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Post Snap With Malcolm Jenkins: Defense Becoming 'Cornerstone Of Our Team'

By Joseph Santoliquito

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) — The defense continues to play well as the Eagles finally attained their first victory of the season, causing four turnovers in their 24-17 victory over the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.

"The defense is beginning to believe we can be a cornerstone of our team as our offense finds its identity, as we go against teams with really good defenses, as we saw that in the Cowboys game," Jenkins said. "When our offense is struggling, we on defense have to make a few more plays than their defense to come out with a win. We were able to get those things done this week and it was huge for our team."

It's only three games into the season, but rookie middle linebacker Jordan Hicks has made an impact. He was exceptional against the Jets, making a team-high 9 tackles, recovering one fumble and intercepting a pass in place of the injured Mychal Kendricks and Kiko Alonzo.

"This performance by Hicks wasn't surprising, because he impressed last week against Dallas," Jenkins said. "We threw him into a division game, deep in the battle and he's the mike linebacker. He has to make the play calls, he has to get guys lined up. He didn't flinch. He came in there and had a great command of the huddle. He came in and made plays. This week, he had a whole week of preparation and he made the right calls. He played like a veteran. He knew what was going on and he made the calls when we got into our dime and nickel packages. His production was off the charts. To have a rookie come in and play that well, it was a reason why we were successful on defense."

Rookie corner Eric Rowe also played very well. He appeared to struggle during the pre-season, but when Chris Maragos went down, Rowe stepped in and defended one pass and intercepted another.

"Eric was on our scout team and was on special teams, he wasn't a huge part of the game plan going in, but when Chris went down, we had to move some positions around and Eric is out there at corner, and lean most of our coverage toward Brandon Marshall, leaving the other side pretty much on an island by himself," Jenkins said. "We knew Devin Smith could stretch the field. Eric did a great job on two occasions and came up with those plays. He kept his poise and stayed in there. Most rookies would lose a step, from losing their concentration. Eric didn't. He kept his technique, and did what we do in practice. He made plays. That's something we've seen him do all through pre-season practice. When he plays with his technique, Eric is as good as anybody we have on the field.

"We needed our young players to produce, and especially when they had to produce in a tight game and in a clutch situation. Right now, we're focusing on getting things right. We know what our potential could be, but that doesn't matter. We have to continue to get better throughout the week and continue to figure out our identity and what's going to win for us as a team."

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.

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