Earlier in training camp the media got a little pissy when San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh defended one of his players. Apparently the media was leaping to the conclusion that 49ers rookie receiver and top pick A.J. Jenkins was a bust due to his slow start in his first NFL training camp. Harbaugh was far from kind in his description of the media's football aptitude. Seems fair. I'm no fan of the majority of the media and it's real easy to side with the football coach on this one. Harbaugh knows his player. Beyond that, leaping to a conclusion on a rookie football player's career based on a handful of practices is ridiculous. Either good or bad, it's just not enough time to make any kind of judgement. Sometimes it even takes a couple of years before a player finally gets "it". Nothing should be determined after only a few practices in pads.
About a decade ago, in the Mike Tice era, the Minnesota Vikings had an undrafted free agent safety named Kyries Hebert. In offseason workouts he was an absolute beast. The next Joey Browner. An all-pro before he had even taken an NFL snap. The fans were drooling. The media was speechless. Impossible! Once training camp opened and the pads appeared Kyries Hebert disappeared. He didn't even make the team. You just never know what a football player is going to be until you see them perform in games that count and then see them do it again and again. And again.
It's easy to get excited about football players at this time of the year. A few decent practices can get even the most negative observer buzzing a bit. The opposite is equally true. A few poor practices naturally bring worries. It's just way too early to leap to any conclusions. The San Francisco media was wrong to label A.J. Jenkins as anything but a young football player adjusting to the top level of football. Jim Harbaugh was right to defend his young receiver and call out the media in the process.
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