Boyhood friends Jenkins, Rodgers-Cromartie go against each other as Bucs meet Giants

TAMPA -- Mike Jenkins and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie are boyhood friends, but the two cornerbacks will be on opposite sidelines when the New York Giants visit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.

Jenkins, a Southeast High product, and Rodgers-Cromartie, who played his senior year at Lakewood Ranch, came into the league in 2008. DRC was the 16th overall pick by the Arizona Cardinals and Jenkins was selected 25th by Dallas.

They've both played for multiple teams and will have their work cut out for them in this contest. Jenkins will be trying to stop Eli Manning, the Giants savvy quarterback, and at times will cover New York's celebrated receiver Odell Beckham Jr.

Coming off a 52-49 loss to New Orleans, the Giants are looking for some redemption, but DRC says it won't easy going against Bucs rookie quarterback Jameis Winston and his top receiver, Mike Evans.

"They're on fire right now," Rodgers-Cromartie said about the 3-4 Bucs, who have won two of their last three. "He (Winston) is a guy who definitely has a strong arm and has targets he can get the ball to. He is young, but I like him as far as just throwing the ball and getting it downfield."

Jenkins is part of a Bucs secondary that has drawn a lot of criticism, though Tampa Bay head coach Lovie Smith continues to say the group needs more help from the front four.

The Bucs' defense showed improvement last week in Tampa's overtime victory against Atlanta and stopped Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan at the end.

"We like some of the things that Johnthan (Banks) did a week ago along with Mike Jenkins," Bucs defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier said. "It's still a process in regards to that and hopefully we'll get it done this week. We need our secondary to play well. This is a very good passing attack and hopefully the guys we put out there will play well for us,"

Rodgers-Cromartie called last week's outing against the Saints a bad game for the Giants, but appears optimistic they can put it behind them.

"You're going to have that bad game," he said. "So hopefully that was it, and you just have to move on from it. You can't let that game continue to beat you. So you've got to get it out of your system real fast."

This story was originally published November 7, 2015 at 11:50 PM with the headline "Boyhood friends Jenkins, Rodgers-Cromartie go against each other as Bucs meet Giants ."