Post Snap With Malcolm Jenkins: 'Sam Speaking Up Was Huge'
Malcolm Jenkins is a Super Bowl champion and veteran NFL safety. He sits down with CBS Philly's Joe Santoliquito every week. All of Jenkins' Post Snap interviews are archived here.
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Malcolm Jenkins was a little fired up going against his former team, the New Orleans Saints, on Sunday—and that emotion came right out, when Jenkins made the first tackle of the game in the Eagles' 39-17 victory.
"I was waiting for that play all week, and I recognized it early on," Jenkins said. "I was happy to be the first one to make a play. Those guys are pretty quiet, and I was doing most of the talking, but I got a chance to mess with Drew (Brees). Out of all the plays they have, there was one play I knew what the route he was checking to, and I remembered the call. I immediately yelled out to my teammates what the call was. After the game, he came over to me and said, 'you know man, why are you still in the calls.' It was good fun. I still have a lot of good friends over there and it was fun to compete against them."
Jenkins feels the Eagles are a step closer to the team that they want to be. Defensively, they're still giving up big plays, but those X-plays were eliminated by causing four turnovers. It was a three-phase game, winning on offensively, defensively and on special teams.
"The most encouraging thing is when we're able to run the ball, not just for our offense, but for our entire team," Jenkins said. "It gives us energy. It rests our defense. Hopefully, we can continue to build on what we did. I don't think we think that everything is fixed. But it is one step in the right direction. We still have to play with urgency and improving. We're a good football team. I have no problem saying that. We know we can win. I think it's why we're so upset after we've lost these games. If comes from not playing the way we can play. And that's frustrating. We're trying to figure out how to consistently play good football. It's a work in progress. If we weren't such a good team and didn't have the pieces to win, we wouldn't be surprised if we were losing. It's frustrating to start the way we did, because we know what we have."
Defensively, the Eagles still have to cut down on the X-plays. The Eagles have stuffed the run, and continue to create turnovers.
"I think the offense understands that we are a successful team when we can run the ball effectively," Jenkins said. "You saw how that kick starts our offense, and we need to continue putting the emphasis on positive runs. It all works together."
One funny occurrence prior to Sunday's game was when Jenkins saw the entire offense walk out of the shower area, when Sam Bradford brought everyone together. It may be a seminal moment for Bradford in taking a leadership role with this team.
"I didn't notice anything until I saw them all coming out of the shower together, and then I knew that they were having some kind of offensive huddle," Jenkins said. "Whatever it is they did, it worked. Maybe they have to do that before every game. I think Sam speaking up was huge. Sam doesn't speak a lot. He's not one of the more vocal leaders on the team. Most teams the quarterback is the vocal leader and that hadn't played out here yet. Sam took the bull by the horns and I think we need more of that out of him. It's important for guys to hear his voice."
Join Malcom Jenkins and Jason Kelce each week in the "Locker Room" the day after Eagles games at 5 p.m. on 94.1 WIP. Follow Malcolm Jenkins on Twitter @MalcolmJenkins and like him on Facebook.
