After Britain Covey suffered an injury in the second quarter of the Eagles’ 15-12 win over the Saints on Sunday, Cooper DeJean was the next man up at punt returner.
It was good to get those jitters out of the way.
“Yeah, it was,” DeJean said this week. “I was a little nervous at first because I hadn’t done it in a game in a while. It was good to be back there.”
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Because now Covey is on IR with a fracture in his shoulder that is expected to keep him out of action for about six weeks. DeJean, the second-round pick from Iowa, is going to be tasked with replacing him.
As DeJean talked about his new role as the Eagles’ interim punt returner, Covey sneaked up behind the one-on-one interview. With his left arm in a sling, Covey first made a joke and then made a statement.
“This guy’s gonna dominate,” Covey said.
That’s a strong endorsement from Covey, who has been one of the best return men in the NFL in recent seasons.
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In his first action returning punts in the NFL, DeJean looked solid against the Saints. He made a fair catch on his first attempt and had a six-yard return in tight quarters to get the Eagles beyond their own 10-yard line on his second.
“It was good,” DeJean said. “Good to be back there and get my hands on the ball a little bit. Missed being back there. Looking forward to the opportunity.”
At Iowa, in addition to his role as a do-it-all defensive back, DeJean was also an electric punt returner. In his college career, he returned 31 punts for 406 yards (13.1) and took one to the house. DeJean had another incredible touchdown return called back for a questionable illegal fair catch penalty.
In 2022-23, DeJean’s average of 13.1 yards per return was third in the nation among players who had at least 30 returns. He was behind just Dee Williams (15.4) and Xavier Worthy (14.0) during that two-year span.
DeJean was dynamic in college.
But there are some differences between returning punts in college and in the NFL.
“It's always a little bit different when you get these cats from college to now in the NFL,” Eagles special teams coordinator Michael Clay said. “College is a little bit wide open, a little bit more spread open with the rolling punts. Ball is usually on the ground a little bit more. Then here, you actually get to see the speed of the opposing team.
“In terms of what we saw in Cooper in Iowa to now, is I think he's learning the nuances. And he's sitting next to Covey in every meeting over there, and they talk during the punt return. Just different techniques. And Covey had a little bit of a learning curve as well coming out of Utah. But him seeing it for the first time live, I think he'll have more confidence going forward.”
DeJean, 21, said Covey is one of the funniest players on the team so he enjoys siting next to him in meetings for some comedic relief. But he’s learning a lot from the third-year returner too.
Covey is happy to share anything he can with the rookie. He’s hoping to help coach him through the next month and a half while he’s on IR.
“I love Coop,” Covey said. “I love sitting next to him. We joke around. I always talk with him and give him tips and hints about the guy he’s blocking that week. I think being on the same page there with the returner is an underrated part of the return aspect. I hope he does the same thing with the guys blocking for him. Maybe I’ll go be like a mini coach out there the next couple weeks, just helping him, because I know he can be great.”
DeJean has been a part of the punt return unit as a blocker so he has gotten a chance to see Covey’s process up close and he wants to adopt Covey’s vocal nature when it comes to dealing with the 10 players on the field who will be blocking for him.
In addition to Covey and the actual coaches, DeJean got an opportunity in practice to hear some tips from former Eagles dynamic returner Darren Sproles, who was at the NovaCare Complex on Thursday.
While the Eagles drafted DeJean with the No. 40 overall pick to eventually crack the starting lineup as a defensive back, they were also intrigued by his ability as a returner and an athlete.
“He did a great job in his career at Iowa,” Clay said. “Very fundamentally sound. He tracks the ball very well in terms of seeing it off the punter's foot. Being thrust in there against a very good special teams unit, I don't think he blinked. He did a really good job with the fair catch down to the left. And he also showed that he could make a couple people miss down there.”
DeJean hasn’t been very involved on defense through three weeks of the season after missing significant time in training camp with a hamstring injury. He has played a total of just seven defensive snaps.
But DeJean has played 53 snaps on special teams (76%) and now he has another important role.
How would DeJean describe his style as a returner?
“Pretty aggressive. That’s how I’d describe it,” DeJean said. “Just trying to get what I can, while also being smart. Gotta take care of the ball. That’s the main thing.”
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