With Darren Sharper still recovering from offseason knee surgery, Malcolm Jenkins is receiving vital reps with the Saints first-team defense at free safety during training camp. Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams loves Jenkins’ potential and expects him to play a pivotal role this season, either at free safety or somewhere else.
Is Jenkins ready for the challenge in his second year? He stopped for an interview after an early practice this weekend.
This training camp for you is really huge for your development. Can you elaborate on that a little bit?
“For any young player, training camp is where you basically get all your knowledge because once the season comes around you’re just preparing week by week and just resetting. Camp is where you make strides. Especially for me going to a new position I’m basically trying to soak everything in and get as much experience as I can and learn from Darren much as I can and keep getting better.”
How is the transition from cornerback to free safety going?
“It’s going good. The transition has been smooth. I had the work in the spring. Now it’s just about getting the experience and getting better.”
How important is Darren Sharper to this defense?
“It’s huge. If you look at the amount of players Darren made for us last year from the free safety position, that’s a big hole to fill, depending on how his injury works out or if it’s a regular injury during the season, we need someone to come in and fill that role. Right now I’m just trying to get all the experience I can so if I do get in I can replicate what he did.”
What’s the hardest thing to get used to at safety?
“Just the vision. You go from looking at little things like receivers’ hips or little dots on receivers. Now you have to see the whole field, the receivers, the quarterback, linemen, receivers out of your peripheral vision. That transition is pretty hard because you have to consciously say open up your vision and process things. But you get used to it after a while.”
How do you respond the question about the long Super Bowl celebration affecting the preparation for this year?
I don’t see a lot of guys dwelling on what we just accomplished. I see a lot of guys who are hungry and have really improved. Hopefully we put last year behind us and continue to move on and know that we have to grind harder than we did last year to get where we want to be.”
Your versatility was considered a huge asset when the Saints drafted you. Did you expect to have to use that versatility so early in your career?
“Yes. Once I got here and saw all of the upgrades they made in the secondary. If they didn’t bring in a Jabari Greer and Darren Sharper, then I could see myself playing a specific role, but once you have all those guys, you need to get your best players on the field. My versatility is definitely an asset to me.”
Are your more comfortable at safety than cornerback?
“I think so, because I have more freedom and can use my instincts, use my speed and try to make plays. Safety fits me very well. I study the game a lot. I know a lot about the game, so I can sit there and roam and basically have a lot of freedom to be able to use my knowledge of the game and my instincts to make plays.”
Has Sharper helped you and Usama Young learn the position?
“We learn a lot from him. He sits in meetings and if he sees something, he’ll let me know, whether it’s on the field or in a meeting. Whenever you can learn from one of the best in the business, it’s always good.”
Sharper set the record for interception yards in a season. How much does defensive coordinator Gregg Williams’ scheme lend itself to big plays by the secondary?
“Oh yeah, it does. We play aggressively with our corners and we blitz a lot. We have a lot of tipped balls and a lot of batted balls and forced throws. If you are in the right place at the right time, that makes for a lot of plays.”
Do you envision yourself as the starting free safety at the beginning of the year?
“That’s the goal. I’m preparing to be a starter. That’s what I want to do, but we’ll see how this camp comes out.”
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