The Eagles’ cornerback competition just got a whole lot more interesting.
Jakorian Bennett, acquired from the Raiders on Monday, got his first taste of 1st-team reps at the Eagles’ open practice at the Linc Sunday night.
It’s not a shock defensive coordinator Vic Fangio decided to see how Bennett looked with the 1’s. It is a surprise that it happened so fast.
After taking a red-eye from Las Vegas late Monday night, Bennett watched practice Tuesday and the preseason opener against the Bengals Thursday from the sideline, then practiced with the second team on Saturday.
“Just throw him into the action and see what he’s got,” Fangio said before practice Saturday. “He’s going to be in the mix with the rest of them.”
That’s all Fangio needed to see to promote Bennett. So just five days after first setting foot in the NovaCare Complex and after just one practice, Bennett got a handful of 1st-team reps late in practice Sunday. He was mostly on DeVonta Smith.
Kelee Ringo, the Eagles’ 4th-round pick in 2023, and Adoree’ Jackson, a veteran free agent with 82 starts under his belt with the Titans and Giants, have split the 1st-team reps at CB2 opposite Quinyon Mitchell throughout camp. These are the first 1st-team reps anybody else has gotten since training camp began.
Bennett said on Saturday he didn’t feel overwhelmed changing teams in midstream.
“Conceptually, football doesn’t really change that much,” he said. “You have different terminology and stuff like that, but if you know the game and you know conceptually … because Cover 4 is Cover 4, Cover 3 is Cover 3.”
Bennett was drafted in the fourth round of the 2023 draft with the 104th pick, one selection before Ringo. He played in 24 games with 11 starts in two seasons with the Raiders. The Eagles shipped backup interior defensive lineman Thomas Booker to the Raiders to acquire Bennett.
Neither Ringo nor Jackson has had a consistent camp, and both struggled against the Bengals and Joe Burrow Thursday, although Ringo had more balls thrown his way. He was out of position and missed a tackle on a short Burrow pass to Ja’Marr Chase that turned what should have been a six- or seven-yard gain into a 36-yard touchdown.
According to Pro Football Focus, Ringo had a 44.8 pass coverage grade and Jackson was 42.2. They ranked 121st and 136th out of 138 corners who played at least 10 pass defense snaps so far this preseason.
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