Cooper DeJean reflects on the Eagles' biggest turning point of 2024 season
If one were to look back at the very start of the Philadelphia Eagles' 2024 season, they more than likely could not have projected that this team would currently be in New Orleans preparing to play in Super Bowl LIX. But then the Eagles' Week 5 bye came. And a switch flipped. So, what exactly […]
If one were to look back at the very start of the Philadelphia Eagles' 2024 season, they more than likely could not have projected that this team would currently be in New Orleans preparing to play in Super Bowl LIX.
But then the Eagles' Week 5 bye came.
And a switch flipped.
So, what exactly happened?
Eagles' 2024 second-round pick Cooper DeJean, who stole Avonte Maddox's starting job in Week 6, spoke on the team's wake-up call during Super Bowl media availability.
"I think it was just guys looking at the film and realizing we weren't playing good enough," DeJean said. "We weren't tackling well enough. We weren't challenging guys at the line of scrimmage, so just really harping on that ever since the bye week has helped us a lot."
While the Eagles honed into a more a run-heavy approach on offense, not much changed defensively when it came to the scheme, though they started to trust each other more than they did during the previous four weeks.
They then continued to build onto that trust, which obviously worked out well as the Eagles went on to win 10 straight games.
"After that bye week, when everyone started to get more and more confident in the scheme and we just started just playing better and better together as the season went on," DeJean said. "I think that's credit to our coaches just keeping their confidence in us and all of the players trusting the coaching and trusting the guy next to him."
As a rookie, DeJean will now get his first shot at a Super Bowl ring on Sunday, Feb. 9 — with a special thanks to that big Week 5 turning point.
