Bill Belichick Shouts Out Malcolm Jenkins for Recognizing Patriots' Trick Play and Almost Ruining it

With their offense struggling to establish any sort of rhythm against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday afternoon, the New England Patriots opted to reach deep into their bag of tricks to help the cause.

Julian Edelman caught a screen from Tom Brady in the backfield, and the wideout subsequently tossed a strike to Phillip Dorsett in the end zone.

It was a beautiful play by New England, but it almost wasn't to be. Eagles vet cornerback Malcolm Jenkins sniffed it out and was JUST late at getting to Edelman. Well, that intellect drew the praise of Bill Belichick, who spotted Jenkins' prowess while reviewing game film.

"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 via Pro Football Talk.

For all those football junkies out there clamoring for an in-depth Belichick analysis, we've got you covered.

"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," Belichick continued. "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. How quickly Jenkins reacted, there’s not much time for Julian to do anything but catch it and throw it. Great pass. Great throw."

Belichick is no stranger to complimenting star players outside of Foxborough, but for him to do so on a play where that player (technically) didn't disrupt the Pats' prosperity is a rarity.

Take a bow, Jenkins, because you are now featured on that exclusive list.