New York Local News

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) ― Kris Jenkins feels the twinge in his stomach whenever the cameras and reporters descend upon his locker.

It's not that he's shy or dislikes talking. The New York Jets' mammoth nose tackle is just used to everyone else getting all the attention.

"It's been fun and it's been a little scary at the same time," Jenkins said Thursday. "For a long time, this wasn't something I had grown accustomed to as a lineman. You'd just come in and basically watch all the reporters go to all the skill positions. It's cool, but at the same time, I get a little nervous."

 Week 11: Jets-Titans Preview

That's a surprising confession, considering it comes from a mountain of a man who, at 6-foot-4 and 349 pounds, makes a living pounding offensive linemen and running backs.

"It's just about the fact that if you say something wrong or something like that, you're stuck to it because it's put on paper," Jenkins said. "That's the thing that makes you a little bit nervous. You always want to make sure you say the right thing, and even if you're thinking something, you want to make sure you convey it the right way."

It hasn't always been that way for Jenkins, who made headlines early last season when he called out his Carolina teammates for having "no heart" after a loss.

"Sometimes, that gets me in trouble," Jenkins said. "I can't be mad because I know reporters are doing their job and you have to respect that, but we have to take it upon ourselves to not put ourselves in that position."

Labeled a malcontent with the Panthers because of what was perceived as a selfish, me-first attitude, Jenkins is trying to say all the right things these days.

"I read about things and didn't know what was true or whatever, so I just left that stuff alone," said Jets linebacker Eric Barton, a friend and former college teammate at Maryland. "He's in a new environment and what people think of him here is what he shows them. It's been a new start for him."

A few of his former teammates took veiled shots at Jenkins earlier this week, saying that the Panthers are off to an 8-2 start partly because some of the "bad apples" are gone.

"I don't think that has anything to do with me at this point," he said. "Honestly, Carolina is Carolina. I'm in New York, so I'm just going to focus on New York. I'm not there anymore. I think, for everybody, to each his own. If that's what they have to do to get through from day to day, then more power to you. I'm going to focus on football here."

And he's clearly been doing that since being acquired from the Panthers last winter for third- and fifth-round picks. Jenkins has excelled at nose tackle in the Jets' 3-4 defensive scheme despite not having previously played the position.

"I think it's been a great acquisition, obviously," Barton said. "He's playing tremendously and he's jelled well with the guys. Everyone gets along with him and he brings our spirits up when we're down. It's great to have. What he does on the field speaks for itself."

Jenkins' presence has been one of the major reasons the Jets' defense has been one of the league's best against the run, a problem area the last several seasons.

"He does the dirty work in the middle," defensive end Shaun Ellis said. "We needed a guy like that on our team, who didn't mind getting in there messing it up and just plugging holes up for us."

The Jets are ranked fourth against the run, allowing just 81.3 yards per game.

"The challenge is get movement on him, not let him press the pocket in pass protection and not make the plays one-on-one," said Tennessee center Kevin Mawae, whose undefeated team faces Jenkins on Sunday. "It's going to be tough. He's one of the better defensive tackles out there in the NFL."

Added Titans coach Jeff Fisher: "He's been a force."

Last season, the Jets gave up 134.8 yards rushing per game with undersized Dewayne Robertson anchoring the line. In fact, New York hasn't allowed an average of less than 100 yards rushing since 2004, when big tackle Jason Ferguson helped the Jets to a 97.9 average.

"This 3-4 is like a puzzle," Ellis said. "When you've got a person in the middle doing a job like Kris does, it just spreads it out. The gap's not that big, you're not getting moved off the ball that fast, so everything kind of slows down."

The biggest concern for the Jets was how quickly Jenkins would adapt to the 3-4. Well, it didn't take long at all.

"I knew that it was going to be a challenge," Jenkins said, "but I pretty much understood that I'd have training camp to get the majority of the kinks out and be able to go out and play well on the field when we got to the regular season.

"It's cool now, and I really can't complain about anything," he said.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

WCBSTV.com Popular Pages

• Go! New York For A Healthy Lifestyle
• Got Wit? Play CBS 2's Caption Game!
• 20 Questions
• Celebrities On Twitter
• Celebrity Real Names Revealed
• When It Was Out To Be Out
• Hilarious Movie Blunders
• World's Coolest Fighter Jets