Eagles rookie Cooper DeJean on tap for larger role in Week 4 vs. Buccaneers
Philadelphia Eagles lost wide receiver and punt returner Britain Covey to the Injured Reserve list earlier this week, which means a larger role is in store for rookie Cooper DeJean when they take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 4. DeJean, the Eagles' second-round pick of Iowa, hasn't seen much action on defense as a defensive back, […]
Philadelphia Eagles lost wide receiver and punt returner Britain Covey to the Injured Reserve list earlier this week, which means a larger role is in store for rookie Cooper DeJean when they take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 4.
DeJean, the Eagles' second-round pick of Iowa, hasn't seen much action on defense as a defensive back, though he has now played 53 snaps on special teams as a returner.
He stepped up in Covey's place in last week's win over the New Orleans Saints where he made a fair catch and returned a punt for six yards.
While those numbers don't exactly light up the stat sheet, they're still impressive for his first real in-game experience.
Before entering the league, DeJean was a star punt returner at Iowa where he returned 31 punts for 406 yards (13.1), including one for a touchdown.
Now that his first NFL game jitters are out of the way and he continues to build confidence week by week, then fans should expect to see him make more plays on special teams moving forward.
"In terms of what we saw in Cooper in Iowa to now, is I think he’s learning the nuances. And he’s sitting next to [WR Britain] Covey in every meeting over there, and they talk during the punt return. Just different techniques. And Covey had a little bit of a learning curve as well coming out of Utah," Eagles special teams coordinator Michael Clay explained. "But him seeing it for the first time live, I think he’ll have more confidence going forward. Like, hey, these guys run a little bit quicker, I have to make a little bit of a quicker decision. But still have to have that same supreme confidence that he’s always had at Iowa. Catch the fall first. Obviously ball security is first.
"… Again, as we get this game plan ready for Tampa Bay, it’s just to instill the confidence in him. And then instill the confidence in the ten guys blocking for him that, hey, we protect 33 [DB Cooper DeJean] back there, and he’ll give us the ball back."
With Covey expected to miss at least six weeks due to a broken bone in his shoulder, that means DeJean will get a handful of opportunities to show what he can do.
And Covey is very confident in his replacement and plans to help him in any way he can.
“I love Coop,” Covey said. “I love sitting next to him. We joke around. I always talk with him and give him tips and hints about the guy he’s blocking that week. I think being on the same page there with the returner is an underrated part of the return aspect. I hope he does the same thing with the guys blocking for him. Maybe I’ll go be like a mini coach out there the next couple weeks, just helping him, because I know he can be great.”
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