How ready is Cooper DeJean for a full-time position? originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Cooper DeJean will be the Eagles’ full-time slot at some point. It seems inevitable. It’s just a matter of time.
There were a lot of moving parts in the secondary Friday night in the Eagles’ season opener in São Paulo. Isaiah Rodgers inactive due to hand injury, rookie 1st-round choice Quinyon Mitchell played virtually the entire game as an outside corner – 63 of 67 snaps – and Avonte Maddoxwho was mostly a backup during training camp, was back in the slot, where he played 60 of 67 snaps.
DeJean, the Eagles’ other rookie cornerback and Maddox’s heir apparent in the slot, got his first taste of the NFL with six snaps on defense and 23 on special teams.
Rodgers returned to practice Thursday, so now you have Rodgers, Mitchell, Maddox and DeJean and three cornerback positions.
What happens next?
We’ll start with Maddox, who had a tough day at just 14 years old.th game over the past three years.
Among the 48 defensive backs in the league who were targeted at least five times in Week 1, his 104.2 defensive passer rating ranked 36th.thHe committed a 13-yard pass interference Dontayvion Wicks at the Eagles 2-yard line, one play before Jordan Love’s touchdown pass to Christian Watson with Maddox sliding into cover.
The pitch was clearly an issue for everyone, but it seemed to affect Maddox in particular.
But he refused to use it as an excuse.
“I could be better in some areas, but I’m not going to blame the pitch,” he said. “The pitch was a little bit bad, but that’s not an excuse. I’m always critical of myself. I watch videos and see what I could have done better, what I could have done more efficiently and see what I could correct.
“I never really blamed the pitch, but you know, it was slippery. It was a hard surface to play on. But that’s football. It’s never going to be perfect on the pitch.”
Maddox, in his seventh year with the Eagles, practiced almost exclusively as a safety during the preseason. He got a run in the slot in the first two preseason games, but Rodgers’ injury forced him to move to a position where he didn’t practice much.
“It’s not necessarily an adjustment, but more of having to do the rehearsals to be able to see it and get used to it again,” he said.
“Like anything, the more reps you do in certain spots, the more comfortable you get in that area. Even though I’ve been playing for a while and I know that position, I know what to do and where to position myself, it all happens quickly and you have to see it.”
The Eagles appear to prefer Maddox in that slot backup and safety role — he can also play outside corner in an emergency — but Vic Fangio felt DeJean wasn’t ready for a full-time slot role after missing three weeks of training camp with a hamstring injury, and he thought Mitchell should be on the outside for the entire game.
“With Isaiah out, our next best combination,” Fangio said.
DeJean had six dime snaps and also played 23 snaps on special teams. Will there ever be a time when Fangio’s strongest secondary is Mitchell and Kill Darius on the outside and DeJean on the inside?
“It’s possible,” he said. “We just have to keep working him a little bit, get him comfortable. He’s pretty much missed all of training camp except for the Minnesota week, so he’s behind schedule. But we’re trying to catch up.
DeJean wasn’t targeted in any of his six reps Friday night, and while Fangio didn’t say so, it seems likely he’ll increase DeJean’s workload each week until he feels ready to play the 50 or 60 snaps a slot needs to be ready for.
“I’m feeling better and better every week,” DeJean said. “This is probably the best I’ve felt since my injury. We’ll see what happens. I just have to be ready to play.”
“It was good to be back on the field. I’ve already done a few reps. I know what to expect now.”
DeJean missed the end of last season at Iowa with a fractured fibula suffered during practice. Packers This game was his first live game since Iowa’s win over Rutgers in Iowa City on Nov. 11.
“The biggest challenge was sitting there and watching and not being able to be on the field,” he said. “That injury frustrated me a little bit, but I had to do what I could. I think anybody who doesn’t go to camp would be frustrated if they can’t get those reps. So I had to stay positive and continue to learn as I went into a new defensive system.”
Is he ready for more?
“I feel good physically after missing all those reps while I was out,” he said. “I’m still getting closer to where I was toward the end of OTAs. So I feel like I’m feeling pretty good on the field. I just have to keep learning.”
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