Janoris Jenkins said it's still "shocking" to think about what happened this offseason.
But he's trying to compartmentalize it now that he's at training camp with the Giants.
Jenkins' older brother, William Jenkins, was arrested and charged with manslaughter for allegedly killing Roosevelt Rene, a musician and friend of Janoris Jenkins, in Jenkins' house in New Jersey last month. Janoris Jenkins was training in Florida at the time of the incident.
"I still have to come out and play football," Jenkins said on Sunday in his first public comments about the situation. "I put it aside. I understand I have to focus on my job."
He admitted that can be difficult.
"But at the end of the day you have to be a pro," the cornerback said. "Things are going to happen in life, some things you can't control, and this is just one of those situations."
Jenkins said he has not spoken with his brother since his arrest on June 28, a day after Rene was found dead in the Fair Lawn house. "I will," Jenkins said, "to see where his head is at."
As for Rene, who goes by the stage name Trypps Beatz, Jenkins called him a "good friend" in a social media post shortly after the incident. The two were working on a music project together. Jenkins said that project will continue at some point.
"But right now," he said, "I'm focused on football."
The Giants have not appeared to be too worried about Jenkins' handling of either the situation or its aftermath. Pat Shurmur said he spoke with Jenkins early in camp.
"He's doing great," the Giants' new coach said. "It's tragic anytime somebody dies, but I've spoken to Janoris and he was in Florida at the time."
Team co-owner John Mara said he exchanged brief pleasantries with Jenkins when they saw each other upon a return to training camp, "but I have not had an in-depth conversation with him personally."
On the field, it's been hard to tell that anything other than covering receivers has been on Jenkins' mind. He's been one of the more active defensive backs through the first handful of practices, breaking up passes in drills and team reps, and even intercepting a pass off Eli Manning in the first workout of the summer. The Giants are counting on Jenkins to rebound from a discouraging season a year ago when he dealt with injury, was suspended for a game for violating team rules and was not as productive as he had been the previous season.
When he reported to the offseason training program in the spring, it was Jenkins who vowed that there would be no more distractions to the secondary or the defense like there were last year. He had no way of knowing that before he returned to training camp he himself would have to deal with one of the biggest potential distractions of his career.
So far, he seems able to handle it.
"My main focus has always been football," Jenkins said. "Anything that happened I can't control because I wasn't there. I'm just coming back, getting back, getting with my team and excited to be here."
