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Eagles' Jenkins blasts referees for call on opening kickoff

Mitchell Leff / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Philadelphia Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins blasted the officiating following Sunday's overtime 29-23 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

Jenkins took particular issue with a decision made on the opening kickoff, where Eagles linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill looked to recover a fumble from Cowboys returner Jourdan Lewis. The referees ruled Lewis down by contact and upheld the decision, despite evidence showing that the Eagles had clearly recovered the ball.

"That was a pretty terrible call," Jenkins said to ESPN's Tim McManus. "They reviewed it and the explanation I got was that it wasn't a clear recovery, although Kamu had the ball in his hand and there was only Eagles defenders on the ball in replay. So whoever's watching that in New York should stay off the bottle."

With the game being settled in overtime, Jenkins and his teammates clearly felt that the decision dramatically impacted the course of the contest.

"Common sense, you saw Kamu come out with the ball. Obviously they don't pay me to make calls like that, but that was, in hindsight, obviously a big play in the game," Jenkins said.

Dallas improved to 8-5 while Philadelphia dropped to 6-7.

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