It was quiet enough to hear a church mouse squeak in the Philadelphia Eagles locker room following Thursday night’s preseason finale at Lincoln Financial Field.
It wasn’t the 27-13 loss to the Indianapolis Colts that delivered the quiet, but the pins and needles that many inside that room will be sitting on all weekend and into early next week when the Eagles, and every NFL team, need to have their roster at 53 players.
It’s a lot of cuts, 37 of them to be precise, and a lot of pain.
Receiver Deon Cain has been through it before. He has been waived or released five times since being selected out of Clemson in the sixth round of the 2018 by the Colts.
Two of those cuts were by the Eagles, including last year when he was released on cutdown day, signed to the practice squad the next day, but then released from the practice squad on Halloween.
After a busy night of on Thursday, with nine targets and six catches for a game-high 62 yards, Cain probably should make the team. He's done plenty to prove he belongs in the league.
Except on the Eagles, the numbers don’t add up, not with A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and players the Eagles like, such as Quez Watkins, free agent Olamide Zaccheaus, and Britain Covey.
“I’m definitely confident in what I’ve done, but I want to keep building, whatever I have to do, special teams or the offense, but we have a high-powered offense, so hopefully my play and what I’ve been doing in practice help me find a way on the team,” he said during a one-on-one interview in a voice barely above a whisper as if to not want to infringe on the silence radiating from every corner of the locker room.
Cain didn’t get re-signed by the Eagles until the day training camp began. An ankle injury halfway through camp sidelined him for a few practices, but he is 100 percent again.
It turned out that his release last Halloween was a blessing because it allowed him to join the Birmingham Stallions of the United States Football League, but it’s been nonstop football for Cain since the end of the USFL season and showing up with the Eagles.
“It’s a lot but it’s also a blessing, too, because obviously it keeps you going, it keeps your confidence going because you don’t get a break from football,” he said. “Playing at a high level is a good thing, too. Going from the USLF to the NFL was a great thing for me.
"Obviously, I had to figure out the nuances of getting my body right, but that helped me learn more about my body and what I can do and what I can’t do. It’s good information to have. It’s a journey that’s going to continue so I’m happy about that.”
Cain played eight regular season games for the Stallions, totaling 182 yards and two touchdowns in that time. He saved his best for last when he caught three touchdowns in the USFL Championship Game against the Pittsburgh Maulers to earn the MVP award.
“That was a good time, but all the accolades are behind me now,” he said. “I’m just trying to see where I go from here. I want to keep going.”
Ed Kracz covers the Philadelphia Eagles for SI's EaglesToday.
Please follow him and our Eagles coverage on Twitter at @kracze.
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