Each decision on its own made plenty of sense.
When the found a way to bring back both Darius Slay and James Bradberry this offseason, they invested in two of their best players from the Super Bowl run at a premium position. When the Eagles signed Bradley Roby in October, it made sense because of injuries at the nickel corner position. And when they traded for Kevin Byard at the deadline, they hoped to shore up a spot that had been shaky all year.
But what the Eagles have been left with is an old and sometimes slow secondary where four of the five starters are over the age of 30.
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Maybe an injection of youth would help give some juice.
We started to see that injection on Sunday night.
Even though the results weren’t great, the Eagles made a concerted effort to involve their two draft picks in the secondary, playing third-rounder Sydney Brown and fourth-rounder Kelee Ringo more than they ever had before.
While the Eagles did suffer a couple injuries in their 33-13 loss to the Cowboys (and Reed Blankenship’s concussion definitely played a role in increased playing time for the rookies), there was a plan even before that to involve Brown and Ringo in the game. Brown ended up playing a career-high 58 defensive snaps, while Ringo played a career-high 22 after playing just 1 all year. Even UDFA Eli Ricks played 18 snaps.
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No one was happier than Brown to see Ringo finally get his shot.
“It’s awesome,” Brown said. “It’s sweet. A guy that’s been waiting since Week 1. That was, what, Week 14, going into Week 15. His opportunity is starting and I’m excited for him. I think he showed what he can do. Again, as you get the reps and you get the snaps, your confidence just grows.”
Not only are Ringo (age: 21) and Brown (age: 23) young, but they’re also extremely athletic players. Ringo ran a 4.36 at the combine at 207 pounds, putting him in the 92nd percentile among in the 40-yard dash and the 93rd percentile in weight. And Brown is a physical freak. He ran a 4.47 and both his jumps and his bench press were above the 90th percentile.
While their college experiences were a tad different — Brown came to the NFL after playing a ton at Illinois, while Ringo was a raw prospect leaving powerhouse Georgia — they both offer youth and athleticism to a secondary that could probably use some more juice. Maybe it just took a while for them to earn expanded responsibilities.
Ringo said he learned during last week that he would have a role on defense against the Cowboys. He has been improving all season in practice and he has played extremely well on special teams. Ringo earned his snaps on Sunday and he hopes he’ll earn more as the season enters the stretch run.
“I feel like I just need to continue to improve myself day in and day out and everything else will fall in place,” Ringo said. “I feel like that’s been able to show a little bit more. I’m just hoping to continue to do that. I’ve nowhere near arrived. I want to be so much better than I am now.”
While Brown had played 173 defensive snaps before Sunday, this was really a first for Ringo. His only defensive rep before Week 14 came way back in the second game of the season against the Vikings.
But Ringo’s second NFL defensive snap didn’t go well. Ringo found himself 1-on-1 against veteran Brandin Cooks on a key 3rd-and-6 late in the first half against the Cowboys. Not only did Dak Prescott complete the pass to Cooks for what would have been a first down, but Ringo was also called for DPI and a face mask.
Ringo was not perfect after that either but he did rebound from a forgettable start.
“You gotta have a short-term memory, being a corner specifically,” he said. “If I’m an offensive coordinator and I see somebody have a mistake on the defensive side of the ball and his heads down and he’s on himself, we’re going to continue to come at him. Because it’s definitely a huge mental game for DBs.
“Just gotta continue to keep your confidence. I feel like a DB with minimal confidence, it can definitely be a danger to his game. You have to remember to keep your head up and remember who you are and why you’re in this situation. You’re there for a reason.”
Brown had an injury earlier in the season and it took him a while to earn some more reps. He barely played through the first six weeks of the season and his role has varied week-to-week since then.
The 23-year-old has just tried to be patient, although he admits there was some frustration when the season began.
“Frustrating in a way that you want to play and you want to contribute,” Brown explained. “You want to do more than what your role is in the moment. But they made it pretty clear what your role is going to be at the start of the season. That could change any week. I think I’ve seen that from week to week. You never know who’s going to go down, you never know when you’re going to have to fill in.
“It’s frustrating but when you have the opportunity to go show what you can do, then the men upstairs have no choice but to respect you and give you the time because it’s earned not just given.”
Brown wasn’t perfect against the Cowboys and really wishes he would have been able to intercept a pass that was perfectly placed from Prescott to CeeDee Lamb despite Brown’s tight coverage. But there were a ton of encouraging signs from the rookie too.
Brown and Ringo are pretty close off the field and on the field. Not only were they drafted one round apart this spring but they’re also on the same special teams units together and they’ve been able to lean on one another throughout their rookie seasons.
“Coming in, both young, both rookies,” Ringo said. “You have to have guys like that, that you can lean on, same situation as you. He’s a good person. He’s a good football player as well. I’m glad I was able to come in with Sydney Brown.”
We’ll see where the secondary goes from here because right now the Eagles have the No. 28-ranked pass defense in the NFL.
There are just four games left in the Eagles’ regular season and they’re coming off two embarrassing losses to the 49ers and Cowboys. But they still have a good chance to win the NFC East and still have an opportunity to grab one of the top seeds in the playoffs. Maybe Brown and Ringo can help get them there.
Both of them are looking forward to the opportunity.
“Of course, I got my first taste of it last week,” Ringo said. “Just want to continue to help the team the best way I can. This is a production business and I want to be able to continue to produce and just show my value.”
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