New England Patriots defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington is reportedly planning on interviewing for the defensive coordinator job with the Cincinnati Bengals on Wednesday.
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported the news on Tuesday.
Covington was given permission to seek opportunities outside of New England with the team currently undergoing a new head coach search. There is no certainty that the new coach will keep the current staff around after accepting the job.
So Covington is clearly getting ahead of the situation by looking for other coaching jobs.
He had a rough first year as the Patriots’ defensive coordinator in 2024. The unit went from being a top-10 defense under Bill Belichick in 2023 to ranking in the bottom half of the NFL. That slump surprisingly happened after the Patriots managed to keep nearly all of the same defensive players from the previous year.
With that said, Covington did deal with some serious adversity with key players, such as Christian Barmore, Ja’Whaun Bentley and Jabrill Peppers missing most of the season.
He’s a talented young coach with the ability to land on his feet no matter how the head coaching situation turns out in New England. It’s important to note that the Patriots are slated to face the Bengals on the road at some point in the 2025 season.
