The Philadelphia Eagles didn’t draft Cooper DeJean for him to be a backup or developmental prospect, and just hours before the home opener on Monday Night Football, the former All-American defensive back could be prepared to take over in the slot, with Quinyon Mitchell firmly entrenched at the outside cornerback spot.
The Eagles have been saying all the right things about bringing DeJean along slowly, but Nick Sirianni sounds like a head coach ready to unleash his dynamic defender onto the NFL.
Nick Sirianni on Cooper DeJean: "He's getting there. He's getting close. We'll see how the game plays out this week, but he's stringing together some nice practices in a row."
…Eagles have been working to get him up to speed, biggest factor is making sure he's on "same page"…
— Zach Berman (@ZBerm) September 14, 2024
Vic Fangio said this about his Swiss army Knife of a defender recently.
“Possibly,” he said. “We’ve just got to keep practicing him a bunch, get him comfortable. He basically missed all of training camp except the Minnesota week, so he’s behind. But we’re trying to catch him up.”
In the season-opening win over the Packers, DeJean logged six snaps on defense and 23 on special teams, while Avonte Maddox, listed as a safety, logged 60 of 67 snaps in the slot.
Isaiah Rodgers is back, but he’s used primarily as an outside cornerback, potentially creating a logjam if Fangio does not plan to play Quinyon Mitchell in the slot on critical plays.
DeJean missed three weeks of training camp, affording Philadelphia the chance to bring him along slowly. However, at some point in the next few weeks, the best and most dynamic cornerback lineup will include a trio of Slay, Mitchell, and DeJean, with Rodgers missed.
