Janoris Jenkins shut down Dez Bryant in 2016. In two matchups, the man known as "Jackrabbit" helped hold the Cowboys' receiver to two catches for 18 total yards. Jenkins added a strip of Bryant on his only catch of the second meeting.
Speaking last week to KRLD-AM in Dallas last week, Jenkins was blunt about his ability to slow Bryant.
"I played better than he played," the cornerback said, via NJ.com. "For real, though, to be honest, when you look at film and you break down your opponents and the receivers that you're facing, you notice what they like to do. Take away the slant and the dig, and when they get in 21 personnel and Dez is inside the numbers, you take away the corner post. He doesn't have nothing else."
Jenkins noted that a physical corner can get into Bryant because he's not worried about getting beat deep.
"Everything's got to be a double move to get him open because he's not fast," Jenkins said.
After three straight 1,000-plus yard seasons with double-digit TD each year from 2012-2014, injuries have derailed Bryant the past two seasons. He compiled 50 receptions for 796 yards and eight TDs in 2016.
The two shutdown games in 2016 were not Jenkin's first tussles with Bryant. The two squared off in 2014, when the cornerback was with the Rams. Jenkins snagged a pick-six on a Bryant comeback route. Later Dez burned the corner on a double move. The two also faced each other in 2013, but Bryant's touchdown did not come against Jenkins.
"I've got to play Dez two times a year for the next five years so out of those five years, I'm not always going to have a lock-down game against Dez," Jenkins said. "I understand that. When he does get the best of me, he got the best of me. I can't be mad. But I'm going to see him again."
Stay tuned for Bryant's rebuttal -- it's coming.
