TWO BITS: Jenkins shining, Tebow improving

1 » He may not have been drafted as early as he would have liked but new St. Louis Rams cornerback Janoris Jenkins is already drawing rave reviews from his performances at rookie minicamp. St. Louis head coach Jeff Fisher was interviewed on ESPN’s NFL 32 program on Tuesday and said that Jenkins is proving his evaluators right so far. “[Jenkins is] very talented – obviously we know that and that has shown just in the last couple of days,” he explained. “He’s got excellent football intelligence and he carries things from the classroom to the field. He’s going to be a really good player soon for us.” Fisher also discussed the process that the Rams’ front office went through in evaluating Jenkins’s off-the-field issues. “It started with the 15-minute interview at the Combine and then the visit where we had him for the day,” he said. “Believe me, no one did more research [than we did]. Everyone we talked to along the road, whether it was in Pahokee, Florida, the University of Florida or people from North Alabama, everyone to a man said, ‘Take this young man.’ This stuff is behind him.” Speaking of Jenkins, below is a video interview he did with ESPN after being selected in the 2012 NFL Draft.

2 » Despite coaches saying after trading for him that quarterback Tim Tebow would play a number of other positions this season for the New York Jets, Tebow told the media last week that he has only taken snaps as a signal caller so far during minicamp. Not only is Tebow only working at quarterback at this point, he has also received rave reviews from both offensive coordinator Tony Sparano and quarterbacks coach Matt Cavanaugh in regards to the progress he has made at his position. “I think he can be very good,” Cavanaugh told the New York Daily News on Tuesday. “I was pleasantly surprised when I saw him over an extended period of time…not just watching him play on film. I think he’s certainly got the arm strength. He has good mechanics. They’re getting better every day.” He also explained to the paper that improved footwork and additional work inside the pocket can help Tebow get even better. “I think with Tim, he’s more focused right now in the offseason on just working on the fundamentals of trying to be rhythmic in the pocket,” Cavanaugh said. “He’s shown great progress. I’m real pleased with him. […] He doesn’t let a day go by when he’s not focused on trying to get better at something.”