When the Philadelphia Eagles decided to try out Cooper DeJean at punt returner in Week 3, it really had no downside.
At the time, DeJean wasn’t really playing on defense, logging just seven defensive snaps in Week 1-2 combined after missing much of camp; factor in Britain Covey being placed on IR alongside Annis Smith after Week 3, and somebody had to go back and bring up the ball after a successful defensive stand, right? Considering DeJean was a great return man in college, using the second-round pick in the role felt like a much better use of his talents than simply hanging out on the bench.
Oh, what a difference a month can make.
Since returning from the bye, DeJean has been one of the Eagles’ most exciting defensive players, logging 81.5 percent of the team’s defensive snaps while producing in coverage, against the run, and as a blitzer. With his role becoming more and more important to the overall success of the Eagles’ defense with each passing game, is Vic Fangio getting worried about placing one of his top defensive players in harm’s way multiple times each game?
Yes, yes he is, even if he doesn’t plan to address it moving forward, as he explained to reporters during his weekly media session.
“NaVorro Bowman, going back to my San Francisco days, who was an All-Pro there for three straight years, he covered every punt for us for three straight years,” Fangio recalled. “And I didn’t like that, either. So, you’ve just got to deal with it.”
Could Fangio take things up the authority chain in order to get DeJean back to a defense-only player? Potentially so, but to be fair, special teams coordinator Michael Clay is aware of DeJean’s importance to the defense and understands how to balance the two.
Michael Clay understands Vic Fangio’s issues with PR Cooper DeJean
Asked about Fangio’s comments during his own media availability session, Clay let it be known that he does understand his DC’s issues with subjecting DeJean to such a violent part of the game but still believes that he can play both sides of the ball effectively.
“No, it’s not an easy thing. I think he manages it very well. He just stays locked in. He’s always in tune. It’s great to have a support system that we have here in terms of [Eagles wide receivers coach] Aaron Moorehead getting with him during practice. I’m sure you guys see him on Thursdays. He’s with [Morehead] all the time catching off the punts, off the JUGS [machine], doing drills. It’s almost like a security blanket for him to have him there,” Clay told reporters.
“But I think Coop does a great job of compartmentalizing things from the defense to when he knows he has to be out there for punt return. I think he’s getting more confidence doing it in terms of returning, when to return, when to fair catch. I think Coop is doing a really good job in terms of all that in terms of breaking up the two from defense and punt return.”
Fortunately, the Eagles do have an option in the not-too-distant future that will ease their burden in the return of Britain Covey, who was given a six-week return window for a broken scapula in Week 3 but if DeJean continues to shine, will the Eagles turn back to the Utah product? Clay commented on that, too, noting he likes having optionality in the future.
“Yeah, it’s always a luxury when you have two viable options back there. They both started off with good averages thus far. You know, Coop, he’s starting to get up there with his average. I know he averaged about 15 [yards per punt return] last game. It was like 13 the previous game, and you know Covey, he was up there as a top three punt returner last year,” Clay explained.
“It’s always nice that you have luxury that you can now do things in your game plan that you may not have been able to do. Very similar to back in the day when New England had double returners with [former Patriots WR Julian] Edelman and [former Patriots WR Danny] Amendola right there, you have got some opportunities. But again we’ll cross that bridge when we have to. We are hoping Covey gets back healthy and speedy recovery. But again we are very confident in Coop going forward.”
If push comes to shove, giving Covey the spot over DeJean has to be the play, as the former is a part-timer and the latter is the highest-rated defensive player on the Eagles, according to PFF. But recall, if you will, that DeSean Jackson would take consequential returns for the Eagles after he became a star, and that led to pretty fantastic results; if Clay has a spot where DeJean makes sense in the future, he now knows he can give it to him.
