The Eagles added a bit more depth to the cornerback room during the bye week by trading for Michael Carter II and Jaire Alexander, and while the team is still looking for a solid CB2, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio spoke about the state of the secondary before adding these new options.
Coming off their Week 8 win over the Giants, Fangio was asked about the plan moving forward with regards to Kelee Ringo. The DC noted that while the CB played better, they still need to see what Jakorian Bennett and Adoree’ Jackson look like coming off injuries.
As for why they haven’t been able to get the consistency they’ve been hoping for from Ringo, Fangio explained it comes with reps.
“[Ringo] just needs to play and practice. Become a more instinctual football player and understand what’s happening quicker, faster, and not be surprised by things.”
The Eagles have been trying to find some continuity among the cornerback room, which led to Cooper DeJean moving around a bit more and taking some snaps as an outside corner in their base package. Fangio didn’t hold back when describing how impactful DeJean is on defense and how they got a steal for him in last year’s NFL Draft.
“We got very lucky that [DeJean] lasted till the middle of the second round. I think the reason he did is because he only played corner in college, at least his last year. I don’t think everybody was sure [if he] was he a first-round corner, second-round corner, third-round corner. I don’t think the league as a whole had a feel for his versatility because he didn’t play it in college. He’s really a damn good nickel. Probably one of the best nickels in the league, and we’re playing him at corner in the base. He could play safety if we needed him to. He’s a defensive back, but really, he’s just a good football player.”
Fangio went on to admit that they considered moving DeJean to the outside full-time, but ultimately realized that they have one of the better players at a position, and it’s not always ideal to move them somewhere they might be less impactful – and instead, they’d rather just find ways to get him involved more.
Adding Carter and Alexander to the Eagles secondary might help make some of those decisions a little easier. Carter has a lot of experience in the slot and Alexander can add some experience on the outside, both of which should help define DeJean’s role a little more, depending on how things play out.
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