FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Cooper DeJean wore a little grin on Tuesday afternoon.
He was happy to be back.
“Great,” DeJean said after his first day of training camp practice in the NFL. “Felt great to be back out there a little bit, get moving around with the guys, just to be back out there and do football drills with all them, be back out there with my teammates. It’s good.”
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DeJean, 21, suffered a hamstring injury while training back in Iowa this offseason and missed the first three weeks of Eagles training camp. But on Tuesday, the second-round pick was removed from the Non-Football Injury list and was back at practice.
In the joint session against the Patriots, DeJean went through just individual drills as part of the team’s plan to ramp him up to being a full participant. But he said the hamstring held up fine. DeJean was just happy to be back out there — it was a long three weeks.
“I was pretty upset,” DeJean said. “I obviously wasn’t able to start my first NFL camp. But rehab has been good. Trainers have been doing a great job, helping me get back. Don’t want to rush something like this. It’s a long season. But rehab has been going well.”
Even though DeJean wasn’t able to practice over the last few weeks, he remained diligent. Injuries aren’t fun, but it allowed him to see practice from a different perspective.
The same thing happened to him last year when his final at Iowa ended early after fracturing his fibula.
“As a football player and a competitor you want to be out there every single time the team gets a chance to compete,” DeJean said. “But I’ve been doing a lot of watching, which is a little frustrating but also helps me learn from a different perspective. I can watch film with the guys in the room and talk through things and learn that way as well.”
Because of that injury in college, Tuesday was actually DeJean’s first time in full pads since November.
The only good thing about the injury last year was that it allowed DeJean to know what to expect as he missed the last three weeks. He went through a ton of mental reps in an attempt to stay focused.
“It helped knowing what to expect and how to go about things,” he said. “Just staying locked in at practice, trying to get as many mental reps as I can so when I get back I still know everything and am able to do everything full speed.”
DeJean could often be seen taking in practice from a deep safety post with fellow injured defensive backs Sydney Brown and, more recently, C.J. Gardner-Johnson. He said viewing practice with both of those two was beneficial.
Since most of Vic Fangio’s defense was installed in the spring, DeJean feels like he has a good grasp of the scheme. He has been learning it as a nickel corner, outside corner and even safety.
In the spring, DeJean played outside and in the slot but he has been learning safety too. In the pre-draft process, the Eagles talked to him a bit about safety, so he wants to be ready for anything. And the Eagles are noticeably lighter at safety.
“I think if you’re learning the defense, you learn all positions,” DeJean said. “I’ve been trying to learn all three positions because you never know. It’s been good to learn from the other guys in the film room when I’ve been out. Getting mental reps on the side while they’re practicing.”
While DeJean obviously won’t play in Thursday’s preseason game against the Patriots, the hope is that he’ll be a full participant soon. And he thinks the third preseason game is a realistic possibility. If DeJean plays in that one, it’ll bring some extra excitement to a game that could probably use it.
Since he’s getting over a hamstring injury, DeJean wasn’t able to run for a while. So conditioning is a big hurdle.
“He's got to get caught up as far as getting his body back ready to go,” head coach Nick Sirianni said. “And he’s got to get caught up when he gets team reps and the developmental reps. And all the reps that he gets, he’s got to take advantage of it.”
Aside from all those mental reps over the last few weeks, DeJean has been watching first-round corner Quinyon Mitchell closely all summer.
DeJean has been impressed by his fellow rookie.
“He’s balling,” DeJean said. “I love watching him play. He talks a little crap, you know, which is always good. Got a lot of confidence, which is something you need in a defensive back, so he’s been fun to watch.”
If everything goes to plan, DeJean will get his chance soon enough.
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