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Mike Jenkins of South Florida put on an impressive display the recent NFL Combine. Some believe it has moved him up draft boards even further. The cornerback spoke with the media before his workouts at the Combine. How did South Florida become so prominent in college football? "I think it's more of coaching - they've done a great job of getting guys ready." How did he end up at South Florida after being recruited by Florida, Oregon, Nebraska, and Clemson? "My mother was sick. She had diabetes. On my signing day, she actually went into the hospital. I was keeping my little brother. It was only an hour from Bradenton to Tampa, so I could commute to take care of my brother." What did you do to get ready for the combine? "I trained down in Orlando." What teams have you talked to? "I haven't done any interviews yet, but yesterday I did 'preinterviews' with the Rams, the Saints, Panthers … there was a lot of teams." Can you talk about kickoff returns, and your 100-yarder? "I did kickoff returns back in high school. I hadn't done it in college until we played at Cincinnati - I was always behind another guy. He got hurt that week and they put me back there. My first time returning a kickoff, I ran it back 100 yards." What was it like, the team getting ranked so high? "There definitely was a lot of attention, coming from the fans. Even in school - our school isn't really that big." What makes you a good returner? "My speed. I'm a 10.5 hundred guy." Would it be neat to be drafted by the Bucs? "It would mean a lot. Staying in Tampa, I could give back to the community." Name the best receiver you faced "This year, probably Harry Douglas from Louisville." How'd you do against Brian Brohm? "I picked Brian Brohm off once." What corners did you pattern yourself after? "Champ Bailey, DeAngelo Hall and Al Harris." Why Al Harris? "I like his aggressiveness." What would it be like to be South Florida's highest-ever draft pick? "It would be an accomplishment for me - I had a lot of doubters, people saying I wouldn't go too high, just because I went to South Florida out of high school. So it would be a big accomplishment." Why didn't you show for the Senior Bowl? "My first week in Orlando training, I kind of tweaked my hamstring. My agent kind of held me out from there." What has the combine process been like, with the medical exams, etc.? "It's definitely something I understand, because they're going to invest a lot of money in you ... it's been pretty rough going through this whole process. They wake you up early in the morning. They check your body; if nothing's wrong with you, they're going to make something be wrong with you. If they see anything wrong with you, you have to get X-rays … It's just a long process, but it's pretty cool being up there with all the guys and the scouts." How long did the medical testing take? "Aw, man. I got down there at 7 o'clock this morning. I didn't get back to my room until 1-something." What was the weirdest question you've had to answer? "Pretty much all the questions have been the same, my talent, my parents' history - that's pretty much the craziest. A lot of scouts try to compare me to my father. He made his mistakes coming up. I feel like a lot of scouts are trying to compare me to him, but we're different people …He played at tennessee state." A lot of good corners high in this draft "I think all the corners are pretty much the same (physically) … I definitely don't compare myself to anybody. We all have different games."
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