“I love the success we had as a group,” Jennings said. “That has to do with the great safeties we brought in, the experience of Tru and me trying to learn from them. All of that with Coach Mora helped us have great success last year. And after having a year together, I think we’ll be even better.”
All eyes, of course, are always on the corners, out there on the island with the marvelously talented NFL wide receivers staring them down on ever play. They’re going to get beat. It’s inevitable. The key is how they react to that, and when they start winning the war. It required five years and veteran safeties for Trufant to reach the next level, and he had a spectacular year.
The question is how quickly Jennings will get there.
“The next step for Kelly is the one that Tru made last year in terms of down the field, making plays on the ball,” Mora said. “He’s really working hard on that, and it is coming. It gets frustrating to him when he doesn’t get a lot of interceptions, but he’s a hard worker. He has a great attitude and he listens to everything we tell him, and that’s why we’re confident he’s going to make that jump.
“He works hard to understand what you’re saying. Things don’t just go in one ear and out the other. He listens to what he’s told, he writes it down, he studies, and comprehends it. He’s very smart and so is his approach to the game. Really, it’s a real smart group, and I don’t just mean book smart or street smart – which they are – I’m talking about football smart. They all have real good football intelligence and it shows on the field.”
It’s no accident with Jennings. He learned how to accept coaching as soon as he was old enough to play, and he’s been reaping the benefits ever since. His logic is simple, if a guy is hired to coach you, he probably understands the game.
Besides, the coach is the one deciding who plays and who sits. It’s his goal to reach the level of confidence he had at Miami so he is more consistent making plays on the ball. Nonetheless, he was ninth on the team in tackles with 55 and second in passes defended with 12 and tied for first with two fumble recoveries.
“When I was young, whatever the coach said I took heed to because the coach knows what he’s talking about otherwise he wouldn’t have his job,” Jennings said. “Just by getting into the habit of that example and holding onto what the coach said, I’d have a chance to play. By doing that from the beginning, it instilled good work habits and I’ve tried to stick with it. I still believe if I take what the coach says and apply it to the field I’ll be a better player.
“My next step is to trust myself and trust what I see. I’ll see something, but then I’ll hesitate because I don’t want to give up the big play. And if I don’t trust myself, I won’t make a big play. I just need to let go sometimes and play. I had a lot of pass breakups. But my next step is to go up, get my head straight and find the ball. The interceptions will come too instead of just knocking the ball down.”
All of that figures to pay dividends as virtually the entire starting unit that played together at the end of last season is back intact. Their goal is obviously to be the stingiest defense in the NFL, and the secondary fully intends to do its share as well – with Jennings continuing his improvement.
“It’s a matter of getting back to the state where I’m comfortable and trust that I can go up and intercept the ball instead of just knocking it down,” Jennings said. “I want to get to the confidence level I had at Miami - knowing the defense so well, I wasn’t stressing so much on one thing because I understood the whole picture. Now I’m getting to that point here, and let my talent show instead of cancelling out things in my mind that get in the way.
“I take great pride in last year. The biggest thing a defense can do is limit teams from scoring touchdowns throwing the ball. That’s a great accomplishment. We’re striving to do that again this year and get more interceptions than we had. With the great players that we have back there, I think we can do it again and help us win more games.”
posted by Kevin at
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