More Than Dime

PHILADELPHIA – Unless you happened to catch a glimpse of Eagles rookie defensive back Cooper DeJean celebrating with fellow rookie Quinyon Mitchell on the heels of a critical third-down stop on the Packers’ opening drive last Friday, it’s possible you may have missed his six defensive snaps.

DeJean, a second-round pick, predictably played sporadically on defense in his NFL debut, coming on for only dime packages, though he served a prominent role on special teams.

The Iowa product might not have factored into the box score, and he hasn’t yet carved out a tangible role on Vic Fangio’s defense, but in the bigger picture, DeJean’s early involvement proved to be a promising development in what figures to be a fruitful rookie campaign.

“It was good to be out there and get that experience,” DeJean said Thursday after practice. “Obviously, it was a little different, being in a different country, but the atmosphere was cool.

“It’s good to get some reps under my belt, kinda know what to expect going forward and kinda learn from that. Being out there on special teams helped a lot, too. So, it was a good experience.”

GETTY IMAGES: Eagles DB Cooper DeJean could see an uptick in reps against the Falcons on Monday night.

That he was active and contributing was a notable step for the 21-year-old DeJean, who missed the first three weeks of training camp after sustaining an offseason hamstring injury while training in Iowa.

For perspective, the versatile defensive back returned to practice merely a month ago, for the joint practice against the New England Patriots in Foxborough, Mass.

For a first-year player learning multiple positions on a complex defense, those three weeks of onboarding were invaluable. In order to get up to speed in time for the regular season, DeJean faced an uphill battle, though he leaned on specific methods to expedite the process.

“Just watching and learning from the older guys,” he said. “The guys that are out there, watching their film and watching the film with the other teams. Kinda seeing where I fit in in our defense, what they try to do to us. So, just learning in the meeting room and starting to get more and more reps on the field has helped a lot.”

But perhaps taking into account how intent the Packers seemed on targeting veteran nickelback Avonte Maddox in the passing game and exploiting mismatches, it’s fair to wonder whether DeJean’s forged-by-fire moment is on the horizon.

In other words, logic suggests it could be prudent for the team to get the start-up costs out of the way, affording DeJean time to grow and learn on the job.

As the definitive long-term solution and top option when it comes to manning the nickel role, perhaps DeJean’s time has come.

In terms of his behind-the-scenes preparation, it’s been a crash course of sorts.

“We’ve just got to keep practicing him a bunch, get him comfortable,” Fangio said. “He basically missed all of training camp except the Minnesota week, so he’s behind. But we’re trying to catch him up.”

Complicating matters is the fact that veteran cornerback Isaiah Rodgers is poised to return to the lineup after sitting out Week 1 with a hand injury.

Rodgers, of course, saw the bulk of first-team snaps at outside corner throughout the summer, with Mitchell kicking inside. But with Mitchell playing as well as he did at his natural position against Green Bay, he would likely be best suited to keep in one spot for continuity.

In that case, perhaps a juxtaposition of Maddox and DeJean at nickel could be in play before the reigns inevitably are turned over to DeJean completely, forming a trio of Darius Slay, Mitchell and DeJean.

Maybe it’s ambitious to expect DeJean, with only four weeks of practice, to undertake a meaningful defensive role this early in the season. But for the long-term betterment of the secondary, it’s time to increase his opportunities.

And for his part, DeJean has already pinpointed one aspect in particular in which he intends to improve upon ahead of the home opener.

“I think really just going out there with the mindset to expect the ball each play,” he said. “Expect that the ball is coming to your spot, where you’re supposed to be. And just always be ready and not take any plays off.”

– Andrew DiCecco (@AndrewDiCecco) is a Staff Reporter/Content Producer for InsideTheBirds.com.