Malcolm Jenkins recently appeared in The Rich Eisen Show and shared some interesting ideas about his previous team and quarterback. Here is a complete transcript of what the former Philadelphia Eagles security guard had to say:
EISEN: I know this is not your current team, but I’m wondering what do you think – if you don’t mind if I play you now as part of the paparazzi – and what do you think of what’s going on with your ex- team in philadelphia? Do you have any thoughts on that, Malcolm Jenkins, and if so, what are they?
JENKINS: Well, I’ll be honest. I didn’t really pay much attention to that. In fact, I was just taking a look at the league, with all the coaching vacancies, how they would deal with black coaches and what opportunities would come. But I know that whoever was going to take on that job in Philadelphia was inheriting … um, some work. I think Jeffrey Lurie made some comments at the beginning of the off-season that he suggested, or was really straightforward about, how they are entering a reconstruction phase. And players on a team and as a fan base, you will never want to hear that. Because sometimes it kind of confuses what the priorities are. But, look, they have a situation where obviously everything that happened to Carson Wentz this year, a lot of money invested in him, and then you got Jalen Hurts in and really took charge of the offense, lit up some juice for the team. And this is not the first time that this has happened with a reserve quarterback, obviously, in Philadelphia. And then it’s one of those things that, like, something has to change. Whether you put that burden on the coaching staff or the players who are there … but obviously there is a lot of work to be done there. But they have great leadership, they have players in that locker room who are a proud group. And, what do you expect to see, at least from a fan – I even call myself an Eagles fan – you just hope that the competitiveness, the culture and the kind of spirit that this team represents will stay in place.
EISEN: So again, as an Eagles fan, you have a unique perspective, and one more follow-up on that: is there a problem with Wentz in that locker room? We keep hearing about it. You were there when there was a magazine article [2019 PhillyVoice story] locally who said there was a big problem with Wentz and players in that locker room. Is there a problem? Is there anything about Carson Wentz that you can share with us, Malcolm?
JENKINS: Well, I think as a teammate and friend of Carson, I think it always starts with the performance. And he did not, I think, live up to the expectations everyone had for him. And I don’t think he would say that he lived up to his own expectations. But some of the other problems I felt when I was in the locker room were that there was a lot of room for maneuver and that didn’t make him a better player. I don’t think they did them any favors trying to protect their ego or trying to, you know, just protect it as a player instead of keeping it – like any other player – keeping it based on performance. And really maintaining what he needs to improve, but also adjusting to put him in places that can make him successful. And I think this is a little bit for the coaching staff and also for the player. Like, each player should go into the off season assessing what they did well, what they didn’t do well, and you expect to see improvements year after year. BUT, if that’s not the case, and you don’t see it, and there are no changes, and it’s not being resolved … so, as a player, I know you almost feel … ‘What are we doing?’ Doing the same thing over and over expecting different results is crazy. And, unfortunately, I think a little bit of that has happened in recent years. And, obviously, this off-season shows that something had to change significantly. And Carson is still there, so he still – regardless of who they bring in to train and make him better – he will still have to improve as a player for the team to succeed.