Eagles like their starters at safety
Jim Schwartz can pick apart most of the players on his defense for inconsistencies or areas in which they must improve, but the Eagles' defensive coordinator exempted his two starting safeties from such gripes.
Jim Schwartz can pick apart most of the players on his defense for inconsistencies or areas in which they must improve, but the Eagles' defensive coordinator exempted his two starting safeties from such gripes.
Malcolm Jenkins and Rodney McLeod represent the strength of the Eagles defense and what the team believes can be one of the NFL's best safety combinations.
"I have been complimentary to the safeties for good reason," Schwartz said. "Those guys are good players. They come to work every day. They're a great example to the secondary on how to be a pro, how to communicate, how to be in the right spots."
Eagles fans are already aware of what Jenkins can do, with the safety emerging as a Pro Bowl player in Philadelphia. McLeod, a prized free agent signee, is a new addition expected to upgrade the defensive backfield. He has had an interception in just about every practice during camp, and his reputation as a ferocious hitter may be seen in the preseason opener next week. Both players show a tendency to find the football, an attribute that compelled the Eagles to give McLeod a five-year, $37 million deal.
"Technique. I take pride in that, and play recognition," McLeod said. "Five years [in the league], so experience helps as well."
Quarterback Sam Bradford, who has played against them during the last week, noted how well the safety tandem has performed in practice and how much range they cover deep. The other part of their game that Bradford respects is how they cover slot receivers and tight ends. Bradford said it's not a matchup that a quarterback targets as a weakness. He believes they're "one of the better, if not the best, safety duos in the league."
"We could be," McLeod said. "We've got to go out and prove it."
With question marks at cornerback, the safeties can help solidify the middle of the defense. Although McLeod is not yet at the level of Jenkins, he's 26 and is coming from a defense that is philosophically similar to the one Schwartz will use in Philadelphia.
"I want to develop my game and hopefully get to where Malcolm is," McLeod said. "That's one of the reasons I came here, to play beside him."
The problem arises when either Jenkins or McLeod is out of the lineup, which was the case on Thursday, when Jenkins exited practice with a hamstring injury. Schwartz put Ed Reynolds with the first-team defense, and the Eagles also have Chris Maragos, Jaylen Watkins, and Blake Countess as top options vying for the backup safety spots.
"The facts are we need those guys to step up," Schwartz said. "We need to find out who is going to be our third and fourth, and maybe even a potential fifth with special teams and stuff like that. When a guy goes down, it's a great opportunity for those other guys to step up. The opportunity only exists if you take advantage of it, and those guys need to do a better job of taking advantage of it."
The severity of the injury to Jenkins was not known.
Neither Reynolds nor Watkins made the 53-man roster after the preseason last year, although both found their way onto the roster as the season progressed. Reynolds had some bright moments on defense, with a lack of production on special teams being the main reason he was cut.
Watkins juggled between cornerback and safety, and said the lesson he learned from his release was to not worry so much about the depth chart or where he's playing and just play.
Maragos is a special- teams standout who has not been able to sustain a regular niche on defense, and Countess is a sixth-round pick.
Jenkins has not missed a game since coming to the Eagles, and McLeod has played every game in his four-year career. So the Eagles do not need to worry about their absences as they do with some players at other injury-prone spots. But Jenkins' injury Thursday only highlighted the depth concern at the positions.
"We have two great guys in front of us," Watkins said. "That's the standard. That's the bar. So in order for us to go have a great year, you're going to have a third guy come in and not have any drop-off with Rodney and Malcolm."
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