Athlete Advice: Kris Jenkins encourages players to 'take care of your job first'

As he helped Michigan to the College Football Playoff in 2022, Kris Jenkins joined some of his teammates in a commercial.

As the Wolverines were gearing up for their first-ever CFP game, Jenkins starred alongside Trevor Keegan and Junior Colson in an ad for Mike Morse Law Firm through an NIL deal. In a way, the deal was a payoff for his strong season. Jenkins finished the year with a career-high 54 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and two sacks.

His focus was on the field first, and when asked by On3 last week about advice he has for athletes venturing into the NIL space, Jenkins said that mentality is also crucial to capitalizing off the field.

“Honestly, stay the course because first comes first is business,” Jenkins said. “You are there – your job is to be the best athlete, best football player that you can be. And the biggest thing is don’t get sidetracked from the business too early because as long as you take care of your business on the field, the more opportunities that are gonna come.”

Kris Jenkins: Don’t overlook your on-field performance

Kris Jenkins’ NIL portfolio also included deals with the Michigan-focused NIL collective, Champions Circle, and Wolverine Boots. He said he knew the quest for a championship took precedence, and everything else would fall into place.

“Unfortunately, you see a lot of athletes now that don’t get that are more worried about the opportunities than their performance,” Jenkins said. “Because the performance is what’s gonna take you to get those better deals and longer deals, longevity. And then, just stay the course. Just be the best player that you can be, and then, that’ll come a time when you get your LLC, your brand and it’ll all just start coming up and you’ll see that flourish.

“But just take care of your job first, and then everything else will follow.”

Kris Jenkins has been projected by many analysts to go in the second round of this week’s NFL Draft. He’s met with the Los Angeles Chargers, Cincinnati Bengals, Detroit Lions and Miami Dolphins ahead of the draft. ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. recently projected Kris Jenkins Jr. to be a second-round pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars in his latest mock draft as he continues to trend as a Day 2 selection.