Post Snap With Malcolm Jenkins: 'We Found Our Fire, Now We Have To Maintain It'
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 (CBS) — The Eagles were looking for something in their first seven games this season that may have emerged Sunday night in their 33-27 overtime victory over the hapless Dallas Cowboys. The Eagles didn't just survive, going to 4-4, but it could be the start of things beginning to fuse together.
Sam Bradford and the offense played the way it was expected to play. The defense, which has carried this team, made key stops when it had to and it may have been the best offensive line looked this year.
"The offensive line did a great job," Malcolm Jenkins said. "You see a lot of those runs came from guys getting their blocks and they played downhill. Rarely did you see guys come through penetration and were rarely unblocked. Obviously, for the talent we have at running back, it made a world of difference for them. They got the ball roll. You began to see the Cowboys' defense getting tired and drives were sustained. I keep saying our running game is the key to everything. It works better for our entire team when we're able to run the ball, and the starts with the offensive line."
Before the bye week, Jenkins put a challenge to his teammates that some guys would have to lite a flame under their butts. As one of the leaders on the Eagles, Jenkins' words do not go ignored. The veteran safety saw something Sunday night that may have been missing consistently throughout the first seven games this season and that's a team that fought back.
"That game didn't look like the first half of the season and we started to see the true character of guys on this team and it's something we have to see week in and week out," Jenkins said. "There was a fight there that needed to have. You saw that from our defense and from our special teams in the past, but as a team collectively, I don't think you saw the full fire. Everyone brought it last night in our run game, and from the receivers. Guys were making tough catches. The same guys that were kind of the whipping boys all year came out and made huge plays for us. The run game, receivers making catches in traffic. It all came together. Our offense played better than our defense. Our demeanor last night on the sideline said there was no way we were going to lose that game.
"We have found our fire. Now what does it equate to, I don't know. We have to continue winning games. We're starting to come together from that standpoint. It's yet to be seen whether we can sustain that fire. The talent is there. The character is there. I'm convinced we can. We can be a great team. There are still things we have to bring week in and week out. It will weigh heavy on the team leaders, me included. If I want the team to look a certain way, I have to look a certain way. It has to be a collective effort."
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.
