Post Snap With Malcolm Jenkins: 'The Margin For Error Is Closing Fast'
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 at CBSPhilly.com/Jenkins.
PHILADELPHIA, PA (CBS) — Malcolm Jenkins isn't angry as much as he's frustrated over the current state of the Eagles. It stings the veteran safety, as it probably does his Eagle teammates, that the Eagles are mired in this self-inflicted rut of hurting themselves. The most recent is the biting 20-19 fiasco to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
"It's not a good feeling, but it's the same story the whole year and I think the focus is no longer are we a good team or are we a bad team, the focus has to be right in front of us and are we better than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers," said Jenkins, who is having an all-pro caliber season and made a team-high 10 tackles in Sunday's loss. "We have to be better than that team that day. To think about being a great team and the playoffs, we can't think about that now. We have to think about being the best team that we can be against the team in front of us. It's a place we put ourselves.
"When you asked anyone on this team in August what they envisioned, they saw playoffs and bigger things. I think it's way too late to look at what we are. The steps to get there still have to be taken. I think the minimum guys were figuring were 10 wins, trying to fight for a No. 1 or No. 2 seed. That's what we envisioned. And now, those goals are still attainable, I just think the road in which we have to reach them is totally different. It's a lot harder, but it's still there. I think we're no longer looking at the end of the road. We don't care how we get there. We're looking at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Nothing else matters."
Jenkins said the Eagles haven't reached an urgent state. But the window is closing fast on the room for error, and the Eagles have made a lot of errors that's led to their 4-5 record.
"This is a team thing," Jenkins urged. "People talk about the offense, but as a defense, there were a 1,000 things we could have done to win that game on Sunday. If the offense is driving or not, the defense still has a job to do. If we got one more stop, I catch an interception, we recover the ball in the end zone, that's a different game on Sunday. If we took a field goal away, we win. Or if the special teams doesn't get a punt blocked, we win. If a tipped ball doesn't go off someone's head into a receiver's arms, we win. We make a field goal, we win. If you score 19 points, we should have won the game. They say 19 points wasn't enough. That means nothing to me."
The Eagles have to narrow their focus, and Jenkins admits it should have been that way since the beginning of the season.
"We have to narrow our focus, because that's the only thing that's going to get this accomplished," Jenkins said. "We've had a huge margin for error. That space is running out. The margin for error is closing fast. It becomes one-game seasons from here on out."
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.
