The plan wasn’t for Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Bradley Roby to get thrown into the deep end of the pool after sitting out the first four weeks of the season despite some spin in Sunday's 24-13 win over the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium.
"We didn't want to put [Roby] in a position where he had to play the entire game," Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said. "That just wouldn't have been fair to him with being off for the last couple weeks.
"So, there was going to be a rotation, and I thought the guys did a nice job."
The reality is that the Eagles have been a revolving door at slot cornerback since losing Avonte Maddox to a torn pec in Week 2 against Minnesota. Complicating matters even further was that Maddox’s projected backup, Zech McPhearson, had already been lost in the preseason to a torn Achilles.
Philadelphia has persevered as evidenced by a 5-0 record while piecemealing things in the slot. The Eagles have gone from Mario Goodrich to finish the Minnesota Vikings game in Week 2, kicking All-Pro outside CB James Bradberry inside against Tampa Bay, along with some help from rookie safety Sydney Brown, and counting on a solo James Bradberry against the Washington Cmmanders before pivoting back to Goodrich and another rookie, Eli Ricks, against the Rams.
Only when Rams star Cooper Kupp started to heat up did defensive coordinator Sean Desai pull the ripcord, using Darius Slay for a handful of snaps and then Roby, with the latter being tasked as the likely end game inside.
“First half we were a little discombobulated,” Slay admitted to SI.com’s Eagles Today after the game. “I tried to go in the nickel (slot) and wasn’t understanding what was going on so gave up a play on a seven cut.
“So we just got back to the basics because Coop was starting off pretty fast so I was like ‘hey coach, I gotta get on him because he’s getting hot.' I didn’t want him to get too hot.”
Desai wasn’t aware that Slay let reporters into the family business a bit but confirmed the framework.
“We take everything into account," Desai said. "I wasn't aware of that quote, but he did come to us, and we talked about the plan that we had and what we wanted to do matchup-wise. And we stuck with our calls and tweaked some of our techniques within the calls to help our guys with their matchups.”
Kupp, who missed the first four weeks with a hamstring injury, showed no rust at all and hit the field at the same high standard that made him the NFL’s receiving leader in 2021.
“Obviously with Kupp, we knew they were going to be a prime target there,” said Desai. “And even with some of our disguise stuff and our front structure stuff, to be able to get after the quarterback and show him some different presentations and get our coverages in places that we needed to get to.
“And then Slay is right. One of the big messages all those guys, including the coaches and all the vets at halftime, let's just do our stuff, let's play our techniques, let's win the leverages that we're asked to win. If you do that, you've got a chance, and that showed. Our guys really took ownership of that.”
The majority owner so to speak was Roby, the 10-year veteran with extensive slot experience who managed to play 25 snaps – 20 of them in the slot – to help slow Kupp and rookie Puka Nucua down.
“I think he played solid,” Desai said. “It shows you kind of his veteran nature and his ability -- he's played a lot of football in this league, played a lot of slot in this league. And then his ability to learn our defense. Credit to our coaches, [Nickels Coach] Ronell Williams did a great job meeting with him extra all week and trying to get all our guys up to speed.”
Roby, though, admitted 25 reps wasn’t exactly the assumption after only three practices with the team.
“That wasn't the plan,” Roby told SI.com’s Eagles Today on Wednesday before practice. “But I understand the game, I understand competitiveness and I figured if I had to I would play more so I kind of was mentally already prepared.
“It’s just about winning the game. That’s all it’s about so as long as you win, it don’t matter.”
Moving forward there likely won’t be much more indecision for the Eagles in the slot. It’s just about Roby progressing on the conditioning front to where he can play the entire game.
“I think I just got to condition more,” said Roby. “Practice a lot this week. Run a little bit after practice. Kind of just getting the legs back in shape. I think I’m here especially if the offense keeps the ball as long as they do. That helps.
“So as long as they kind of control that clock. I think [I’m ready].”
The Eagles visit the New York Jets on Sunday at MetLife Stadium.
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