04/09 — In his first local TV appearance as a member of the Jets, Kris Jenkins gave fans a glimpse of both his serious side and his playful persona. Jenkins had a good flow going with Steve Overmyer when he threw the SNY Jets reporter a quick jab.

“I don’t just play football for the check, I don’t play football just to get the notoriety and sit on TV with you while you’re in your cushion,” Jenkins said with a slick grin. “I play it because I love the game — I just love the game. If I had to play for free, I would play for free.”

The 6’4”, 349-pound Jenkins, a three-time Pro Bowl selection with the Carolina Panthers, was acquired by the Green & White on Feb. 29 in exchange for a pair of draft picks. He talked with Overmyer about transitioning from a 4-3 and becoming the Jets’ middle man in their 3-4 front.

“A 3-4 nose has a different type of patience than a 4-3 tackle. In a 4-3, you can just take off and go upfield. In a 3-4, you have to be a little bit more patient,” he said. “But one of the things that I’ve kind of made a name for myself on is not moving, so I think that’s going to stay pretty consistent in a 3-4 as well.”

Not at all concerned with stats, Jenkins should fit in well with Eric Mangini’s team-first attitude. Everything will start with him in ’08 and that means a lot of double teams for a player who has the ability to dominate the line of scrimmage. 

“I do not think the defense is something that’s too complex for a nose tackle. You just need to win — that’s it, basically,” he said. “You have to make it easier for everyone else to do their job. That means holding up blockers or whatever you have to do to make it easier for those linebackers and those defensive backs, and that’s what I take pride in doing.”

Jets fans should take some pride in a recent comment delivered by one of Jenkins’ former NFC South adversaries. Tampa Bay head coach Jon Gruden, a less-than-conventional dude who owns one of the game’s top offensive minds, recently told reporters during a media breakfast that he was pleased to hear that Jenkins had found a new home.

"I did some celebrating driving down Dale Mabry [Highway],” Gruden said to a few scribes at the owners' meetings in Palm Beach, Fla. “I gave Eric Mangini the biggest hug I've ever given a coach and told him, 'Thank you. Good God, do we appreciate you taking that guy out of our division.'”

Now it’s the Pats, the Bills and the Dolphins who will have to gameplan for Jenkins. But the NFC keeps Kris’ little brother. Cullen Jenkins, a 6’2”, 303-pound DE for the Green Bay Packers, has racked up 15 sacks in his first four pro seasons.

"He's a little more finesse. Cullen likes to do spin moves and look pretty,” Kris said in a 2004 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article.   “That's cool and whatever, but I don't have time for that. I can change up, but I'm more of a bruiser. There's about a 30-to-40-pound difference there."

The Jets are happy to have the lovable bruiser on their roster. Kris Jenkins has plenty of personality, but just don’t get in his way on Sunday.