Darius Slay spent the first seven seasons of his NFL career in Detroit where he grew fond of quarterback Matthew Stafford.
Stafford is in Year 16 of his own fabulous NFL journey and he now runs the show for the Los Angeles Rams, the Eagles’ opponent in the Divisional Round of the playoffs on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.
Slay expects a give-and-take with his old friend.
“A little bit,” the six-time Pro Bowl cornerback said when asked if his familiarity with Stafford is an advantage. “But he got an advantage too, because he knows what I like to do.
“So we know each other very well.”
Slay is always very complimentary of Stafford and the QB's enormous arm talent which is now coupled with an outstanding understanding of the game.
“Staff, I always say been one of the top quarterbacks in the league, top 5 QB.” said Slay. “… There aren’t many quarterbacks that got the arm talent, the guy that’s seen every coverage that’s possible, and he can make all the throws.”
Slay’s boss – defensive coordinator Vic Fangio – expressed similar sentiments earlier in the week when discussing Stafford.
“He's still one of the top passers in the league,” Fangio said of Stafford. “Very, very smart. He can read coverages better than most if not one of the top two or three. He still has tremendous arm talent. Can put the ball anywhere.”
The weather – forecasted to be in the mid-30s with potential snow – is perceived to be an advantage for Philadelphia over the warm-weather Rams but Slay downplayed that.
“It’s not really too much of an advantage,” the veteran CB said. “We’re professionals, so it’s not too much of an advantage. Shoot, I played with Staff, so we were in Detroit, outside, all of the time. And that s@#$ was cold, too. So it’s not an advantage.
“It was the elements, so you just gotta go out there and go hard. I don’t believe in that weather advantage – not too much.”
To date, Slay has gotten the best of his former teammate the two times they’ve met up. The Eagles hope that moves to 3-0 on Sunday.
