Sproles tips the game in Eagles' favor

Philadelphia Eagles running back Darren Sproles (43) returns a punt for a touchdown past New York Jets running back Bilal Powell (29) during the second quarter at MetLife Stadium. (Brad Penner/USA Today)EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Not long after he first became Darren Sproles' teammate, more than five years ago now, Malcolm Jenkins understood the elemental secret of how a 5-foot-6, 190-pound waterbug could make himself, inch for inch, the NFL's most fearsome athlete.

Sproles joined the New Orleans Saints in 2011, and Jenkins, their starting strong safety then, noticed something unusual about him during the team's first walk-through practice that season. While all the other Saints players jogged…