For Malcolm Jenkins, unlike OTAs, activism isn’t voluntary, and Eagles fans respect that | Bob Ford

Two years ago, at this very juncture of the sports calendar, defensive tackle Fletcher Cox chose not to attend the first week of organized team activities with his Eagles brethren, and it was as if he knocked over the Rocky statue, swore off cheesesteaks, and signed to do a buddy movie with J.D. Drew.

Oh, folks got indignant. Talk radio buzzed like the busy bee it is. Words spilled out in both digital and print form. What was Cox thinking? The Eagles were heading into the second season of quarterback Carson Wentz, who had shown his exciting potential as a rookie. (Not to mention his durability, starting all 16 games!) This was a season in which the Eagles could pull it all together, but they certainly needed everyone, particularly the team leaders, yanking on the same end of the rope.

Well, as it turned out, the team survived his May absence fairly well in 2017, and, as the confetti fell in Minneapolis, no one was saying, “Yeah, but we could have won by two touchdowns if Fletcher had been at that first week of OTAs.”

Fans get excited and tend to look through the wrong end of the binoculars on occasion, but it appears that 2019 is a bit different on the very same subject. Attendance isn’t perfect thus far for the voluntary OTAs at the NovaCare Complex. Offensive tackles Lane Johnson and Jason Peters and receiver Alshon Jeffery haven’t graced the practice field yet, and neither has safety Malcolm Jenkins.

The absence of Johnson and Peters, those dray horses of the trench, is one thing. Not having Jenkins — who never misses anything — around is quite another. There is speculation he would like his contract, which has two years remaining, brought up to the standard of his play, or at least his judgment of it. For a guy who has been with the team five seasons, started 16 games each year, and last season played every one of the 1,039 defensive snaps (not to mention, 137 special-teams snaps), it’s a reasonable way to feel.

What is reasonable, and what is accepted by the public are often two different things, however, and that could particularly be true for a player who has offered himself as a lightning rod in one of the most important, but contentious conversations taking place in our nation.

The measure of how well Jenkins has walked the line between social activist and professional athlete can be fully understood at this moment by the lack of reaction to his choice regarding the OTAs. Even those who don’t agree with some of the stances he has taken, particularly surrounding the protests of the national anthem, accord him the respect for having dealt with those situations in as sincere and intelligent a fashion as he did.

» READ MORE: Every city in America needs a Malcolm Jenkins | Opinion

That’s not nothing, and his ability to straddle those lines successfully not only has given him the benefit of the doubt here, but maybe it is also an indication that, after all the screaming on both sides, perhaps people are also finally listening, too.

Jenkins is handling his unofficial holdout from the voluntary workouts with his accustomed dignity. His only public display had nothing to do with individualism, only teamwork, as he posted an Instagram photo of all the Eagles defensive backs getting together to hang out on Memorial Day. (Two years ago, by comparison, Cox posted a shot of a hand holding a rum drink aloft before a faultless Caribbean beach. That went over well.)

Of course, maybe the sports landscape in Philadelphia is more forgiving now. At this time in 2017, the Sixers had just finished a 28-54 season in which their highest win-share generator was T.J. McConnell, and their top five for minutes played were Nik Stauskas, McConnell, Dario Saric, Robert Covington and Gerald Henderson. The Flyers had captured sixth place in the Metropolitan Division, and looked capable of doing so every season. At the end of that May, the Phillies were 17-34 and 15 ½ games out of first place.

So, yes, having other distractions hasn’t hurt, and neither did that Super Bowl win at the end of the 2017 Eagles season. Full stomachs don’t growl. Still, it’s worth taking note that a fan base regularly criticized for its excesses is reacting with a shrug when an outspoken activist across the hot-button racial divide decides not to show up for football practice.

“I know this,” defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz said Tuesday. “When the chips are down, you’ll be able to count on Malcolm Jenkins.”

Everyone knows that. His actions, both on the field and off the field, have made it so. Jenkins will be back, and while he is away, this city has his back.