It was a simple question with an even simpler answer.
Question: “Do you see Quinyon as a guy who’s going to be on the field every play? Is he ready to handle that responsibility?”
Vic Fangio: “Yes and yes.”
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The Quinyon Mitchell Era will begin Friday with the impressive rookie apparently earmarked to play the entire game. That likely means he’ll be outside with Darius Slay when the Packers have two receivers and he’ll be inside in the slot, with Isaiah Rodgers taking over outside, when they have three.
There may be a point where the Eagles’ other prize rookie defensive back, Cooper DeJean, is ready to take over as a full-time slot, which would allow Mitchell to focus on outside corner. But after missing most of training camp, DeJean isn’t quite there yet.
The Eagles are asking a lot of Mitchell, but they wouldn’t do it if they didn’t think he was ready.
“Is he ready?” Darius Slay said, repeating a question. “Is he ready? He’s been ready since he (was born).”
NFL
Fangio said he could tell early on that Mitchell had the rare qualities that would allow him to learn both outside corner and slot as a rookie. Mitchell didn’t play any slot at Toledo, so the coaches gave him as much work as possible inside because they knew he was OK outside. That also allowed Rodgers and Kelee Ringo to compete outside as much as possible.
“(We knew) pretty quickly because we did play him at nickel early on and he did fine in there,” Fangio said. “I do think for him personally, it would be good to lock in at one spot, because even though we've been very happy with his development and his learning abilities, he still is a rookie, and I do think if he can get comfortable at one spot, it would be to his benefit. But we may not be able to do that.”
Mitchell will make his NFL debut against a quarterback, Jordan Love, who finished last year with 18 touchdowns and one interception in his last eight games and an offense that averaged just under 30 points per game the last two months of the 2023 season.
He’ll be playing in front of more people than he’s ever played in front of – Toledo averaged fewer than 20,000 fans per game last year – and he’ll be playing on national TV. Or probably international TV.
It’s a heck of a way to start your NFL career. But if there are any nerves they don’t show.
“When I get out there, I just play calm and control it and just do my thing,” he said at his locker before practice Monday. “I feel really ready. I feel like I'm preparing myself and the coach is preparing me, so I feel really good.”
It’s been 12 years since a rookie started a game on defense for the Eagles – Brandon Boykin and Mychal Kendricks vs. the Browns in the 2012 opener in Cleveland. Boykin was the nickel, and Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie started outside. The last Eagles rookie to start at outside corner and not the slot was Eric Allen in the 1988 opener in Tampa.
Others since the merger were Ray Jones in 1970, Joe Lavender in 1973, Herm Edwards in 1977 and Roynell Young in 1980.
“I'm just really just ready to go, you know, really excited just for me and my teammates to go out and just perform,” Mitchell said. “I've been working hard and I have to keep my foot on the gas pedal.”
For a team with Super Bowl aspirations to apparently start a rookie cornerback speaks volumes about how the Eagles feel about Mitchell.
But he’s done everything you could hope for since he got here. He’s asked all the right questions, studied film with Slay and the other veteran defensive backs, practiced at a very high level.
He’ll get beat. He’ll have plays he wants back. It won’t be 100 percent positive. But the Eagles are confident they nailed this pick, and on Friday the world will get its first look at Mitchell.
“He's been great since the day we got him,” Fangio said. “He works really hard. He's focused in meetings, not just on the practice field. We have put a lot on his plate, like I've said. He hasn't backed down from it at all. He's going to be a good player in this league.”