Janoris Jenkins simply doesn’t get it.
Less than a week after Janoris Jenkins was cut by the Giants for calling a fan a “retard” and failing to offer a sincere apology, the new Saints cornerback spoke to reporters on Wednesday and he appeared to learn nothing from his mistake.
“I mean, I never stood by it,” Jenkins told reporters. “They twisted it. I said I’m sorry to whoever I offended. The way I was raised, we got different cultures and different terms that you use. If I was to go out there and say, ‘Hey, you went r——- on [the] football field,’ would you look at it as me talking about somebody disabled? Or would you look at me [as] saying, ‘Oh, he did some crazy stuff out there, some amazing stuff?’ “
The way Jenkins used the word to reporters was very different in how he used it towards a fan, when it was definitely put out there as an insult.
“It’s just different terms and I feel like people just took it the wrong way. Once again, like I did five days ago, I’ll do it again: I apologize if I offended anybody or anybody with those disabilities. I didn’t mean it that way.”
The 31-year-old was released with one year remaining on his five-year, $62.5 million deal, but would be picked up by a Super Bowl contender.
“Business is business,” Jenkins said. “You can’t control what they do in the front office. You just go in each and every day and go to work. And anybody around that facility can tell you that ‘Jackrabbit’ always showed up on time — never late — and did what he had to do.
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“I never had any problems over there other than this one,” Jenkins said. “But I was just focused on playing football.”
One day before being waived, Jenkins defended his use of the slur.
“I never said it was right. I said it was slang that I use back at home.”
“Yeah, I regret it. But at the end of the day, it’s my slang, so if you take it how you’re going to take it, then that’s on you.
“I don’t mean to offend nobody. My daddy always told me, ‘Speak freely and own up to what you say.’ So I always speak freely as a man, and I speak how I want to speak.”
Jenkins played four seasons in New York from 2016-19.
