Eagles training camp: Cooper DeJean talks playing safety, Jordan Davis in shape

New York Times

24-07-2025

PHILADELPHIA — The defensive back A.J. Brown calls 'A.P.C.' strolled off the practice field in a considerable sweat. That stands for 'All-Pro Coop,' a nickname for Cooper DeJean that serves as both a challenge and prediction from one of the best wide receivers in the NFL.
Brown projected his confidence in DeJean by sharing the nickname with reporters on Tuesday, the first day of training camp. 'This is going to be a year for him,' Brown said. The three-time Pro Bowl receiver will see to it personally that it comes true. He challenges DeJean physically and mentally in every practice. Inside the NovaCare Complex, he repeatedly tells him, 'I'll make you All-Pro.'
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This manifests even in minute moments. During a Wednesday drill in which two defenders covered one receiver running a short slant, Brown batted away DeJean's handchecks before the ball even snapped. No other pairing of players did the same. Casual observers might have concluded they were contentious. No, they've been contending since OTAs, since Brown first told DeJean that he'd be pushing him, since Brown first made DeJean laugh by calling him A.P.C.
'I thought it was crazy,' DeJean said. 'But when he explained it to me, you know, he's trying to speak it into existence for me. And that gives me something to work towards and come out and try and prove every single day out here.'
DeJean's workload is substantial. In addition to fielding DeJean as the defense's starting nickel, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio is experimenting with deploying DeJean at cornerback and safety in base packages. Fangio wants to keep one of his best defenders on the field at all times. (The Eagles played nickel on 80.5 percent of their total snaps in 2024, per TruMedia.) But it's an experiment that requires DeJean to learn three different positions — a sizable responsibility for a 22-year-old entering his second season in the NFL.
DeJean played cornerback in base during OTAs. He debuted at safety in base during training camp. He said he's still 'trying to get comfortable back there.' He's not starting from scratch. He said he's been studying the nickel, safety and cornerback positions since he was drafted 'because I knew there was a chance I could play any of those.'
The transition has been less about learning the playbook and more about mastering the techniques within the positions, he said. Experience on the field is his best teacher, but fourth-year starting safety Reed Blankenship — DeJean's close friend and podcast partner — is a helpful resource. You gotta be vocal, Blankenship has told DeJean. Safeties make significantly more checks than nickels. DeJean is hollering calls to cornerbacks and linebackers for the first time. You're gonna mess up, Blankenship told him. But that's just part of it, you learn. Learn from it, just like I do.
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'Obviously, he's one of the great athletes we got on our team,' Blankenship said. 'And Vic's gonna move him around here and there. And the more you can do the better, you know, and obviously whoever's lined up next to me, we're going to try and do the best we can.'
Fangio has three preseason games to test where DeJean fits best. Fangio characterized it as 'an evolution,' and 'a lot of it will depend upon how well we do at those positions with the other guys.' As compelling and impressive as The DeJean Experiment is, it underlines the potential weaknesses the Eagles may have in the secondary. He's arguably the team's second-best cornerback; Fangio wouldn't be supplanting other defenders if he didn't consider DeJean superior. DeJean's secondary position will essentially be the weaker link of the cornerback and safety position battles.
As I wrote in June, if DeJean is better than the cornerbacks he's replacing, then it's not wholly positive that one of Philadelphia's two best cornerbacks isn't playing cornerback. That Fangio is, for now, keeping DeJean at nickel suggests the drop-off from DeJean to the next-best nickel is greater than the drop-off from DeJean to the next-best cornerback or safety.
That's a calculation that could change. Fifth-round rookie Mac McWilliams is getting reps as the second-team nickel, and, on Wednesday, logged two snaps with the first-team defense while relieving Quinyon Mitchell at outside cornerback. If McWilliams emerges as a reliable nickel, playing DeJean at cornerback full-time (and eliminating a potentially needless and complicated way to keep him on the field) becomes a possibility.
'Mac's again a young player that we like,' Fangio said. 'I think he can play the nickel position. I think he's got a chance at corner and he's an interesting guy here these next four or five weeks to see how much he progresses and see if he finds a role with us.'
Mitchell has spent the first two practices of training camp at left cornerback, the spot once held by Darius Slay. Mitchell played every snap of his rookie season on the right side. Fangio said he's familiarizing Mitchell with the left side of the field so he'd 'know how to play both sides' if the Eagles ever need to match him with a particular receiver during a game, which would require Mitchell to travel across the field.
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Fangio's usage of his cornerbacks has varied across his career as a seven-time defensive coordinator. However, his coverages have often contained 'match' principles, which in both man and zone coverages require a cornerback to effectively play man coverage against another receiver. That Mitchell is being prepped for such a role underlines both how much more advanced Mitchell is becoming in his second season under Fangio, and the potential shortcomings at cornerback the Eagles must manage after releasing Slay. The collective reliability of the Slay-Mitchell pairing (plus DeJean's effectiveness at nickel) is partly why neither cornerback traveled.
Fangio said he considers two factors when deciding whether to travel one of his cornerbacks: 1) Is there a receiver on the other team worth defending in that way, and 2) 'Can your guys do it?'
'Because there's a lot involved with doing it defensively,' Fangio said. 'And I've had years in a row where we never did it, and I've had years where we did it every week. And so, again, it will be an evolution.'
When asked about playing on the left side, Mitchell said, 'I don't really see any difference.'
'Whatever they ask of me, I'm going to do it,' he said.
First-round rookie linebacker Jihaad Campbell made his debut in team drills when training camp began, a surprise given Fangio's statement in OTAs that Campbell wouldn't return from his labrum surgery until 'sometime in August.' Fangio said the Eagles' training staff had been telling him all spring that was Campbell's timeline, which summoned a quip from the old-school coach.
'So, I'm learning that our trainers like to understate and overachieve so they look good,' Fangio grinned.
Fangio was measured in his early assessment of the team's No. 31 overall pick. The draft selection was a notable investment by the team given Nakobe Dean's injury, and Fangio's background as a longtime linebackers specialist suggests Campbell's potential might be cultivated in time to start by Week 1. During OTAs, Fangio personally trained Campbell in drills off to the side. Linebackers hold considerable responsibilities within Fangio's defense, but Fangio said Campbell must learn the instincts of the position, too — play recognition, diagnosing offensive movements, reacting quickly — and use them correctly.
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'Yesterday is the first time he's in there against a moving offense,' Fangio said. 'And for what he's been exposed to up to this point, I thought he did fine.'
Fangio acknowledged that Campbell is also training with Jeremiah Washburn, who coaches the team's edge rushers. The Eagles partly drafted Campbell because of his pass-rush abilities. Fangio's defense often places off-ball linebackers along the line of scrimmage. Zack Baun often did so last season. Fangio said Campbell is being trained for similar fronts, and, notably, 'depending upon how the roster shakes out and who's playing you, you know, there might be a position where we might need to play him at some point.'
Eagles nose tackle Jordan Davis said he lost 26 pounds entering training camp. He weighed in at 330 pounds. The 2022 first-round pick, whose fifth-year option was picked up in May, openly discussed his conditioning for the third straight offseason during OTAs. He's now noticeably in better shape. He aims to stay between 330 and 339 pounds. He said, 'I just wanna be conditioned. I wanna be out there. So as long as it takes, then, shoot, I'll stay in the 30s.'
Starting left guard Landon Dickerson said Davis 'came back in really good shape,' 'looks good,' and is 'playing good, moving quick.' Starting edge rusher Nolan Smith, Davis' teammate at Georgia, touched on how Davis hasn't left the field during team drills.
'Big dog moving,' Smith said. 'Man, he doing more reps than me right now, man. He is rolling. I love to see his weight. I love to see his attitude. I love to see his effort. We a hundred percent feed off each other. But when I look at him and he not tired, I'd be like, 'Ain't no way in hell. Let me tighten up.''
Sydney Brown and Drew Mukuba still alternating at safety: Mukuba went out first with the first-team defense during 11-on-11 drills, then Brown went with the first-team during seven-on-seven drills. They continued their rotation throughout practice. This is Brown's first training camp under Fangio. Brown started in six games as a rookie in 2023 under former defensive coordinator Sean Desai, suffered a season-ending ACL tear and didn't return until Week 7 of the 2024 season. 'Yeah, he's gotta go out there and play good,' Fangio said. 'I mean, so much of the safety position is just like (inside linebacker), where instincts and play recognition play a major part in how good you are. And he just needs a lot of reps. He didn't start practicing last year until October, you know, and at that point, you're in game weeks where you don't practice a whole lot, you don't have a lot of reps. So, he didn't have a great opportunity last year because of his injury, and hopefully now we'll see exactly what he can do. He's had a good offseason, did well yesterday. We'll see how he does.'
First-team reps for rookie defenders: Rookie linebackers Jihaad Campbell and Smael Mondon subbed in and played a snap with the first-team defense during the first round of seven-on-seven drills on Wednesday. It was both players' first experience against the first-team offense. They later faced the first-team offense again during 11-on-11 drills, when the second-team defense drilled against the offensive starters for a series. Jahan Dotson caught a crossing route with Campbell in coverage. Such are the plays that will prepare Campbell for a potential starting role.
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Depth chart emerging for the defensive front: Along the defensive edge, Nolan Smith and Jalyx Hunt have regularly been the first edge rushers fielded in the first-team unit. Along the interior, Jordan Davis has been the starting nose tackle with Moro Ojomo and Thomas Booker at defensive end. Jalen Carter has been sidelined for both practices with a shoulder injury. Joshua Uche and Azeez Ojulari rotated in for Smith and Hunt with the first-team unit. On the second-team defense, Patrick Johnson and newly signed Ogbo Okoronkwo have been playing edge rusher, with Byron Young at nose tackle and Gabe Hall and rookie Ty Robinson at defensive end. On the third-team defense, rookie Antwaun Powell-Ryland and Ochuan Mathis played edge, with Joe Evans at nose tackle and Jacob Sykes and Robinson at defensive end.
(Top photo of Cooper DeJean: Kyle Ross / Imagn Images)