Bill Belichick: Malcolm Jenkins recognized Patriots’ trick play, almost blew it up

[Swoop]

Getty Images

The Patriots scored a touchdown on Sunday in Philadelphia on a trick play where receiver Julian Edelman threw the ball into the end zone, but one Eagles player saw it coming and almost stopped it.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick, in his weekly tape breakdown, praised Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins for seeing what the Patriots were trying to do and nearly getting to Edelman before the pass.

“Jenkins, who’s one of the most instinctive players in the league, recognizes it very quickly. He’s on Julian in a hurry,” Belichick said.

So why did the play work? Belichick said wide receiver Phillip Dorsett was able to get past Eagles cornerback Ronald Darby.

“It looks like the back side safety here, which is actually a corner, Darby, kind of gets caught up in some of the action here on the back side and is a little bit late to match Dorsett coming across the field here. So Edelman gets the ball and here comes Jenkins right at him, so not really a lot of time to sort things out. He took a quick read, saw Dorsett got inside on Darby, and makes a great throw,” Belichick said. “How quickly Jenkins reacted, there’s not much time for Julian to do anything but catch it and throw it. Great pass. Great throw.”

It was a great play for the Patriots, but one that Jenkins nearly stopped.