Mike Jenkins said any trade demands that might have been made in his name this offseason weren’t made by him.
The injured Cowboys cornerback, who continues to recover from offseason shoulder surgery, spoke for the first time since last season, as the Cowboys opened training camp in Oxnard, Calif.
“Y’all haven’t got any quote out of me yet, so as long as it hasn’t come from my mouth I don’t understand how a lot of people can come up with a lot of things,” Jenkins said, via Todd Archer of ESPNDallas.com.
Jenkins said he wasn’t sure if his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, made a trade request, although multiple reports said that’s what Jenkins was looking for after the Cowboys signed free agent Brandon Carr and moved up in the draft to take Morris Claiborne this spring.
Jenkins said there was a “shock feeling,” when he heard about he high-end additions.
“It’s a business and I understand that,” Jenkins said. “It’s not for me to get mad. I was in the same situation when I came in. I feel like it’s the best man wins and it is what it is. It’s going to make everybody better at the end of the day.”
By the end of the week Jenkins is headed to visit Dr. James Andrews, to see if he’s going to be able to play before the end of the preseason. Jenkins is a candidate for the reserve-physically unable to perform list, which would rule him out the first six games.
“Hopefully I’m on that side of not missing six games, but whatever the case is I’m ready to capitalize off it,” Jenkins said.
Owner Jerry Jones has said the team won’t trade Jenkins, even though, as Archer points out, he’s handed out nearly $94 million worth of contracts this year to Carr, Claiborne and Orlando Scandrick.
Jenkins is scheduled to make just over $1 million this year, and will be a free agent at the end of the season.
“I’m not worried about no contract,” Jenkins said. “I’m not worried about no money. My game play is going to show. As long as I play good, that’s how it’s going to fall out.”
Then again, if corners keep falling out across the league, Jones might re-think his stance, and Jenkins might actually end up elsewhere.