Malcolm Jenkins: 'I Definitely See Chip Kelly's Vision'
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- Chip Kelly is one of, if not the, most polarizing figures in sports.
After compiling a 20-12 record in his first two seasons as head coach, Philadelphia is questioning Kelly's roster overhaul. Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins, however, is not.
"I think it's yet to be seen," Jenkins admitted Monday on the NFL Network, when asked his opinion on Kelly. "In two seasons with two teams that really weren't his, he kinda took that on and now he's getting his own players in. He's had two ten-win seasons, playoff birth. I think as you see now that's he's making these moves, he's getting the players that he wants in his system. I think it's to be determined, but I definitely see his vision and we'll see if it works out in the coming season."
The Eagles' third-year head-coach, who was recently giving control over personnel decisions, has made numerous controversial moves in his first offseason as general manager. Most notably, Kelly traded Nick Foles for Sam Bradford, LeSean McCoy for Kiko Alonso, and failed to re-sign Jeremy Maclin.
As most Eagles fans already know, NFL Network analyst Heath Evans is a certified Chip Kelly and Philadelphia Eagles hater.
Evans, the former NFL fullback, won a Super Bowl with Jenkins while the two were in New Orleans during the 2009-10 season. Jenkins and Evans got into a Twitter debate after Evans questioned the Eagles' toughness, prompting Jenkins to debate with Evans on television.
"People define toughness differently," Evans said, beginning the debate. "For me, '09, 2010 with Sean Payton toughness was situational awareness, situational football. In the nitty-gritty, grind of a fourth-quarter your team is going to perform better than the other.
LISTEN: NFL Network's Heath Evans joins Innes and Bruno to discuss his stance on the Eagles
"3rd-and-1 your team will get it done offensively or defensively. Special teams, which you and I both played, when it counted we were going to get the job done. Too many times on tape, especially verse the good teams, the playoff teams---in my head, people talk about 20 wins. That's good, 20 wins! But if you look at playoff opponents there's been 10 games for Chip Kelly in the last two years, there's three wins. And there's one this year that I especially have an issue with, week two [against the Colts]."
Evans went on to discredit the Eagles' Week two win over the Colts, due to a non-call resulting in a late-game Jenkins interception, something he had done previously.
"You guys have three wins verse 10 playoff teams," Evans continued. "That one [win against the Colts] should not have been a win. Too many times the tape tells the story, that in crunch time this team just doesn't get it done."
Jenkins wasn't going down without a fight.
"You said toughness is the thing," Jenkins started. "In football, the way you define toughness is how you run the ball and how you stop the run. We were ninth in the league in rushing, that's top-10. I think we should be better, we look to be better, but that's still pretty good we run the ball well. Stopping the run, we get more plays than anybody, so I like at yards per carry and we're fifth. So we stop the run and we're the fourth best tackling team in football. So when you talk about toughness I don't see where we're off."
You can watch the debate here.