Malcolm Jenkins: 'We've Been The Best Team All Year'
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 philadelphia.cbslocal.com/tag/post-snap.
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Malcolm Jenkins has been here before. The Pro Bowl safety knows what goes into making a Super Bowl champion and the bond that's required to get there.
It's why Jenkins has no problem admitting he's greedy and wants more than just an NFC Championship. And he thinks the 2017 Eagles are a team that could break this franchise's long spell of never having won a Super Bowl championship.
Jenkins has a rather easy answer as to why.
"We've been the best team all year," Jenkins said. "When you talk about the definition of a team and the amount of things we fought through, and the amount of guys that have contributed, and the amount of depth that we have, and the amount of situations that we've come out victorious, we've had the best team on the field all year.
"And I mean team. I'm not going to Minnesota to have fun. It's funny, because this is how it's going to be framed all week. How we're just happy to be there. We're not. I don't want to hear we have a chance to win. No, we have one thing on our minds and that's to get a win. We don't have any doubt in our mind that we can do that."
Jenkins also knows the Eagles are playing for more than just the team—but a whole city.
The New England Patriots are the NFL's most successful franchise this century. They've won five Super Bowls, been to now eight, and have lost two. The Eagles have no point of reference. The franchise is 0-2 in the Super Bowl. They have big-name, crossover players like Tom Brady. And because the Pats are going for two-straight Super Bowls and NFL-high tying six (with the Pittsburgh Steelers), the pressure may sit with the Pats.
"We don't have a dynasty to uphold," Jenkins said. "We have the opportunity of a lifetime. No one expected us to be here. No one anticipated us to be here, and no one expects us to have any success against them. We have to show up and play our best game, and be the best Eagles team that we can be. We'll come in with the energy and the will to compete. I saw those people outside the Linc after the NFC Championship.
"This is a great time in the city. The city was electric, as it should be. It's exciting. But it's one of those things where I want more. I am greedy. Can you imagine what this city would be like if we won the Super Bowl? When we get back two from now victorious, what happened Sunday night won't even compare to that. That's where my mind is. I see the people, I see the celebration and the joy, and I'm looking to multiply that to something unimaginable."
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