The Philadelphia Eagles suffered an embarrassing loss on Sunday, getting drubbed 48-7 by the New Orleans Saints. Safety Malcolm Jenkins is clearly not pleased with the efforts of some of his teammates.
While Jenkins wouldn’t name anyone specifically, he made it clear that poor efforts won’t be tolerated.
“We can deal with guys getting beat. Mistakes happen. If you don’t win at the point of attack, cool,” Jenkins said, per Nick Fierro of The Morning Call. “But if you don’t know what you’re doing, if you’re not giving us everything you’ve got, especially with our backs on the wall, that’s just something I think as leaders of this team we need to nip in the bud, because we’re at that moment where we can’t carry non-essential personnel.”
Jenkins was visibly upset on Sunday. With the game already well in hand, New Orleans coach, Sean Payton, called for a long pass to Alvin Kamara, who beat Jenkins for a touchdown. After that, Jenkins was seen throwing his helmet onto the ground. He also gave Payton the middle finger.
Sunday’s game was a low point in what’s been a frustrating season for Philadelphia. The Eagles are 4-6 and have yet to have a winning streak reach even two games.
Despite all of that, there is some silver lining.
Philadelphia is still in playoff contention. The Eagles sit two games behind the Washington Redskins for first place in the NFC East, but have both games against the Redskins remaining. Additionally, with Alex Smith’s injury, there’s great uncertainty in Washington. The Dallas Cowboys are a game ahead of the Philadelphia, as well. But those two will play each other on December 9. Additionally, while it seems unlikely that the NFC East will produce a wild card team, no non-division leader in the NFC is better than 6-4.
So, it’s possible for the Eagles to get back in the postseason picture. But Jenkins is right. Philadelphia isn’t going anywhere if anyone on the team has a less than stellar effort.