Bengals' second-year defensive tackle Kris Jenkins Jr. is showing all the signs of a breakout season, particularly after his 1.5 sacks and six tackles last Sunday in Minnesota.

The son of two-time All-Pro defensive tackle Kris Jenkins Sr., and the nephew of another defensive tackle who played 184 games in 13 years, Cullen Jenkins, Jenkins Jr. has a wise cabinet of defensive tackles to consult as he bounces back from a rookie season plagued by an early thumb injury.

Bengals.com senior writer Geoff Hobson caught Jenkins in a gap earlier this week, and they talked about how his famous relatives have helped him, the impact of new defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery, leadership opportunities and his short-lived singing career.

The Conversation

GH: The coaches have been raving about you ever since training camp began. Did you do anything different in the offseason?

KJ: I did a lot more work with my uncle, and he really helped slow down the game for me. 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.

GH: You've always said this, right, that you're more similar to Cullen than your dad. You're 6-3, 310 pounds. Cullen was 6-2, 305. Your dad just wrecked games at 6-4, 360. Not many like your dad.

KJ: My dad, as we know, was just a beast. There's not many ways you're going to stop somebody moving as big as him, as fast as him, as strong as him. My uncle and I are similar because we have to be technically sound since we're smaller guys.

GH: How does Cullen fit your game?

KJ: He's a lot quicker than I am. I will give him that. 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.

GH: Do you have an example?

KJ: We talked a lot about hand placement, and it's one of those little things where if you can identify when they're heavy on their hands, when they're light on their hands. If they have both hands up, if they're a little heavier leaning down, what does that mean? If they're a little more sitting back, what does that mean? Pull? Pass? Etc.

GH: Did you go to him? Did he come to you? How did that work out?

KJ: I went to him. Right down the road in Bellville, Mich. That's about a three-and-a-half-hour drive from up here.

GH: Clearly, you saw things you needed to work on after your rookie year.

KJ: Absolutely. My lateral footwork, being quicker and just mentally being able to process the game quicker. And that was a big thing. My Unc explaining to me that 90% of the game is mental. If I could get my mental right and quicker, that's just going to make the game slow down more and make it so much easier.

GH: Did your dad have some thoughts?

KJ: Absolutely. He just told me, he keeps it short and sweet, he just tells me be me. He knows when I'm thinking too much when I play. Whether it was texting me after the games or giving me a call and just, hey, play faster, be more confident, you know what you can do.

GH: I remember Cullen playing for the Packers drilling Carson Palmer here in his first preseason game after tearing his ACL in the 2005 playoffs and when he got up, everyone knew he was back.

KJ: He was showing me some of his film, and that was one of the clips we watched. There's also a screen that's still on YouTube where he retraced the screen and he just laid into, I think it was D.J. Ware of the Giants. He was with the Eagles at the time. He just laid dude out on the retrace. That's how you track the ball. He's like, you want to be able just to get that knockout.

GH: How much time did you spend with him?

KJ: Pretty much every day in the offseason, whether it was working, or we do a lot of stuff, it wasn't just football. A lot of landscaping. Working on the house, stuff like that. It may not be lifting weights, which we would do. To pass the time.

GH: What was your favorite job fixing the house?

KJ: Between fixing the yard and mowing the lawns. And we did a lot on the pools he's got, and we made a purchase on a pool cleaner. That's how I know I'm getting a little older, because that was like Christmas. We were just watching it go. "Yeeeah."

GH: Was it a person or machine?

KJ: It was a machine, like, one of those Ivacuum robots. It will clean the bottom of the pool. You just turn it on, have the filter set up, and it will go on the walls to the bottom of the pool. All you need to do is put chlorine in there and let it go.

GH: Second-round pick mowing lawns?

KJ: It keeps us humble. It was fun for us to do. We like trying to fix things. The least I can do for everything he's given to me. Help him out.

GH: Did you talk to Cullen after last Sunday's game?

KJ: He was like, good game. He said he could tell I was moving faster. He said there's still a couple of plays where he can tell that I'm still thinking, and I just have to go. But he said I'm starting to get in a better place than last year. That's all I'm focused on. Constant improvement.

GH: You hurt your thumb at the end of the preseason last year. And you came back in a couple of weeks. When did it finally feel right? Or did you ever feel right?

KJ: That's a great question. Probably, the second time we played the Steelers was the best I felt.

GH: That wasn't until Dec 1.

KJ: Right. Yeah, it was tough because when I got out of the nub, I still had a plate over my thumb, so it was still hard, even when I got my hand in the right place, to grab.

I was re-watching some of the clips where you see me in good position and then all of a sudden….ehhhh… (hand flies up and off), that's going to be difficult. Definitely feeling way better this year.

GH: The Bengals' scouts who work Michigan were high on your leadership up there. I'm wondering, with the changing of the guard of the leadership on defense here, have you kind of stepped that up maybe now that you're not a rookie and have had some success? Have you waded into leadership yet?

KJ: I'd say a little bit more when it comes to the younger guys. Just trying to help them because I know that feeling where I was. You know, that antsiness and trying to get everything right, moving at a thousand miles per hour. Helping them, giving them all the tools they need.

GH: I guess we're talking about rookies like Howard Cross.

KJ: He's a beast. We think similarly, so we've spent a lot of time together. Shemar (Stewart), whenever he asks questions. He's a heck of a player, too.

GH: What does Shemar ask you since he plays both edge and next to you inside?

KJ: Sometimes it's like technique stuff. Sometimes it's like the plays, what we're thinking. A lot more communication on pass rush, too. Like: What are you doing? This is what I'm doing. Set each other up.

GH: The defensive line has played pretty well the first three weeks. What do you attribute that to?

KJ: I'll owe that to Coach (new defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery) and the vets a hundred percent. Because Coach set the tone the second he got here, and we've just fed off that. As he would say, all we need are the guys in this room, and we've got to step up to the plate and step up to the challenge like we know what we're capable of. He helps me a lot with technique. Getting off the ball, slowing down the game for me. He's made a world of difference.

GH: Just by his style? His approach?

KJ: Really both. You can tell he just loves coaching. When there's somebody who loves the game of football, you can tell, and he is hard-working. He's going to make sure we get it right. And that's why we started getting that swag about us when we get on the field because we know he's getting us right.

GH: It looks like you're talking a lot to Mike Pennel, the 12-year vet D-Tackle who arrived a few weeks ago.

KJ: He's my guy.

GH: Had you ever come across him?

KJ: No, it's the first time. He played at Green Bay for a little bit. He knew my uncle.

GH: He didn't play with him, but he knew him?

KJ: Yeah, we kicked it off the bat. It's been cool and he's helping me a lot, too. A lot of technique stuff, too. Any questions I have, if Coach is working with somebody or we're on the field, you know he's going to help you out like that. He's a heck of a leader and player.

GH: Any advice he's given you that's helped?

KJ: Showing me the different ways to play blocks. If something I'm doing isn't working, there's another way I can approach it.

GH: How do you feel like you're playing?

KJ: I like it. I feel way better than last year. But I'm a perfectionist. I still feel like there's a whole level that I still got in me, and until I get there, I'm not going to be satisfied with myself.

GH: Are you still singing?

KJ: Does singing in the shower count?

GH: No, in public.

KJ: The Christmas special, I think. When Maema (Njongmeta) and I did it last year at the AMC in Newport. It was one of the Christmas carols.

GH: You used to be in your high school chorus, right?

KJ: I was a baritone in choir. My teacher, Mr. Spotwood, I appreciate him. I used to be a pain to deal with back then.

GH: I think Dan Hoard found a solo on YouTube and played it on the Bengals Booth Podcast.

KJ: He did. We don't talk about it.

GH: You don't think it was good?

KJ: Absolutely not. I always wanted to solo. So when I got it, I got stage fright when it was my time to shine practicing. It was way better when we did the final thing. Good times.

GH: Did you have a favorite singer? Anybody you'd listen to?

KJ: Back then? H.E.R was popping back then. High school years. We listened to a lot of The Symphonix, I think. The singers that do a cappella and they sing off each other. You'll catch me singing in the halls sometimes. No, no. Not in public.

GH: What do you sing at the house?

KJ: Anything Erykah Badu.