IRVING – When Dallas opens the season Sunday at Tampa Bay, Mike Jenkins has much to prove – to the Cowboys and the Buccaneers.

He begins his second season alternating starts and splitting time at right corner with Orlando Scandrick.

In addition to impressing the Cowboys coaching staff, Jenkins would like to impress upon the Bucs that they should not have bypassed him in the NFL draft.

The Tampa-area native became the University of South Florida's first NFL first-round draft pick. But Tampa Bay took Aqib Talib from Richardson Berkner. Talib's hometown team, the Cowboys, took Jenkins five picks later at 25th overall.

Jenkins insists that getting snubbed by the Bucs never bothered him.

"Just another team," he said. "I am going to play just like I did my preseason games."

A SuperPrep All-America at Southeast High in Bradenton, Jenkins was recruited by Florida and Nebraska. He chose USF so he could continue helping his sick mother take care of his little brother.

At USF, Jenkins started 40 of 48 games. He took the first kickoff of his senior year 100 yards for a touchdown. He finished the season with 41 tackles and three interceptions.

At the very least, Jenkins will feel comfortable at Raymond James Stadium, home of the Bucs and the Bulls. While working out for the draft at Raymond James, Jenkins thought the Bucs would select him.

"Of course, I played in that stadium for five years," he said. "That's the past. I really don't want to talk about it. I'm on a great team right now."

As a rookie, Jenkins received help from another former USF player – Anthony Henry. Jenkins played in 14 games, starting three. In his second start, against Tampa Bay, Jenkins made a career-high seven tackles.

But he took a big fall for the one tackle he did not make. Late in a blowout loss to the New York Giants, Jenkins avoided contact with running back Derrick Ward. Criticism from that replay is still ringing.

"I feel like I had a great season last year until one play, and everybody's judging me off of one play, and that was a tackle," Jenkins said. "That's how I'm getting judged, off one play."

Henry's trade to Detroit for quarterback Jon Kitna opened the door for Jenkins to start. But the competition with Scandrick has been so tight that the coaching staff decided the players would split time.

Jenkins and Scandrick are friends and former roommates. Eventually, one will step to the forefront. But until then, both should benefit from the intense competition.

"I thought both of them played well enough to start," coach Wade Phillips said. "As long as you have good players, you want them playing."

On Sunday, Jenkins will have an opportunity for redemption on multiple levels. Ward, the object of Jenkins' phantom tackle, left the Giants for Tampa Bay in the spring, signing a four-year deal.