Two weeks before the kickoff of the NFL\u2019s 106th season, even the Philadelphia Eagles have lineup decisions to make as the league enters the final weekend of its preseason.<\/p>\n
The Eagles won the Super Bowl last season, but after five years with Darius Slay at one of the cornerback positions, Philadelphia is replacing the six-time Pro Bowler this season. <\/p>\n
Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said on Monday he doesn\u2019t have a starter yet to go with Quinyon Mitchell as Philadelphia\u2019s outside corners. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think all the guys are pretty even right now,\u201d Fangio said<\/a>. \u201cAnd Jakorian (Bennett<\/a>) just got here, you know, got a full week last week. Need to give him a full opportunity with the other guys. \u2026<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, they\u2019re close. Usually it does become pretty obvious to everybody as to who\u2019s going to win the job. That hadn\u2019t happened yet. I think they all have done a good job in and of their own way, had good moments, not so good moments, so we haven\u2019t reached that conclusion yet.\u201d<\/p>\n In March, the Eagles signed Adoree Jackson, who has 82 NFL starts in eight seasons. In April, Philadelphia drafted<\/a> UAB<\/a> alumnus Mac McWilliams<\/a> in the fifth round. On Aug. 6, the Eagles obtained Bennett<\/a>, a former McGill-Toolen standout, in a trade with the Las Vegas Raiders. And Philadelphia still had Kelee Ringo, who started five games for the Eagles over the past two seasons but has been dealing with a quadriceps injury at training camp.<\/p>\n Bennett started seven games for Las Vegas in 2024 before a shoulder injury ended his season early.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, I see the opportunity,\u201d Bennett said<\/a> on Monday. \u201cSo I just got to go out there and just be prepared and just play like how I play.\u201d<\/p>\n Bennett has had to play from behind in the competition for the corner spot.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d be lying if I said it was easy,\u201d Bennett said<\/a>, \u201cbut I would say that they do a good job with helping me acclimate, and I feel like I\u2019m a pro for a reason. Like, you know, I\u2019m going to come in and do things the right way, and I\u2019m just going to continue to keep chopping because I know all you can do is just take it day by day. You know, Rome wasn\u2019t built in the day, so I know it\u2019s going to be a process, but I\u2019m looking forward to it and I\u2019m just going to continue stacking.\u201d <\/p>\n In his first action for the Eagles, Bennett had 35 defensive snaps and eight special-teams plays in a 22-13 preseason loss to the Cleveland Browns on Saturday. Bennett had two tackles on defense, one tackle on special teams and one pass breakup.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s been good,\u201d Fangio said<\/a> about Bennett\u2019s performance. \u201cWe could have played him in the first preseason game off of being here — just what was it — two days or three days max, but didn\u2019t want to put him out there not knowing totally what to do. And he\u2019ll get another good amount of reps this week.\u201d<\/p>\n McWilliams has worked at slot corner, but he\u2019s in the competition at outside corner, too, Fangio said, despite an injury that cost him some training-camp practice time. <\/p>\n \u201cMac had that injury, which held him out of practice,\u201d Fangio said<\/a>. \u201cI don\u2019t know the exact amount of days, but we\u2019ll call it a week maybe, and I think it\u2019s affected him. But, hopefully, he\u2019ll feel more healthy this week and we can see the true version of him because I think there\u2019s more there than we\u2019re seeing and getting right now, and I think it\u2019s probably more injury-related and missing time-related.\u201d<\/p>\n McWilliams started Philadelphia\u2019s first preseason game at slot corner. He played 65 defensive snaps and eight special-teams plays in the Eagles\u2019 two games and had one tackle in each. <\/p>\n \u201cJust me being a versatile guy, I feel like me moving outside was one of the coaches\u2019 decisions,\u201d McWilliams said<\/a>, \u201cand they felt like I needed to be there at the moment while we\u2019re practicing right now, so I\u2019m just taking everything in, getting my reps and making sure I focus on the criteria of just being a DB. \u2026<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a lot of versatile guys in the room, a lot of guys play inside and outside, so, you know, just taking whatever comes with it. Whatever the coach or whatever the team needs me to be, I\u2019m going to be there for them.\u201d<\/p>\n On Monday, Philadelphia worked another of their defensive backs at outside corner. The Eagles\u2019 slot corner as a rookie, Cooper DeJean also had worked at safety in training camp before getting some outside work this week.<\/p>\n But for DeJean to stay outside, Fangio said<\/a>, would take \u201csomeone to develop at the nickel position and someone not to develop at the corner position.\u201d <\/p>\n The Alabama Game of the Week is the Philadelphia Eagles-New York Jets contest on Friday. The teams\u2019 active rosters include 22 players from Alabama high schools and colleges.<\/p>\n The Week 3 preseason schedule (with all times Central and point spreads from BetMGM<\/a>):<\/p>\n Thursday<\/p>\n Pittsburgh Steelers (-4.5) at Carolina Panthers, 6 p.m. (NFL Network)<\/p>\n New England Patriots at New York Giants (-6.5), 7 p.m. (Prime Video)<\/p>\n Friday<\/p>\n Philadelphia Eagles at New York Jets (-1.5), 6:30 p.m.<\/p>\n Atlanta Falcons at Dallas Cowboys (-2.5), 7 p.m. (NFL Network, WBRC, WTBM 24.2, WAFF 48.3, WTVY)<\/p>\n Minnesota Vikings at Tennessee Titans (-3.5), 7 p.m. (CBS)<\/p>\n Chicago Bears at Kansas City Chiefs (-1.5), 7:20 p.m. <\/p>\n Saturday<\/p>\n Baltimore Ravens (-2.5) at Washington Commanders, 11 a.m.<\/p>\n Indianapolis Colts at Cincinnati Bengals (-2.5), noon<\/p>\n Los Angeles Rams at Cleveland Browns (-6.5), noon (NFL Network)<\/p>\n Houston Texans at Detroit Lions (-1.5), noon<\/p>\n Denver Broncos (-5.5) at New Orleans Saints, noon (WALA, WMPB 31.2, WBRC, WTBM 24.2)<\/p>\n Seattle Seahawks at Green Bay Packers (-1.5), 3 p.m. (NFL Network)<\/p>\n Jacksonville Jaguars at Miami Dolphins (-3), 6 p.m. (NFL Network, WTTO, WDBB, WTVY 4.2)<\/p>\n Buffalo Bills (-2.5) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 6:30 p.m. (WFNA, WMBB)<\/p>\n Los Angeles Chargers (-1.5) at San Francisco 49ers, 7:30 p.m.<\/p>\n Las Vegas Raiders (-1.5) at Arizona Cardinals, 9 p.m. (NFL Network) <\/p>\n FOR MORE OF AL.COM\u2019S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE<\/a><\/p>\n Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. 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