Post Snap With Malcolm Jenkins: 'An Offense Will Find It Tough To Beat Us'
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 admits that this is fun. The eight-year veteran safety feels at home in Jim Schwartz's defensive system. He played arguably his best game as a pro in the Eagles' 34-3 thrashing of the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.
In the beginning, Jenkins said, it was a matter of figuring out where he would be on the field and in what situations he would be placed in. Jenkins likes to play all over the field—and feels he flourishes when able to freelance within a scheme. It appears that's what Schwartz is allowing Jenkins and fellow safety Rodney McLeod to do.
"Over the last two weeks, we have a really good feel for where and what we can do," Jenkins said. "Rodney allows me to do a lot of things, and he's as versatile as me to move around. He still has the opportunity to get down and move around, so he's not deep all of the time, either. That keeps us both active enough to stay engaged and always be around the ball. As we go, we'll get more and more comfortable, and it will put us in position to make even more plays.
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"A lot of what we're doing is not necessarily roaming, the guy I'm supposed to be covering I'm still covering. But [Schwartz] has allowed us do some things, that between Rodney and myself, aren't necessarily coached. A quarterback gets a picture that won't tip him off to what we're doing. A lot of it is me and Rodney doing our own thing, but it makes us both able to make plays and keep the quarterback guessing. I like to be near the line of scrimmage, but this allows me to play some bracket.
"[Schwartz] has allowed us to use whatever technique we'd like, based on formation. He gives me and Rodney a lot of freedom to make calls and set coverage to what we're seeing on the field."
This may explain why the Eagles have been so difficult to move the ball against. Schwartz has shown great trust in Jenkins and McLeod.
"It starts with Jim and the amount of trust he's shown with me and Rodney, as far as making calls and getting guys lined up," Jenkins said. "We have a set of guidelines and what tools we can use, based on certain formations. We'll go into a game with a certain plan, but if they're not giving us what we planned on, we can easily adjust to a new tool. We can switch it up, to show one look one time, and trick them into a different look the next time. It makes it advantageous for us. An offense will find it tough to beat us.
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"We're not reinventing the wheel and doing anything crazy, but a lot of little things, whether it's going from quarters to a half field, where it all looks the same. Just small things here and there that we can change, and it showed up the other night."
It showed. Two-time Super Bowl winner Ben Roethlisberger appeared thoroughly confused by the Eagles defensive packages.
"This is getting close to the most fun I ever had on a football field, going back to my times in New Orleans," Jenkins admitted. "This is a group that is having more and more fun playing together. We're all definitely having a lot of fun."
During the bye week, Jenkins will be going to his alma mater, Ohio State, this weekend to watch his Buckeyes host Rutgers.
Malcolm Jenkins Foundation Event
Jenkins will be holding his third annual Malcolm Jenkins Foundation Blitz, Bow Tie and Bourbon Fundraiser event on Monday, October 24th, at 6:30 p.m. at the Union Trust Building on 717 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19106. For information, you can go to themalcolmjenkinsfoundation.org. Eagles' long snapper Jon Dorenbos will be the MC.
Follow Malcolm Jenkins on Twitter @MalcolmJenkins and like him on Facebook.
