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Post Snap With Malcolm Jenkins: 'This Team Doesn't Know How Good It Can Be'

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) — There were no revelations defensively after the Eagles' 27-7 victory over the woeful New York Giants on Monday, according to Malcolm Jenkins, though there are still a few things the Eagles could still clean up.

"If all phases of the defense are playing in unison, and the d-line can get pressure and stop the run, I think the sky is the limit as to what we can do defensively," Jenkins said. "I don't think we shocked ourselves. One thing we're doing well is adjusting. We played more zone early against the Giants than we wanted to, and Eli (Manning) picked that zone apart. Our game plan was to come out and play more man-to-man early and take out some of those windows Eli throws. Every time we've played zone against Eli, he's carved it up, because of his pre-snap read. He threw early enough to where our rush couldn't get to him. We sat zone and he carved it up and went right down the field.

"After that, we started to play a little more man. We adjusted some things after that on the sideline, and played more match coverage, mixing the man and the zone. What led to the Nolan Carroll touchdown was we had been playing man-to-man, man-to-man, man-to-man, and then went zone and passed off a couple of routes. You have to change up the look with a quarterback like Eli and make him hold the ball. He has to go through his progression and he has to take time, which allows the rush to get home."

The Eagles are disguising things defensively much better. What is drastically different is that all of the disguises are in the huddle calls. Eagles' defensive coordinator Billy Davis has entrusted the players to make the calls on the field.

"Billy has turned over that aspect of the defense to us," Jenkins said. "We can disguise every snap we want to, and the look is completely on us. Billy obviously trusts us as a veteran group to be in a position to get our jobs done. That way, we can all be all on the same page and give the quarterback a different look. As far the disguising, a lot of that isn't even a call, it's more like the fall of the game. One snap, we might show something, and the next play we'll show something else. Pre-snap, a quarterback doesn't know what we're in. It buys us more time for our rush to get home."

Carolina quarterback Cam Newton will be a formidable threat this week, when the Eagles play the Panthers on Sunday night.

"Cam is a mobile quarterback who can hurt you with his legs, and his ability to improve helps, but the difference between old and this Cam is his poise," Jenkins said. "He's better at managing the game. He knows they have a great defense. He doesn't have to spread the ball all around. He's more patient. To me, that's the biggest thing that's different about Cam. He won't make a lot of mistakes and turn the ball over a lot. We're a defense that looks for mistakes, and we'll capitalize on them."

The Eagles are 3-3 and are atop the NFC East—and they still haven't played that well. This game will be a truth teller as to how good the Eagles are.

"Our confidence has never wavered, and now every time we win, it's growing," Jenkins said. "Confidence never went away. Guys feel that there is a lot to improve on—and if we can, we don't even know how good we can be yet. We haven't played well and we're till competing and in these games. You'll never play a perfect game, but the sky is the limit if we keep improving each week. I don't think this team knows how good it can be."

Join Malcolm 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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