Greg Jennings Understandably Frustrated in 2013
By Ben Gotz
In an interview that doesn’t exactly come across as shocking, Greg Jennings revealed to ESPN’s Ben Goessling that his first season with the Vikings didn’t go as he hoped.
Jennings, who previously had only caught passes from Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers in his career, saw three different quarterbacks under center in his first year with the Vikings…and that was just by week six.
“I wanted consistency, but even when there wasn’t consistency, I wanted to be consistent,” Jennings told ESPN. “Whoever got the head nod, I was supporting them, as though they had been starting the week before, or whatever the case may have been.”
Jennings statistics don’t give the impression that he was a consistent receiver in 2013, as his number fluctuated wildly depending on who was under center. But looking at the game film, it’s clear Jennings was still playing at a high level for most of the season, as this (depressingly) hilarious article by Daily Norseman’s (and now of Vikings Territory) Arif Hansan reveals.
Frustrated as he might have been though, Jennings tried to keep his emotions in check around Winter Park. Goessling wrote that Jennings bit his tongue in wide receiver meetings and vented to just one person: his wife.
“She got the bit of me venting. That’s my wife. That’s my sounding board,” Jennings said to ESPN. “But I didn’t want to expose that part to any of the guys and filter it down to where everybody’s complaining. We understood there was a situation that wasn’t conducive to our success at that position. No one needed to say anything about it, specifically me.”
Jennings doesn’t seem to be biting his tongue anymore though, which should hopefully point to an increased sense of optimism over at Winter Park. Jennings has already discussed the complexity of Norv Turner’s offense, and now it seems that he’s excited for what this new coaching staff can bring.
“Once you understand (Zimmer’s) mindset behind why we do what we do, it’s easy to buy in, man. It really is,” Jennings told ESPN. “The practices, why he’s laid them out the way he’s laid them out, it just makes sense. I told my wife today, ‘I have no complaints. I really love it. I love the layout, the format (of practices)’ She’s like, ‘What? I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say you love it.’ … As long as I do my job, I’m good.”