Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz has seen some individuals play to his liking, but made clear that the team must improve as a unit when he stepped to the podium on Thursday.
"As a defense, we need to be more consistent," Schwartz said. “Mychal [Kendricks] is a very, very good athlete. He’s explosive, he can run, he can cover."
Among the players who have played with consistency are safeties Malcolm Jenkins and Rodney McLeod. Schwartz hopes that the tandem’s stability will be replicated throughout the unit.
"I have been complimentary of the safeties for good reason," Schwartz said. "Those two 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. When I say we haven’t been consistent as a defense, I’d probably like to exempt those two guys because they’ve played very, very consistently."
With Jenkins leaving practice early on Thursday due to a leg injury, Schwartz was clear that the backup safeties need to do a better job seizing this rare opportunity.
"We need those guys behind them to step up," Schwartz said. "When a guy goes down it’s a great opportunity for other guys to step up, and the opportunity only exists if you take advantage of it. Those guys need to do a better job taking advantage of it.”
Similarly to Schwartz, starting quarterback Sam Bradford praised the steadiness of the Eagles safety duo when he met with the media on Thursday.
"Those guys are playing really well right now," Bradford said. "One of the better if not the best safety duo in the league. It just seems like they cover a lot of range in the back end, whoever’s in the middle of the field back there, they’re deep, they’re rangy, they’re covering a lot of ground."
The Eagles struggled mightily against the pass in 2015, ranking 29th in the NFL with 267 opposition passing yards per game. If Jenkins and McLeod can avoid long term injuries in 2016, expect the Philadelphia defense to be much improved against the pass.
You can see the full press conference from Schwartz and Bradford below.
Patrick Del Gaone is a staff writer for Sports Talk Philly. Follow him on Twitter @Del_Gaone.
