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In a 2011 season marked by a dearth of turnovers, the inability of Saints safeties to corral an interception was an ongoing theme. If it wasn't Malcolm Jenkins dropping one and earning an epithet-laced burst from former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, it was Roman Harper dropping one right in his hands in Atlanta that would have sealed the win over the Falcons.

Those days seem long ago now following a blizzard of preseason interceptions led by Jenkins. More than any other player thus far, Jenkins is benefiting from the schemes of new coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, which have moved the club's 2009 first round pick closer to the line of scrimmage and made him a more movable part, one more difficult for opposing quarterbacks to find and isolate.



"I think it's a combination of playing closer to the ball, getting in different positions as well as roaming in, and playing a zone scheme you've got more eyes on the football," he said, echoing a common theme among the Saints secondary. "So you get those overthrows, you get those tips, as well as being able to maybe jump some routes. And I think the biggest upside we've seen so far is there really haven't been many missed opportunities and that's something we didn't do well last year. When those easy interceptions came, we dropped a lot of them and that was a big part of our defense last year. So I think now we're doing a lot better job of making the offense pay when they mess up."

In this preaseason Jenkins has already made the steep price of an error clear to three signal callers, including two famous for making the defense pay. Jenkins has picked off two passes in camp from quarterback Drew Brees (and dropped a third in the camp's opening days) to go along with his interception in the Saints preseason victory over Arizona and a diving interception of Tom Brady during joint practices with the Patriots. On Tuesday, he swooped out of the backfield and darted in front of wide receiver Marques Colston, creating a turnover on the sort of play Brees hadn't seen much from teammates in more than three years.

"We're having a good time," Jenkins allowed. "I think we enjoy the new scheme, guys are learning in it and getting a lot more comfortable."

When the Saints reported back for the 2012 season, Jenkins predicted the black-and-gold's retooled defense would create opportunities for him and his teammates, but he said it's not as if the safeties needed a gut check.

"I mean, really, I think everybody felt the same; we didn't have to rally and talk about it," he said. "I think everybody already understood it going into camp and Spags has done a good job of reminding us as well. We chart every missed opportunity we get as well as any interception so every day we're reminded of how well we're doing by looking at the board. And so far this camp I think it's been a huge improvement."

But in a flurry of post-practice interviews Tuesday, Jenkins credited a more celestial presence for his success.

"You know what, me and Roman (Harper) joke about this all the time: my goal in this thing is to come in and do what I can do, whatever I can do to get better, work hard, and put the rest in God's hands," he said. "We've been getting a lot more interceptions as a secondary so far, and we've been joking saying, 'it's because it's not in our hands - you saw what our hands did last year."

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papz

Hopefully we see that ball hawking future All Pro of '10 instead of the doormat we ran out there in '11.

halloween 65

I'm not sold on Jenkins!! I dream of a ball-hawking,hard hitting, tackling machine, a true FS.

dizzle88

unfortunately we can't trade for Ed Reed and Brian dawkins has retired, I like what i'm hearing from camp about Jenkins, just give him the chance to prove he can excel in this system

If he does not, then you will be correct

Rugby Saint II

Jenkins was great when we had Sharper. Since then.......not so much. I had high hopes for him when we drafted him as a corner. I was high on him when we moved him to safety. I had high high hopes for him the following year. I'm tired of him not living up to my expectations.
His instincts weren't there under GW and hopefully Spags will actually coach him up. He needs to better understand what angles to take. Maybe he can do it. I just have to wait and see.

Brandon428

I've always seen a lot of potential in Jenkins but I've been really disappointed in him before the preseason. So far though he is starting to become the safety I always thought he could be. I really see him going far in Spags defense! Although I don't ever see him being a big hitter.