The Eagles were back on the field this week preparing for their first preseason game of 2025, and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio spoke to reporters on Monday about player development, the CB room, and depth at EDGE.<\/p>\n
He also acknowledged that preseason games are some of the only ways to get full evaluations of players, especially with tackling and getting after quarterbacks.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need full speed action to really tell. I mean out in practice, nobody\u2019s getting tackled. You don\u2019t know if you made the tackle or missed it. We\u2019re not finishing on the quarterback. We\u2019re trying to stay away from him. We need games.\u201d<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what the DC had to say:<\/p>\n
Fangio agreed that CB Eli Ricks has made some good plays the last few days, but notes he still needs to eliminate the negative ones, too. Still, the DC said Ricks is working hard to correct his mistakes and sees definite improvement from last year to this year. He also acknowledged that they still have to evaluate Ricks\u2019 physicality, especially as a smaller corner.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Eli Ricks] hadn\u2019t played enough yet to know [if he can hold up playing the run], but he\u2019s going to get a bunch of snaps in the preseason and hopefully that will show itself, but he\u2019s played good football in college.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also talked a little about CB Adoree\u2019 Jackson.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been good. I think Adoree\u2019 has had a good camp. I think he\u2019s competing well. I think he\u2019s focused with a good mindset and I like where he is at right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fangio said that the competition between Jackson and CB Kelee Ringo is close, noting they\u2019ve both been having a good camp and he\u2019s happy with both of the players.<\/p>\n
The DC doesn\u2019t think tackling will be an issue for Ringo as they prepare for the preseason, explaining that he\u2019s been a good special teams player up to this point, so that isn\u2019t a concern.<\/p>\n
On Cooper DeJean\u2019s versatility<\/p>\n
Fangio talked last week about wanting to use second-year DB Cooper DeJean at safety in their base package this season, and after some reps, the DC is more convinced than ever that he can step into that role.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust like I thought [Cooper DeJean] can be a good safety. Just the other day we had a route that we struggled with last year in games to pick up and he did it like he\u2019d been a safety his whole life. So yeah, he\u2019ll be a good safety if we need him there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Without giving away anything for the preseason, Fangio said that getting DeJean some game reps at safety is a possibility.<\/p>\n
On Jihaad Campbell\u2019s development<\/p>\n
The DC admitted that they\u2019ve probably put a little too much on the rookie\u2019s plate, but the time is coming and days are disappearing. It\u2019s hard to evaluate how Campbell is handling it all because of the limited practice time and reps, as they manage the fine line between keeping guys healthy and getting guys prepared.<\/p>\n
As for Campbell at EDGE, Fangio admits that they haven\u2019t prioritized coaching him up at that position just yet.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, [Jihaad Campbell] needs a lot of work at it. Again, that\u2019s going back to the previous question that\u2019s adding things to his plate right now and in defense of him, he hadn\u2019t been coached up enough to be on the edge and play the way we want to play. So part of that\u2019s him being overloaded, part of that\u2019s us not getting him ready, which is just a product of lack of time and lack of reps.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fangio talked about Ogbo Okoronkwo, who he said is definitely a guy who has been a defensive end most of his career. In Philly, they ask Ogbo and Ochaun Mathis to drop a little but and play a little differently than they were accustomed too. They\u2019ve had to not only make adjustments from a mental standpoint, but also in their techniques.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut overall [Ogbo Okoronkwo]\u2019s doing good. Same thing with [Ochaun] Mathis. I think he\u2019s a big strong guy who\u2019s got some pop to him and hopefully we can develop his all around game to where he can be a player.\u201d<\/p>\n
The DC also talked about two of the newer outside linebackers, Josh Uche and Azeez Ojulari, and mentioned how it\u2019s about learning the nuances of the defense.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Josh [Uche] has had some good practices here of late, he\u2019s flashed and had some really good plays. Like a lot of the guys that are new, he just needs to eliminate the negative plays and the negative plays aren\u2019t something that you guys may see or know. It\u2019s just reacting and covering and the way we want to play the run. The nuances of the defense. He has to master those, but overall he\u2019s had a good camp and I see him getting better each and every day and the same thing with Azeez [Ojulari].\u201d<\/p>\n
On rookie LB Smael Mondon<\/p>\n
\u201cGood stuff. [Smael Mondon] is having a good camp. He is progressing well. The ILB position has a lot on their plate and he\u2019s sorting through that, but I think he\u2019s making good natural progress at all that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fangio does not expect rookie safety Andrew Mukuba to be available in Thursday\u2019s first preseason game.The DC said rookie DT Ty Robinson is making good progress, and doesn\u2019t think he\u2019ll have any issues picking up the defense in the long run. He just wants to see Robinson be a little more active and more decisive in his play \u2013 which all comes with more reps.He mentioned that safeties Sydney Brown and Tristin McCollum are making really good progress. Specifically, Fangio points to Brown needing to polish up his operation and just recognize things a little quicker \u2013 something he says will take the safety\u2019s game to the next level \u2013, and said McCollum needs to eliminate his negative plays and to be more consistent.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Eagles were back on the field this week preparing for their first preseason game of 2025, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":265338,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2068],"tags":[25,7,6,242,109,51994,5406,51995,2476],"class_list":{"0":"post-265337","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia-eagles","8":"tag-eagles","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-philadelphia","12":"tag-philadelphia-eagles","13":"tag-philadelphia-eagles-interviews","14":"tag-philadelphia-eagles-news","15":"tag-philadelphia-eagles-preseason","16":"tag-philadelphiaeagles"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114979689236856382","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265337\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}