The Philadelphia Eagles had their sights on former Iowa Hawkeyes star Cooper DeJean in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft, trading up with the Washington Commanders to land the versatile defensive back with pick No. 40 overall.
Five months later, with the Eagles prepping for Monday night’s home opener against the Atlanta Falcons at the Linc, the highly-touted rookie still doesn't sound close to being a significant part of Vic Fangio’s game plan.
Philly's defensive coordinator shed light on DeJean’s limited role in the team’s 34-29 win over the Green Bay Packers in Brazil last week, telling reporters that missed practice reps in training camp were the main reason DeJean got only six snaps in the opener.
“We just have to keep practicing him a bunch,” Fangio said, “get him comfortable.”
The 21-year-old suffered an unfortunate hamstring injury while training back in Iowa during the offseason, and subsequently missed the first three weeks of training camp. He was activated from the non-football injury list on Aug. 13, in time to get in a limited session during the team's joint practice with the New England Patriots in Foxborough, Mass.
DeJean sat out the preseason game against the Patriots, but was able to ramp up his practice time and play 46 snaps in the preseason finale against the Minnesota Vikings. The result was a mixed bag. He had an illegal contact penalty on 3rd-and-11 that led to a Minnesota touchdown, but also stuffed this rush attempt in the backfield. PFF also credited DeJean with a missed tackle and gave him a grade of 51.5 — lowest on a defense that featured a smattering of future backups, practice squad signings and roster casualties.
Cooper DeJean tackle for loss ‼️
— NFL (@NFL) August 24, 2024
📱: Stream #MINvsPHI on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/ndiFVNaPzv
Closing in on a full month since DeJean’s return to practice, it doesn’t sound like he's gained much momentum, which is concerning. Opportunity knocked in the season opener with starting corner Isaiah Rodgers scratched due to a hand injury, but DeJean was noticeably left on the bench as veteran safety Avonte Maddox struggled at the nickel spot.
Could his role expand in Week 2 against the Falcons? Judging by Fangio’s reaction Tuesday, I wouldn't count on it.
The veteran DC did hint that slot corner could be a spot for DeJean in the future, but for a guy who's been direct all summer on his players — notably Quinyon Mitchell and Nakobe Dean — Fangio has remained vague when it comes to DeJean, continually blaming practice time on the rookie's limited role.
Missed practice time early in training camp is certainly valid, but DeJean has been back and presumably gaining speed since that joint session in Foxborough now 30 days ago. Is the rookie's time coming any time soon?
“He basically missed all of training camp, except the Minnesota (preseason) week,” said Fangio, sticking to the story. “So he’s behind, but we’re trying to catch him up.”
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