Eagles notebook: Quinyon Mitchell on awards, nicknames and more originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Quinyon Mitchell introduced himself to a national audience in Week 11.
He completely shut down Terry McLaurin.
The Commanders’ Pro Bowl receiver had Mitchell on him for 20 of his 25 routes in that game and McLaurin wasn’t targeted a single time with Mitchell in coverage, per NFL NextGen Stats. He locked him up.
“Each and every week is the same,” Mitchell said. “Just want to go out and compete, be technically sound and read my keys.”
And it’s not the first time Mitchell has shut down top receivers. It has become a weekly occurrence for the first-round pick and he’s now definitely in the conversation to win Defensive Rookie of the Year.
“I’ve seen it but my main goal is just to go win every week,” Mitchell said about the DROY race. “With team success comes individual success. I’m just focused on doing my job and going 1-0 every week.”
While Mitchell doesn’t have an interception this season, the advanced numbers have been impressive. He’s the only cornerback in the NFL who has had at least 375 coverage snaps this season without giving up a touchdown. And he has shut down receivers like McLaurin, Mike Evans, Ja’Marr Chase and more.
On Sunday night, Mitchell can look across the field to see the favorite to win the DROY: Jared Verse. Here are the updated odds from FanDuel:
Jared Verse: -160
Quinyon Mitchell: +210
Kamari Lassiter: +2500
Laiatu Latu: +2500
Edgerrin Cooper: +2800
Cooper DeJean: +2800
Braden Fiske: +3000
Evan Williams: +3000
With all of Mitchell’s success during his rookie season, he’s already becoming a fan favorite in Philly. And fans have been workshopping a nickname for the man who mostly goes by Q.
The most popular nickname floating around for Mitchell is Quintonimo/Quinyonimo Bay. Mitchell said he appreciates the effort.
“I like it,” Mitchell said. “I think it’s cool. I think it’s cool.”
The big addition to Madden
Saquon Barkley’s incredible reverse hurdle has been added to Madden NFL 25, EA Sports announced earlier this week. Barkley pulled off that incredible move against the Jaguars in Week 10 and now Barkley can do it in the video game.
“I think it’s pretty cool. I can’t lie,” Barkley said on Friday. “I’ve been a Madden fan for a long time. I probably don’t play as much Madden as I used to but when I get a chance to, I do. To be able to have an animation in there is pretty cool. I don’t plan on doing that anymore. Hopefully there’s another guy in the league who can make that move happen so it can be used more than once.”
The only player in the game who can do the reverse hurdle is Barkley and the defender must be incoming from a 45 degree angle in front of Barkley and must be in close proximity when the use presses the hurdle button. Good luck.
A fresh approach
If the Eagles continue to win in 2024, there’s a chance that Kellen Moore could become a hot name for head coaching vacancies, which would thwart Jalen Hurts’ desire to have some continuity at the position.
Ten weeks into this season, Hurts has liked what Moore brings to the table.
“He’s added a new approach,” Hurts said on Wednesday. “I think everything is about point of view and everybody sees the game differently. As you’ve heard me say many times that there are X’s and O’s are kind of one and the same to an extent. Everybody has their different flavor of stuff and Coach Kellen would say that himself. But it’s about how you teach it, how you’re coaching certain things, it’s about how you run it and how you execute it. And I think for him, he’s brought a unique approach, he’s brought some new visions for us and I think it’s helped us.
“I think he’s definitely added a dimension for us and who he is and his philosophy of being multiple. I think there’s another dynamic that’s new to him in having a guy back there that’s mobile and can play the game and stress the defense in multiple ways. I think it’s always a navigation in all of those things. Nonetheless, he’s been great.”
The Eagles have the No. 5 overall offense in the NFL and still have some room for growth, especially in the passing game. But Moore’s influence has been seen in the multiplicity of the offense. After the Eagles’ offense got to static at the end of 2023, they wanted a shakeup and Moore was the guy tasked with bringing it. There’s still room for growth with this offense but the starting quarterback seems to appreciate the new OC.
Hello, old friend
At 36 years old, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford is the oldest starting quarterback in the NFL. The No. 1 overall pick from the 2009 draft is still going strong.
Being in the NFL for 16 years means that Stafford has had plenty of teammates. One of them was Kellen Moore. The Eagles’ offensive coordinator was a backup with the Lions from 2012-14. A decade later, Moore is well into his coaching career and Stafford is still going.
“Matthew is just one of the premiere quarterbacks in this league,” Moore said. “I was fortunate to be around him for a few years in Detroit. What I always learned so much from him when I was in the room with him was just how much work went into it during the week. I think Matthew’s preparation is very rare. The work he puts into it, the amount of film he watches. I think he’s got an excellent, excellent feel for the game. His ability to make adjustments at the line of scrimmage and control the whole operation is very rare. I learned a lot being around him for those first couple years, and he’s continued it for a number of years.”
Stafford was also teammates with Darius Slay, who always talks up his former quarterback.
Props for Mailata
After missing four games on Injured Reserve with a hamstring injury, Mailata returned to action last Thursday night against the Commanders. The Eagles didn’t even practice on a short week, so Mailata had to prepare through just walkthroughs.
And then he played 71 snaps in the win and didn’t surrender a single pressure on 34 pass blocking snaps.
“He showed up … just impressive,” Moore said. “Credit to him to come back in, in a short week of all times where you don’t really even have any physical practices. And for Jordan to hop in there and play ball, credit to him. He’s obviously one of the best left tackles in this league, and he’s shown it again.”
Even after missing four games with that injury, Mailata still has a chance to be a Pro Bowler in 2024. He was clearly on that path early in the season. He is ProFootballFocus’s No. 2 ranked tackle in the league behind just Terron Armstead of the Dolphins. Mailata is ahead of Penei Sewell, Lane Johnson, Rashawn Slater and Trent Williams.
In 220 pass blocking reps this season, Mailata has given up just 1 sack and just 8 total pressures, according to PFF. To put that into perspective, Mailata’s backup Fred Johnson this season has played 193 snaps in pass protection and has given up 7 sacks and 32 pressures. That’s not a knock on Johnson, who filled in admirably. But having a healthy Mailata is a huge boost.
“I think he went out there and had one of his best games,” Lane Johnson said of Mailata. “Coming back from an injury like that is tough. I thought his balance looked terrific, he was great in the run game and we definitely missed him out there. I thought Fred did a terrific job the last few weeks but Jordan coming back, you could definitely feel the momentum. You could feel his desire to get back and play. I think he’s having one of his best years.”
A huge punt return
Because of the short week ahead of the Commanders game, special teams coordinator Michael Clay didn’t have a press conference last week.
So this was a leftover question from the Cowboys game.
In that game, Cooper DeJean had a huge 31-yard return in the third quarter to give the Eagles a short field for a touchdown drive. We always hear Clay preach that he wants his returners to get North-South, but on this play DeJean was able to reverse field.
“I think Cooper did a really good job of puncturing first,” Clay said. “Like I always say, starts with the guys on the outside. You see Kelee (Ringo) against (C.J.) Goodwin, does a heck of a good job stopping him on the initial attack and allows Coop to get five or six yards vertical north and south and that entices the core guys to get down there.
“And if he knows I’ve got some speed, a guy is head up on me and I can outrun him, that’s when I can break it to the outside and he did a great job of enticing. And then he gets outside being able to beat the core guys and take it to the sideline for that big 31-yard return. So we always preach, get us the first down. If you get us the first down, you being in that first wave, then you can pick-and-choose if you want to bounce it or keep gashing down the field.”
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