Bengals defensive tackle Kris Jenkins Jr. reveals he received an offseason boost from the other notable member of his family

Kris Jenkins Jr. is one of many young players the Cincinnati Bengals are counting on this season. The former second-round pick from the 2024 NFL Draft knew he would be relied on more this season.

To prepare this past offseason, he sought the expertise of not just his dad, former NFL All-Pro defensive tackle Kris Jenkins Sr., but his uncle, former Super Bowl champion Cullen Jenkins.

"I did a lot more work with my uncle, and he really helped slow down the game for me," Jenkins told Bengals.com's Geoff Hobson. "And it's been very helpful having him and my dad, because we think very similarly. So he knows how to communicate to me what I'm doing right, what I'm doing wrong, what I need to work on."

Kris Jenkins Jr. shares what he learned from uncle Cullen Jenkins

Not many current players have a father who played a decade in the league. Even fewer also have an uncle who played three more years at a similar position. Kris Sr. was a menacing 360-pound nose tackle who ate space with the best of them and has two All-Pro honors to show for it. Cullen, who started 137 games with four different clubs, was built similarly to Kris Jr., who's around 310 pounds.

Size is just part of the equation, but similarities between uncle and nephew allowed the latter to learn tricks on how to utilize his athleticism.

"He's a lot quicker than I am. I will give him that," Jenkins said. "So he's been teaching me really emphasizing my quickness, my lateral movement, and we did a lot of that, and then my flexibility as well. And working on the little things, like technique when it comes to my get-off, and a lot of film watching, too. Like the stuff he does to identify tendencies."

Proof is in the progress, and that progress looks like 1.5 sacks from Jenkins last week against the Minnesota Vikings. He's sporting a 7.1% pass rush win rate through three games this year, a 4.2% increase from his mark last year as a rookie.

He's got a prominent stage to continue building off those numbers this week when Cincinnati faces the Denver Broncos on "Monday Night Football."