PHILADELPHIA — Jalen Hurts, Jordan Mailata and several other Eagles players like the mantra, “Keep the main thing, the main thing.”
The main thing we learned from Thursday night’s preseason win over the Cincinnati Bengals, besides further confirmation that Tanner McKee can be a starting quarterback in this league, is that the Eagles may have a problem at cornerback.
The backstory is that they released veteran Darius Slay in the offseason, opting out of his contract with a year left. At age 34, “Big Play” Slay could still play and was an outspoken leader in the locker room. He finished last season with a total of 49 tackles (including 39 solo), 13 passes defended and a forced fumble in 14 starts, and he broke up five passes and had a pick during their playoff run to the Super Bowl.
Difficult numbers to replace, but by cutting him, the Eagles saved roughly $4.3 million against the salary cap.
They bumped up Quinyon Mitchell to their top corner spot after a breakout rookie season. And they’ve had “Q” shadowing A.J. Brown this summer to practice being a “traveling corner” who mirrors opponents’ No. 1 receivers.
He has looked sensational, by the way.
They signed 29-year-old Adoree’ Jackson, whom the New York Giants let walk, to compete with 23-year-old Kelee Ringo for the second cornerback position on the outside. Neither has had a bad camp, but neither has emerged as a clear frontrunner either.
So, early this week, the Eagles traded for the Las Vegas Raiders’ Jakorian Bennett, saying it was to add depth at position. Bennett, 24, started seven games for the Raiders a year ago, tallying eight pass deflections and 26 tackles before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury in Week 11. He’s healthy now but has yet to take the field for the Birds.
However, judging by the performance against Cincinnati, the Eagles have a dearth — not depth — of talent at corner.
Ringo was targeted four times and allowed four catches and 79 receiving yards, including a 36-yard catch and run to the end zone on a quick out from Joe Burrow to Ja’Marr Chase on the Bengals’ second possession. Ringo was sagged off of Chase by seven yards on a zero-coverage blitz, and then took a bad angle toward Chase after the reception, allowing him to turn and elude an arm tackle and sprint down the sideline.
“He makes a good play, a quick gain, and I went over on the tackle,” Ringo said. “A good player makes a good play, so I’ve just got to come over there and approach him a little bit better. … I just have to make a better play.”
Jackson finished with four solo tackles but didn’t necessarily distinguish himself against Chase or anybody else. He was targeted five times and allowed four catches (the miss was a drop) and 45 yards.
“Kelee’s done a nice job in practice to date, and he’s made a lot of plays in practice,” head coach Nick Sirianni said. “Those guys complete those outs on a lot of — I see them make a lot of those plays. Ja’Marr Chase is one of the better receivers in the NFL. We’ve got to make that tackle there in that situation and stop that play for a 16-yard gain instead of it going out there. But he’s done a lot of good things.
“We evaluate everything; it’s not just a one-game deal, and I have no doubt that he’ll look at the tape, we’ll look at the tape and he’ll get better from that.”
Cooper DeJean, entering his second year, is already as good as any slot corner in the league. He’ll stay at nickel, with occasional appearances at safety in the base package. But what to do about the No. 2 outside corner spot, opposite Mitchell?
Unless Bennett turns out to be some sort of savior, or Jackson or Ringo takes a giant leap forward, the Eagles could be in serious trouble.
Sure, it has only been one preseason game. And most teams don’t have a receiver like Ja’Marr Chase. But, as Yogi Berra said, it’s getting late early. The start of the regular season against Dallas is less than a month away.
That dearth at corner is a big reason why the Eagles have been giving Mitchell reps following Brown, rather than keeping him exclusively on the right side of the defense. A year ago, the Slay/Mitchell combo on the outside could handle whatever opponents threw at them, no matter which receiver lined up where, with DeJean patrolling the middle. Now, teams will look to exploit the hole at the No. 2 corner spot.
And say what you will about the Cowboys, with all their melodrama and dysfunction, a healthy Dak Prescott is still capable of distributing the ball. Now, he has a pair of dynamic wideouts in CeeDee Lamb and the recently acquired George Pickens.
Perhaps the Eagles are banking on Bennett and feel like they got a steal, another rabbit out of a hat by wheeling-and-dealing general manager Howie Roseman. But if they don’t see marked improvement at their second cornerback spot, and soon, it may be time for Howie to pull off another magic act.
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Christiaan DeFranco covers the Eagles, Phillies and other sports for MediaNews Group. Email him at cdefranco@medianewsgroup.com. Follow him on X at @the_defranc.
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