Happy to be schooled
KIRKLAND, Wash. – Kelly Jennings wasn’t having the season he expected. He’d struggled at times during the first seven games of the 2007 season, so the Seattle Seahawks cornerback went into the bye week looking for inspiration.
That’s when Jennings went back to school.
First, Suwanee High School. Then, the University of Miami.
“I’ve always felt like I could play at this level. But earlier this year, I had some games where I didn’t play like I know I can play,” the Seahawks’ 25-year-old cornerback said this week. “I just went back and watched some film from my high school and college days.”
That, Jennings said, was the turning point of his season.
Ever since spending a few hours of his bye week watching old videos of himself, Jennings has turned a corner in terms of awareness and coverage. His teammates have noticed.
“He’s playing great football,” safety Brian Russell said this week. “It’s just confidence and experience.”
While many NFL players will try to gain an extra edge by putting in overtime watching film of opposing receivers, Jennings found motivation in old tapes of himself.
“When I was in college, I did the same thing, watching some videos from high school,” said Jennings, a second-year pro out of the University of Miami. “That’s something I’ve done. I felt like I was more successful back then, so I looked at it like: Why? What was I doing then that I’m not doing now? So I went back and tried to figure it out.”
What Jennings saw was that he was playing with more confidence, with a better sense of what was going on around him. A meticulous bookworm who had a 3.0 grade-point average while earning two degrees at Miami, Jennings decided to stop thinking so much and to just start playing.
It has worked out.
“It’s really starting to come to me,” Jennings said this week. “I feel like I did in college, where I know the defense and feel comfortable with the players around me. I’m just out there trying to make plays.”
Teammate Marcus Trufant, who is 26 years old but already has started 74 NFL games at cornerback, has noticed a recent change in Jennings.
“Maybe it’s starting to slow down for him,” Trufant said. “He’s played a lot of football now and seen a lot of different teams. I think the more football he plays, the better he’s going to do.”
Because Trufant has more experience, and is having a solid season, teams have continually challenged Jennings. The second-year player said he doesn’t mind the attention – “The position I play,” he said, “you’ve got to love it when they test you” – and added that he’s developed the confidence to withstand the constant action.
An example came during the final few minutes of last Sunday’s game at Philadelphia. After getting beat for a touchdown earlier in the game, Jennings bounced back to help shut down the Eagles’ passing game for most of the second half. On a key fourth-and-6 play with 2 minutes remaining, he found himself in 1-on-1 coverage with Kevin Curtis.
Curtis ran a quick out pattern to the sideline and Jennings got a hand on the ball to break up A.J. Feeley’s pass and end the drive.
“Bottom line, that was just a great play,” Russell said. “It saved the game.”
Jennings admitted he probably would have defended the play differently as a rookie, but that his confidence in the Seahawks’ safeties allowed him to play tight coverage.
“(Last year,) I probably would have tried to bail out to make sure I didn’t get beat deep,” he said this week. “But now, I know the situation better. It was fourth-and-6, so don’t be so quick to bail out. It’s one of those little things I’ve learned.”