With the Eagles opening training camp in 10 days – can it somehow get here sooner, please? – Malcolm Jenkins will be the most important story of the summer, and, hopefully, the fall and winter, too. No player promises more reason for improvement in the 10-6 team, but also more risk of failure.
Coach Chip Kelly is acknowledged as a genius on offense, as he proved in his rookie NFL season. Defense, however, is another matter, given his 29th-ranked unit in 2013. So when Kelly signed Jenkins to take over the free-safety position butchered last year by Patrick Chung, his decision met with immediate concern.
And let’s not forget that New Orleans coach Sean Payton happily let Jenkins become a free agent so that he could sign a more highly rated safety, Jarius Byrd. Although Byrd had played for Kelly at Oregon, the coach never even contacted Byrd. Does Kelly know something Payton doesn’t? Or is it the other way around?
So far, Jenkins has made a terrific first impression – with his mouth, not his play. The man can talk. He has already demonstrated the leadership required of his position, something Chung also sorely lacked. Jenkins even fed the Payton-Kelly comparison when he said the Eagles were accomplishing far more in OTAs than Payton ever did.
Now comes the hard part for Jenkins, and for Kelly. When he left New Orleans, the word on Jenkins was that he was a poor open-field tackler and a mediocre pass defender. In other words, he isn’t much of an upgrade over Chung. The Eagles are going to need the difference-maker Chip Kelly sees, and not the disappointment Sean Payton saw.
Idle thoughts
A man was arrested after allegedly spraying a chemical substance inside the pro-Palestine encampment at…
Looking to celebrate Cinco de Mayo in Philadelphia in 2024? We’ve got the scoop on…
By BRUCE SHIPKOWSKI Associated Press A decomposed body found earlier this year in a duffel…
A Pennsylvania man who credits an alligator named Wally for helping relieve his depression for…
By JOE REEDY AP Sports Writer Kyle Schwarber had a two-run single in the second…
By MARC LEVY Associated Press Pennsylvania's House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a bill long…
This website uses cookies.