PHILADELPHIA, PA - NOVEMBER 23: Brandon Boykin #22 of the Philadelphia Eagles celebrates his interception with teammate Malcolm Jenkins #27 during the fourth quarter against the Tennessee Titans at Lincoln Financial Field on November 23, 2014 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Evan Habeeb/Getty Images)

By Ray Boyd

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — The only returning starter for the Eagles secondary, Malcolm Jenkins, joined Angelo Cataldi and The Morning Team on Friday as the team is in the thick of Training Camp.

Jenkins touched on his thoughts about the current group and whether or not there is reason to be excited about what they could accomplish this season.

“It’s still early. We’re still in the first week of camp, but we’re pretty excited about the level of competition we’ve got.”

LISTEN: Malcolm Jenkins joins Angelo Cataldi and the Morning Team to discuss the top Eagles topics

Jenkins explained that while he does believe the team is ahead of where they were this time last year, he still feels like it is too early to definitely say whether or not that will matter.

One major factor that really matters for this team is the revamped defense. The starting defense will feature at least five new starters and new talent like Byron Maxwell and Kiko Alonso have many believing this will be the best defense in Chip Kelly’s time here.

“I think the biggest part is just the understanding of the defense is a lot better,” Jenkins explained.

Alonso is shaping up to be a major part of this improved defensive unit and Jenkins is happy to have the linebacker on board.

“He’s been doing well. It’s been really pleasing to see him step in, understand the defense, come in and then obviously everybody knows he was a great athlete,” Jenkins said. He added that he’s been impressed by Alonso’s ability to cover receivers, evident by the job he has done in practice lining up against Zach Ertz.

“He just adds a lot of versatility to what we’re trying to do,” Jenkins added.

For all the new additions to the team, there are as many departures, some of which were quite shocking. A recent departure occurred with the trading away of cornerback Brandon Boykin to the Steelers.

Boykin was a fan favorite, but was seen primarily as a nickel cornerback for his time in Philadelphia and never was given an opportunity to play on the outside.

Jenkins touched on Boykin’s departure and talent level.

“I think he’s starter quality,” Jenkins said of his former teammate.

“I think he’s go to the Steelers and start. Last year though, at the beginning of the season, he wasn’t our best corner,” Jenkins said.

“Obviously as the season unfolded, we had struggles out there. My opinion is I felt like it’s not like we could have gotten any worse by putting [Boykin] out. I think Nolan Carroll probably should have played earlier than he did as well.”

Jenkins went on to say that he isn’t sure Boykin could have cracked this season’s starting unit.

“I think if you look at the team we have this year, I don’t know that Brandon Boykin starts for us,” Jenkins said. He explained that if Brandon Boykin was on the field right now for the Eagles, he would not be a lock to start in this group.

Boykin’s departure included more claims invoking race and was based on the notion that Kelly is a bad communicator and could not relate to the players. Jenkins gave his best explanation of how Kelly operates as a coach:

“At the end of the day, we’re all here to do a job. So, whether you feel like Chip can go have a beer with you, or you feel like Chip is not really a good friend to you, it doesn’t matter. I think Chip does a great job of explaining what he wants us to do, how we’re being evaluated and guys can hold themselves accordingly. Now, the one thing I will say about Chip is he’s not really a big fan of guys who want to be individuals. He’s very very much about the team sport and guys being uniformed and really putting the team first.”