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“COOOOOOOPPPPPPP!!!!” – NBC SportPhiladelphia

Vaseline November 11, 2024

The first time he heard it, Cooper DeJean was quite confused.

He was just a sophomore at Iowa when the fans in Iowa City started a chant that followed him for the rest of his college career: “COOOOOOOPPPPPP!!!!”

“The first time they did it in college, I thought they were booing me,” DeJean said this week, “and then I found out.”

So when he heard the same chant at the Linc on Sunday, he knew immediately what it was. It was an acknowledgment of the loyal Eagles fans who watched the 28-23 victory over the Jaguars.

“Yeah, it was cool,” DeJean said.

Eagles fans started chanting his name before his first punt return, but it wasn’t very loud. Those chants got louder with every kick afterward and were very loud when he forced a turnover on downs with a pass breakup on 4th and 1.

Safety Reed Blankenship grew up a fan of the Alabama Crimson Tide, so he remembers saying “COOOP!!!” heard. chants for Amari Cooper. When asked about hearing those chants for DeJean, Blankenship said it was “fuckin’ sick.”

“I thought they would get it eventually, but it was cool to see it,” Blankenship said. “The first time it was quiet and then they said, ‘Let’s get started on it.’ It’s cool.”

DeJean, 21, has been an impressive rookie. The 40th overall pick started the season as a backup but has held the top spot for the last four games in addition to taking on punt return responsibilities after Britain Covey suffered a shoulder injury in Week 3.

This season, DeJean has 9 punt returns for 102 yards (11.3) and was even better as a nickel corner. DeJean has been targeted 18 times and has surrendered 12 passes for 74 yards. He also has stops on 4th-and-short in consecutive weeks.

So he gives fans a reason to chant his name as loudly as possible.

DeJean was impressed with how in sync fans could get when chanting his name the first few times. But many of those same Eagles fans have seen plenty of practice during Duce Staley’s long career in Philadelphia. Staley also had a very singing name.

“I was a little surprised that it got so loud so quickly,” DeJean said. “I thought I would have heard a few, but I didn’t think I would hear the whole stadium. Still, it was cool.”

Smitty’s #1 play

DeVonta Smith has made many incredible catches during his career. So where does his 25-yard touchdown in the back of the end zone rank against the Jaguars rankings?

“It’s probably No. 1,” Smith said.

A few plays earlier, Smith caught a 46-yard pass to set up the touchdown, actually injuring his hamstring. So that 25-year-old came when Smith was dealing with an injury that kept him from starting practice the following week.

What made it his top catch?

“To be able to drag my feet, get on my back, all the basics of catching the ball when you’re close to the sideline,” Smith said.

There were some impressive elements in that piece and none of them happened by accident. Smith is very aware of where he is on the field, which is why he said he knew with 100% certainty that he could jump into the fight.

As great as Smith’s catch was, even he could admit it wasn’t the best Eagles game of Week 9. That was from Saquon Barkley.

“You see people making one-handed catches every week,” Smith said. “You don’t see anyone jumping backwards over someone.”

Speaking of that upside-down hurdle…

The response to the responses

Five days after clearing that incredible backward hurdle, Barkley had officially seen enough.

“I’m kind of over it,” Barkley said. “It was a great play. It’s nice to see the reactions. That’s probably my favorite part, seeing the reactions of my teammates and other people. At the end of the day it happened, you press play, you move on and you get ready for next week.

Barkley said a few times that seeing the reactions of his teammates, the guys he works with every day, was the coolest part of the whole thing.

Saquon Barkley had all the boys on the sidelines in disbelief 🤣🤯🎙️ pic.twitter.com/lJFuzbKN3T

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) November 5, 2024

Another fun thing: Tight Ends coach Jason Michael told Barkley that his son put a chair in front of a bean bag to practice the move.

Does Barkley have any advice for kids who want to try it?

“Be wise,” he said. ‘I have no intention of ever attempting that step again. Hopefully that’s a one-off and we don’t see anyone else try it. Everyone stays safe.”

Trust my eyes

Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio deserves a lot of credit for finding Zack Baun and turning him into an off-ball linebacker. Even when the Eagles signed Baun in March, most thought he would be a situational pass rusher. But Fangio saw something in Baun that made him believe in him as an insider.

And he was right.

Baun has been one of the Eagles’ best players on that side of the ball this season, leading the team in tackles with 79 in eight games.

One of the benefits of being in the NFL for as long as Fangio is is that he trusts his evaluations even when others don’t see the same thing.

“No, I don’t think so at all,” Fangio said of other opinions. “I trust my own eyes, my own experience, and go by that.

“There are a lot of people who want to know what the majority thinks and take the easy way out, but I’ve never been that guy.”

And Fangio is especially confident in his evaluations of linebackers. He has coached some very good players in the NFL and has previously been a linebackers position coach. It is the position he is most familiar with.

Their earliest bond

When Jalen Hurts released the ball on that huge 25-yard touchdown pass to Smith in the fourth quarter on Sunday, he couldn’t really see Smith.

But he trusted him.

Trust is an important element to any quarterback-receiver relationship, but it seems especially important for Hurts. When asked this week about his connection to Smith, the Eagles’ QB1 answered long ago.

“There was never a point where it just clicked, it happens. You build and build and build,” Hurts said. “We have been building for a long time. It dates back to his recruiting visit to Alabama, where we didn’t party, we didn’t do anything, we had no interest in anything other than ball. We threw routes in the air.

“Those are the little stories that are dear to me because those are the things that change the trajectory and, honestly, those are the little things that help the team this year. Those little connections and those little moments with moments we’ve had. It’s all about building.”

Shipley makes a play

The Eagles’ punting team currently has two very good gunners in Sydney Brown (5-10, 211) and Kelee Ringo (6-2, 207). If you built a shooter in a lab, it would probably look like one of these two guys. They are both big, strong and have incredible straight-line speed.

Brown had a huge play as a shooter last week to force a fumble that Ringo recovered.

“It’s just the more confidence (Brown) gets, you might see it trickle out,” special teams coordinator Michael Clay said. “And him being out there, and he sets the tone outwardly, and let’s not take anything from Kelee. Kelee has done an excellent job at gunner, and has a full-time job of sorts as a gunner. Those two guys out there are coming with some force. They come with some speed.”

Brown is so good at this that Clay thinks there’s a chance teams will double him with two jammers. But that’s why it’s so important to have two good gunners. And then there’s Will Shipley, who made a big tackle on a punt in the last game as a personal protector. As a PP, Shipley will get a later start, but he will often appear on the field unblocked.

Shipley’s tackle in the last game shows that the Eagles have a good backup plan if teams are going to double down on their gunners.

“If people try to stop Kelee and Sydney, we have confidence in our home defense,” Clay said. “First, to protect, and then go out and cover it and try to limit the big yields.”