New Bucs cornerback Tim Jennings joining familiar folks

New Bucs cornerback Tim Jennings joining familiar folksGreg Auman, Times Staff WriterTuesday, September 8, 2015 7:12pmTim Jennings, who played five seasons with the Bears, will likely debut with the Bucs Sunday.Getty ImagesTAMPA — Former Pro Bowl CB Tim Jennings could have gone anywhere after he was released by the Bears, but his history with Lovie Smith made the Bucs an easy choice for where he would continue his NFL career."Once I walked into the building, saw lots of familiar faces, guys I played with, coaching staff I played with for a while, the comfort level was already there," Jennings said. "As far as being comfortable, being in a place where you're wanted, where you know you can come in and play right away, it was a no-brainer."Jennings, 31, played for Smith from 2010-12 in Chicago, getting nine interceptions in their last year together, but was cut by the Bears in preseason."I use it as a motivation, just the fact that you never want to get fired from a job," said Jennings, still earning $4 million guaranteed from the Bears this season, minus his Bucs salary, which is reportedly the league veteran minimum. "Basically, you just switched firms, switched businesses. You take what you learned at other places and apply it to another job and try to help them get better."Several former Bears are on the Bucs roster — safeties Major Wright and Chris Conte and DT Henry Melton. Jennings will play for the same position coach, Gill Byrd, and played for defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier as a rookie with the Colts in 2006.Still, Smith said there is new terminology to learn, so he'll be eased into things."There are steps he has to go through, but in time he will be able to contribute for us," Smith said. "He's a good football player. … I've lined up with him in a lot of games, so I think I know what we are going to get."Jennings said the knee injury that had limited him in training camp isn't significant moving forward, but he stopped short of saying he's 100 percent."It's 90-95 percent. … It's my 10th year. There's nothing going to be 100 percent on me right now," he said.