Jenkins Hoping To Be A Playmaker For the Vikings
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- He's got a spot on the team, but he wants to be a difference-maker. That's the hope for Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Michael Jenkins.
The Vikings acquired Jenkins, who used to play for the Atlanta Falcons, in the frenzy that was free agency this year after the NFL lockout was lifted.
Jenkins knows the Vikings offense because he came from it, playing for current Vikings Offensive Coordinator Bill Musgrave in Atlanta, so he knows what to expect in Minnesota.
"He's an aggressive play-caller. You didn't really get to see that in the first preseason game because it was kind of vanilla," Jenkins said. "But I think you're going to like what you see in the regular season."
He lines up opposite another playmaker in Percy Harvn, With the way the Vikings' offense is structured, the duo is designed to complement each other.
"He knows the offense No. 1, so he's like a teacher out there for a lot of us," Harvin said. "He's another big target, and hopefully he'll be a big target for us."
He knows he could be the missing piece, the long strider who can go deep and add what was missing when Sidney Rice signed with Seattle during free agency.
"You come in, you lost a great receiver in Sidney Rice and you come in just wanting to make plays down the field when the opportunity comes," Jenkins said. "It's going to be exciting to be out there with Percy, (Visanthe) Shiancoe, (Adrian) Peterson and Bernard (Berrian) and everybody just out there making plays."
He almost looks like the former No. 84, Randy Moss, with a notable exception.
"We actually made jokes about him the first day looking at him from behind," Harvin said. "The only we joke we've got is how he walks. He kind of strides a little bit so that's the only difference."
Jenkins also has another hobby that involves speed. He loves racing, loves what it offers, a little like football.
"Just the thriving aspect of it. You sweat pretty hard inside a car and when you're working that hard people don't realize how much you're working. There's not that many similarities to football unless you get into an accident and get hit, and that could hurt a little bit," Jenkins said.
