If there’s one person that Saints fans are excited to see back in the black and gold, it’s Malcolm Jenkins. After spending the last six seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, the former first-round pick is making his return and Dennis Allen is more than ready to work with the veteran safety.
“I was here when we drafted Malcolm (Jenkins) back in 2009. I think Malcolm brings a sense of leadership, an intelligence level to our defense especially from a backend perspective.” Allen said on Monday, “I’m excited about working with Malcolm. I thought Malcolm was an outstanding player when he was here before and he continued that in Philadelphia and I’m anxious to get an opportunity to work with him again.”
Jenkins has stayed consistent going into his 11th season and will be a key cog in the secondary and according to the Saints defensive coordinator, the big reason why they brought him back is because of his leadership.
“First and foremost we felt like Malcolm was a great leader and we felt like Malcolm was a highly intelligent football player.” Allen said, “And so those were aspects that we really enjoyed. Malcolm I think can play the game within the game. He’s going to be a guy that – he understands the whole concept and the whole big picture, and I think that viewpoint from a player’s perspective can benefit the whole football team.
“So I certainly think there’s a guy that had been in this type of system before, which makes it an easier transition. And a guy that we were familiar with that makes it an easier transition. But I do also think that if you watched Malcolm’s career I think he’s evolved as a football player. And evolved in an intelligent way that I think can benefit our whole entire team.”