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Game Vs. Buccaneers: Eagles Defense

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Eagles S Malcolm Jenkins

On the transition to a new head coach:

"It's been an adjustment. This training camp has been probably one of the hardest I've been in my eight year career. I think it's good for the young guys to come in and earn it, but even for some of the older guys it's an opportunity to sharpen their swords. It's been good for us."

On the NFC East:

"When I was in the NFC South with New Orleans, our rival was Atlanta. In the NFC East, it's Dallas, New York, and the Washington. They're all up there. It's similar to those college rivalry games, but we have three rivals that we play twice a year. It's fun because it makes for a lot of good competition. It just seems that every year, the NFC East comes down to the last three games of the season to decide the winner, and it's usually always divisional games at the end. We're playing each other to get that title, so it makes for a lot of good competition and heated games."

On expectations for the upcoming season:

"The last two years, we felt like we were in control of our own destiny at the end of the year. For whatever reason, we just fizzled out and came up short. We know we're not far from being back in the playoffs; it's just really about building a team that lasts through the year and gets stronger as the season goes on. We have to finish well through the month of December."

Eagles DE Connor Barwin

On whether this defense one-gapping suits [DT Fletcher Cox] more:

"He would have been good in the last defense. But he will be good in this one too because he is just a good football player."

On what he thought the front did:

"Yeah we all got about 15 plays, maybe 13 or 15 plays, I think. We have a long way to go but it was really good for us, because the way we are going to rotate and the way we are going to change, we need game reps and game practice. So that's why this is really important for us. You can't do that during practice, as much as you try to, it's not like a game. So overall I thought it was pretty good and we still have a lot to work on."

On not wanting to show too much in preseason and whether the game was vanilla in terms of stunts and plays:

"I don't think you can get more vanilla than what we did. We just ran four down, same front every time. We ran kind of as basic of games as you can run and that was it."

Eagles DT Fletcher Cox

On what it felt like today on defense overall:

"It felt good. I think we still have a lot of stuff to clean up. We always have room for improvement everywhere, including myself. As a unit, I thought we played well. You have one of the guys who ended the game on an interception so that's always good. "

On if he still feels that the defense is the lifeblood and backbone of the team heading into the season:

"I think we have to be the unit that takes over. We have to beat the guys, especially the guys up front. We have to just take over games and be disruptive. "

On if he's excited to be getting up field this year:

"Who wouldn't be excited? This is basically just being disruptive. It's just creating a lot of havoc and getting off the quarterback and stopping the run. It will be a real fun year once we really get that room together and just believe in each other."

On his nice strip of the ball:

"I just saw the ball and I knew I couldn't get a body on it so I just reached around and tried to get the ball out."

Eagles CB Jalen Mills

On how things are coming along with the communication with the safeties and rest of the secondary:

"It's going good. Guys are relaying the message from the [MLB] to the d-line, getting it back to the safeties and the safeties are getting it back to the cornerback."

On whether it was an issue communicating in the loud stadium compared to practice:

"No it wasn't.  But we can always communicate better. But it wasn't an issue today. But for sure, that is something we can improve on. Whether we have 100% on the communication, that is always a step that we can always go further on."

On if the dig route today was the same play from practice where he had an interception:

"A little bit different formation. But for sure that is one I did see on film. Like I said, the quarterback kind of threw it behind. And I wish he put it out in front, I for sure would have caught an interception."

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