The Eagles’ defensive coordinator gave a lot of insights into the team’s young secondary as training camp got underway on Day 2.
The Eagles were back for Day 2 of practices on Thursday and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio spoke to reporters before hitting the field. The DC talked about their plans for Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell as they head into their second season, as well as what he’s seen from Sydney Brown, and how even he was surprised Jihaad Campbell was a participant on Day 1.
He admitted that there are going to be a lot of interesting battles for some of the starting spots, and it’s not something they’ll sort out until much later in camp and up to the regular season.
Here’s what the DC had to say:
On the plan for Cooper DeJean
“We’d like to have [Cooper DeJean] be part of our base package, and I do believe he can play safety — it’s new for him, so we’re going to get him some work there. Then you’ll see days in the base where he will play some corner. So, it’s going to be an evolution. A lot of it will depend on how we do at those positions with the other guys. So, we’ll make the best decision for the team.”
On first-rounder Jihaad Campbell
“It was good to see [Jihaad Campbell] out there. Wasn’t expecting him out there. The trainers have been telling me all spring that it would be some point in August when he’d be out there. So, I’m learning that our trainers like to under-state and over-achieve so they look good. But, it was good to get him out there.”
Fangio went on to talk about how to know if someone at Campbell’s position is ready for an expanded role. He explained that players need to know what to do, and be able to do it — assignment and technique —, but the instincts part of it, and play recognition, diagnosing things and reaction time, is all very telling at that position.
As for Campbell’s development in all of those areas, Fangio noted that in the spring, he had Campbell off to the side doing drills but in Wednesday’s practice, that was the rookie’s first time against a live offense. The DC said that for what Campbell has been exposed to up to this point, he thought the LB did fine.
Fangio also acknowledged that there will likely be opportunities for Campbell to get on the field his rookie season, and in certain packages they’ll need him depending on how the final roster looks.
On Quinyon Mitchell’s development
The DC talked about how they are moving Mitchell around a bit in camp, because there might be times in the season that they want to have him match with a specific receiver, or play left and right. It’s something they plan to look at on a weekly basis in the season to see how best to use him.
When asked what he considers when deciding to have a CB travel with a WR, and Fangio pointed to whether the receiver warrants extra attention and whether you have the CB to do it. He explained that there’s a lot involved when doing that defensively, so it’ll be an evolution.
“[Quinyon Mitchell] will be fine. He’s got a really good work ethic. He’s got tremendous pride, and always wants to do well. He’ll be fine.”
On Sydney Brown and the safety position
“[Sydney Brown] just needs to go out there and play good.
So much of the safety position is just like ILB, 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, and I think 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. Hopefully now, we’ll see exactly what he can do.
He had a good offseason, he did well yesterday, and we’ll see how he does.”
Other notables
- He talked about Jordan Davis’ weight loss, noting that he had already lost quite a bit toward the second-half of last season, so it’s nothing new and not something that should impact his performance.
- Despite his comments on Jihaad Campbell’s injury, the DC doesn’t think the training staff is understating how long Nakobe Dean will be out.
- Fangio fielded several questions about whether he felt like he would have to adjust his scheme coming off a Super Bowl win, but ultimately he said that they are always self-scouting and finding new ways to do things, so it’s no different this season than any of the season’s prior.
- The DC expects Milton Williams’ reps from last season to be split up among the group, including Moro Ojomo getting more reps this year, and some of the other young guys.
- Fangio said that these next few weeks will be interesting for rookie Mac McWilliams, noting that he’s someone they feel can play nickel, and maybe corner, but he’s got some versatility that they’re excited about.