Darius Slay was really excited when the Eagles traded for A.J. Brown because thought it would make him better.
Turns out he was right.
Because through eight training camp practices this summer, we’ve seen Slay facing Brown every day and the 6-1, 226-pound receiver has given the Pro Bowler all he can handle.
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SIGN UP HERE “It’s been great, man. We’ve been competing at a high level,” Slay said. “He’s just competitive. He’s a great guy. We’ve been teaching each other how to play different positions, how to guard each other. He’s a big physical guy; I needed help with big physical guys. He needed help with a lot of fast guys. So we’re helping each other out right now.
“He’s real good. He’s making all the tough catches. He turns 50-50 balls into 70-30. He’s very challenging. He’s getting me better every day and I’m going to continue to get him better.”
Slay previously said he hasn’t gone up against a really good big-bodied receiver in practice since his early days in Detroit, when he was asked to cover Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson.
The Eagles just didn’t have a bigger-bodied receiver before bringing in Brown. Now, Slay feels like he gets to cover different skills every day at practice.
“I use everyone,” Slay said. “Me with Quez, if I go against Quez Watkins, I focus on my quickness, my speed down the field. With A.J., bigger body, guy I like to get into my circumference zone and create contact to create separation. And Smitty (DeVonta Smith) is a guy that’s just a smooth route runner. So I got all different type of aspects of the game from our receiver corps.”
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The Eagles have also been moving those three — and other receivers working with the first-team — around quite a bit. So Slay and James Bradberry see all the Eagles’ different types of receivers on the outside. And Avonte Maddox sees them, even Brown, from the slot.
Bradberry, a former Pro Bowler himself, agreed that having different types of receivers to face in practice helps.
“It’s definitely a benefit,” Bradberry said. “Of course, you got your physical guys and then you got your fast guys, your quicker guys. It helps you hone in on your craft. I’m able to strategize a little bit more against whoever I’m going against so it makes me think more when I’m on the field and lining up. It definitely is a benefit having a versatile group of receivers.”
For so many years the Eagles were deficient at these two positions. In 2016, the Eagles’ top receivers were Jordan Matthews, Nelson Agholor and Dorial Green-Beckham. Their top cornerbacks were Leodis McKelvin, Nolan Carroll and Jalen Mills.
They’ve come a long way since then. And these battles in training camp are really showing that.
The Eagles didn’t bring in Brown to help Slay or Bradberry or Maddox. They brought him in to improve their passing offense. But if he helps their corners out along the way, it’s an added bonus.
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