FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- A week after wide receiver Roddy White started his emergence as a top receiving threat for quarterback Joey Harrington, four-year veteran Michael Jenkins got his big break.
Jenkins caught two touchdown passes in Sunday's win over the Houston Texans -- the first multi-touchdown game by a Falcons wide receiver since Peerless Price caught two passes for 59 yards and two scores on Oct. 31, 2004 at Denver.
If the 6-foot-4, 217-pounder continues to stake claim over the middle of the field, Jenkins could have more multi-score games this season.
"We consider him a starter," Head Coach Bobby Petrino said after Sunday's game. "He's playing in the slot receiver. He gets good match ups in there. He's big and physical. Usually a team's nickel back is their third or fourth cover guy so he's gotten good match ups in there and he's really taken advantage of them. I know the confidence between him and Joey is real high right now."
Jenkins' first touchdown catch -- a 5-yarder -- came in the first quarter when Harrington laid the ball up in the back of the end zone.
"I was able to just get open and find some open ground," Jenkins said. "That gave Joey time to get the ball to me. I was also able to get a few yards after the catch and I was really feeling good out there. Then we got a call and Joey was able to make a great throw in the back of the end zone. It was a great day all around."
Jenkins got another of his team-high six catches in the second quarter and took it 6 yards for a score.
"He's developing a very good feel for working the middle of the field," Harrington said. "He's got the size, he's got the speed, he's got all the things you look for in a guy to make catches down the middle of the field."
Jenkins has always used his size as an advantage, even as a three-year starter at Ohio State. His 38 starts for the Buckeyes showed his durability and his 2,898 receiving yards, 16 touchdowns and 17.6-yard career receiving average made him an attractive target for the Falcons, who were looking at receiver with the 29th pick of the 2004 draft.
For the first three years of his career, however, Jenkins played in an offense that loved to run the football. He started to break out in 2006, starting all 16 games for the first time in his pro career and hauling in seven touchdowns.
He's a quarter of the way to that total through four games this season and, with his fellow receivers, developing a good relationship with a quarterback that has thrown for 584 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions in the last two games.
"Yeah, it seemed as if we were on the page and we kind of got into a rhythm there in the first half," Jenkins said after the game. "We just wanted to make some plays and score a couple touchdowns and that’s what we did today."
