‘Family man’ LB Jordan Jenkins pleased to play for the Texans

Jordan Jenkins is a family man.

The Houston Texans linebacker signed a two-year, $6 million contract with the AFC South club, but one of the incentives of joining the team was having an opportunity to play in front of his family.

“I’m a big family man,” Jenkins told reporters on a Zoom call on April 8. “With all my family being in Houston, Louisiana and scattered parts of the West Coast, this is just honestly a dream come true.”

Jenkins was having a decent career with the New York Jets, who drafted him in Round 3 in 2016. The former Georgia product collected 189 combined tackles, 22.5 sacks, three tackles for loss, six quarterback hits, eight pass breakups, and seven forced fumbles through 72 games, 62 of which he started.

However, the travel from the sundry parts of the country, particularly the South region, was a little difficult. Not often did his family get to see him play at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

“That was the biggest issue, my family wanted to come see me play but I lived all the way up in New York and it was just a hard thing to happen,” said Jenkins. “Now, this might be one of first times I can get some of my girls – my grandma’s there, some of my grandparents, my great uncles can come out there.”

Jenkins’ family are actually “lifelong Texans fans,” and there was a sense of living the dream never coming true when the Texans didn’t take him in 2016. Instead, after the Jets took Jenkins at 85th overall, the Texans went ahead with receiver Braxton Miller from Ohio State at 87th overall.

Even though Jenkins is officially with the Texans, the notion of playing in front of his family for their favorite team seems surreal.

Said Jenkins: “It still hasn’t set in yet. It doesn’t really feel real. I’ve been talking to my parents about it and I don’t think it will actually feel real or like it’s actually happening until the first game when we’re running out of the tunnel and it’s like man, I never thought this would happen. It’s a dream come true.”

Jenkins is recovering from torn labrum surgery that ended his final season with the Jets after 12 games. The injury originally occurred in Week 3 against the Indianapolis Colts on Sept. 27, 2020.