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Packers already missing Jenkins

Jenkins

BY JIM DeSTEFANO, destefj@phillynews.com

Posted: August 05, 2011

THEY HAVE Super Bowl rings, but not Cullen Jenkins. And members of the Green Bay Packers' defense say the new Eagles tackle will be missed.

Jenkins, who contributed seven sacks last season, signed a 5-year, $25 million free-agent contract with the Eagles last weekend after the Packers declined to bring him back.

"I watch a lot of film, I'm a film junkie," Packers nose tackle B.J. Raji told reporters in Wisconsin. "He is the best interior pass rusher in this league. Just his ability, his approach, his technique, there's no way you can replace that.

"Which is why, if you're coming to this training camp, it's time for you to step up."

Jenkins' former teammates say his easygoing demeanor will be missed nearly as much as his on-field prowess.

"He just brought an energy to a team," defensive end Ryan Pickett said. "He's a jokester. Nothing is too serious for him. His personality, we're going to miss it."

With Jenkins gone, young players such as Mike Neal, C.J. Wilson and Jarius Wynn will get an opportunity.

"They're going to have to step up the way I was expected to step up," said linebacker Clay Matthews, who has 24 sacks in his first two NFL seasons, 14 last year.

Defensive coordinator Dom Capers is counting on Neal and Wilson.

Neal, a second-round draft pick in 2010, still is recovering from a torn rotator cuff. Wilson, selected in the seventh round in 2010, played 17 snaps in Green Bay's playoff victory over the Eagles.

German accent

Former Penn State running back Austin Scott is not going to play for the semipro NEPA Miners after all. Six weeks after signing with the team from Lackawanna County, Scott reversed field and re-signed with the New Yorker Lions, of the German Football League in Braunschweig.

Scott, who suited up for the Miners but did not get on the field, rushed for 1,502 yards and 11 touchdowns for the German team in 2010.