Miami (FL) Hurricanes

Healthy Miami safety Jenkins ready to get back to work

Published Jul. 7, 2015 10:53 a.m. ET

foxsports

Rayshawn Jenkins didn't get rusty during his year away from football, just smarter. The Miami Hurricanes safety missed the entire 2014 season after having surgery to fix a herniated disc last August and said that he is back and better than before.

“I feel like I got wiser,” Jenkins told the Miami Herald. “I’m more intelligent about the game. I can say my football intelligence has skyrocketed. I learned my weaknesses. I learned my strengths. I’m trying to enhance both. I definitely got better."

That's good news for the Hurricanes, because the 6-1, 210-pound Jenkins was pretty good before his surgery.

In 2013, Jenkins started 12 of the 13 games he played in as a true sophomore and tallied 46 tackles and ranked second on the team with three interceptions.

That offseason, Jenkins suffered a herniated disc power-cleaning, which forced him to miss out on a majority of the spring drills in 2014. Finally, on Aug. 18, Jenkins had back surgery.

Jenkins, who was cleared to practice in June, will make his first tackle in over a year when fall camp begins and told the Miami Herald, “I feel 100 percent. I feel fine.”

(h/t Miami Herald)