Philadelphia Eagles coach Nick Sirianni was effusive in his praise of punt returner Britain Covey earlier this week.
In his second season as an undrafted free agent out of Utah, Covey tops the entire NFL in punt return yardage with 295 and No. 2 behind the LA Chargers’ Derius Davis (16.3) at 14.8 yards per return.
“Going back to Britain [Covey], I think to myself, I can't believe we cut this guy at one point,” Sirianni smiled. “This might be the best returner in the NFL and he doesn't get the credit he deserves.
“We know we have a weapon with Britain Covey.”
The Eagles have actually cut Covey twice in an effort to manipulate the initial 53-man roster in each of his professional seasons. As a rookie, it was a calculated gamble that the undersized 5-8, 173-pound wideout wouldn’t raise many eyebrows and it paid off.
Philadelphia GM Howie Roseman bought three games with practice squad elevations in 2022 before adding Covey to the roster through Super Bowl LVII. By the second half of his freshman campaign, Covey seemed to have turned the corner on the job he did so well in Salt Lake City.
The Eagles tried the same trick this year before adding Covey back to the 53-man roster for Week 3.
“Shoot, as crazy as we were to cut him, there were 31 other teams crazy not to pick him up,” said Sirianni. “We all make mistakes, right? But he is a stud.”
Since entering the NFL Covey leads the NFL in punt return yards (603), 15-plus yard returns (17), 20-plus yard returns (9), and 25-plus yard returns (6).
Covey has been so effective that the head coach is on a mission.
“I constantly ask our coaches, I'm like, ‘is Britain going to be first team all-pro? Is Britain going to be in the Pro Bowl?
“I'm on a mission to make sure that happens.”
Special Teams Coordinator Michael Clay was asked how he handles his boss’ query.
“My pitch for that to be the case? I don't think I have to make a pitch,” Clay said. “For the last, whatever, since week 13 of last year, Covey has been up there, top-3 punt returner in the NFL in terms of yardage.”
Clay wouldn’t quite put Covey up with Darren Sproles, the ex-Eagles running back who is one of the best punt returns in league history, but he also lavished praise on the former three-time All-American.
“Britain Covey is really good, really good,” said Clay. “He takes command of that punt return team. And the best thing about it is the 10 guys in front of him, they know what he can do back there, and they're going to play as hard as they possibly can for Britain Covey.
“I mean, after the [Buffalo] game we were talking to O.Z. [WR Olamide Zaccheaus], congratulating him on a great touchdown catch, and the only thing he wanted to talk about was, ‘man, if I could have stayed on my block a little bit longer to spring Covey.’”
A perfectionist, Clay still sees room for growth, however.
“There's still a lot of things we can get better at from a punt-return standpoint to keep grinding away and changing the field position for our offense,” he said.
As for Sirianni, his mind is made up when it comes to Covey.
“He's special,” the head coach said.
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