Jenkins doesn't mind being a ghost until the Tigers need him the most

The times LSU fifth-year senior wide receiver Jaray Jenkins has fulfilled media obligations during his career, you get the sense it’s not high on his list of favorite things.

Because sooner or later, he’ll get a question about a great play he made or one of his outstanding games. He’s more comfortable complimenting his teammates than talking about himself.

“I just try to be as humble as I can be,” Jenkins said. “I don’t let nothing get to me no matter what's out there. I just stay the course and be the guy I am now.”

Part of that is to be invisible as possible until it’s time not to be. Which is why Jenkins may be one of the most efficient 1,000-yard plus receivers in Tigers’ history.

Heading into tonight's 6 o' clock game at Auburn, the former Jena High standout has 75 career catches for 1,092 yards (14.6 yards per catch) and 11 TDs.

For someone who has rarely been the first or second or even third receiving option for the seven Tigers’ who’ve thrown him passes – Joe Burrow, Myles Brennan, TJ Finley, Max Johnson, Garrett Nussmeier, Jontre Kirklin and now Jayden Daniels – those are eye-catching numbers.

Then, consider that 59 of his 75 receptions (79 percent) have resulted in first downs and touchdowns. He’s also caught passes 65 percent of the time he has been targeted (115).

This season, Jenkins has 13 receptions (8 for first downs, three for TDs) in 14 targets for 126 yards.

That may not seem like many catches. But consider after he caught a TD pass on the game’s last play in the season-opener vs. Florida State, Jenkins wasn’t targeted until almost six quarters later LSU was trailing Mississippi State 13-0. It was then Jenkins caught a Daniels slant throw and fought his way into the end zone on an 8-yard TD that started a 31-3 rally in the Tigers’ 31-16 victory.

“I just let the game come to me,” Jenkins said. “I’m not going to be like `Oh yeah, I gotta do this.’ We all know that at that moment everybody wants it (the ball).”

Jenkins learned patience from his Tigers’ wide receiving predecessors such as current pros Justin Jefferson, Ja’Marr Chase and Terrace Marshall.

He saw how Jefferson and Chase in LSU’s 2019 national championship alternated having outstanding performances depending on which of the duo drew more double-teams. And Marshall, after healing an early-season ankle injury, had to make the most of his opportunities.

Throughout his career, Jenkins’ best games such as last season vs. Florida (4 catches for 50 yards and three TDs) and Texas A&M (8 catches for 169 yards and two TDs) as well as this season’s opener vs. Florida State (5 catches for 46 yards and 2 TDs) have been immediately followed by games in which the ball hardly came his way.

He's also realizes while he may not be targeted early – he wasn’t thrown a pass in the first quarter of the 12 of 27 games he’s played in the last three seasons – he’ll eventually gets passes coming his way.

Fifty-two percent (39) of his career catches, 48 percent (529) of his career yardage and 45 percent (5) of his career touchdowns have all been in the second halves of games. He’s had game-winning TD receptions at Arkansas in 2020 and in last year’s thrilling regular-season finale vs. Texas A&M in Tiger Stadium.

Since Jenkins has been at LSU, scholarshipped wide receivers Dee Anderson (Oklahoma State), Devonte Lee (Louisiana Tech), Koy Moore (Auburn), Trey Palmer (Nebraska), Alex Adams (Akron), Jonathan Giles (Texas Southern) and Deion Smith (no college) have transferred out of the Tigers’ program.

Now, Jenkins is the old man of the LSU receivers’ room and he's just about seen and done it all. This season’s challenge has been adapting to Arizona State transfer Daniels, a scrambling QB who is still in the process of getting comfortable with the Tigers' offense.

Until last Saturday’s win over New Mexico, Daniels hadn’t stayed in the pocket and often missed finding open receivers while choosing to bail and run instead of going through his progressions.

Jenkins gave some simple advice to the younger LSU receivers trying to adapt to Daniels’ style.

“I tell everybody whether he (Daniels) runs or not, you’ve got to keep running your routes," Jenkins said. " Don’t think you’re not going to get the ball if he’s running. If he finds us, he finds us.”

New LSU coach Brian Kelly said Jenkins, who earned his bachelor’s degree in August, sets the example for what he wants in a player.

“He has gone about this year in a manner that I think can be modeled for all of our other guys,” Kelly said. “He’s a veteran guy that has done everything we've asked him to do. He had never been a special teams player, but now is involved in special teams. He has quietly put together as consistent a performance of any player that we've had on this team.

“With the maturity that he has shown and the decision-making, him doing other jobs and being selfless, we can really push him out front and say `Look how 10 is doing it.'"