Why DeJean and Mitchell swapped jerseys after 1st game together originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Jersey swaps have become commonplace after games in the NFL over the last several years.
Usually they happen between opponents.
But following Cooper DeJean’s first game as the Eagles’ starting nickel cornerback in the 20-16 win over the Browns, fellow rookie Quinyon Mitchell had a proposition.
“It was our first time out there together,” Mitchell said as he glanced down to the No. 33 jersey folded neatly in his locker stall at the Linc. “So I just felt like we should swap jerseys.”
Both Mitchell and DeJean said they plan on framing each other’s jerseys and proudly displaying them.
Mitchell and DeJean have become close in the last few months after they were drafted by the Eagles in the first and second rounds in April. The Eagles hope Sunday was just the first game of many with both in prominent roles in the secondary.
“Oh yeah, man,” Mitchell said. “Just him being out there for the first time, I know it felt good. A lot of excitement.”
While Mitchell began the season as a starting outside cornerback, it took a little while longer for DeJean to find the field. The second-round pick from Iowa missed about three weeks of training camp with a hamstring injury and fell behind.
But after a few rough games from veteran Avonte Maddox to start the season, the Eagles decided to hand over that job to DeJean coming off their early Week 5 bye.
“I felt prepared going out there,” DeJean said after his first NFL start. “Biggest thing, I just had to play with confidence. I feel like I worked up to this moment with all the help of the older guys around me. They’ve done a good job making sure that if I was in a game, I’d be ready. I felt prepared.”
After playing at total of eight defensive snaps in the first four games of the season, DeJean started on Sunday and played well. He finished the game with 6 tackles (3 solo), half a sack and a quarterback hit.
DeJean’s final season at Iowa ended with an injury so he had been waiting to play this much for a long time.
“There was a little bit of butterflies,” he said. “Just a lot of excitement building up to this. But once you get out there, you make that first hit, it all slows down for you. It felt good.”
DeJean did a lot of good things in his first NFL start but he looked especially good when Vic Fangio sent him as a blitzer from the slot. Even though DeJean failed to get one sack he should have had, he looked the part getting after Deshaun Watson.
And it’s obvious how much he enjoyed that part of his role on Sunday.
“Lot of excitement. I get amped up, sometimes too much,” DeJean said. “My mindset is just know my keys. If the running back is back there, I gotta be prepared if the quarterback keeps it or hands it off. When I see him set up for the pass, I gotta try and go get the ball.”
Speaking of getting the ball, that’s something Mitchell hasn’t been able to do in five games this season. That first NFL interception is still evading the first-round pick.
Mitchell on Sunday had another golden opportunity in the second quarter but he and C.J. Gardner-Johnson collided in the air as a pass from Watson fell incomplete.
After the missed INT, Mitchell was very animated in his teammate’s direction but didn’t want to repeat what he told Gardner-Johnson on the field.
“You gotta let the rookie be the rookie sometimes,” Gardner-Johnson said with a smile. “He’s a passionate guy. The ball is going to fall in either of our hands eventually. We’ll get our first ones of this year and the first one of his career. So it’ll come.”
It’s not like Mitchell hasn’t been in position to get a pick. He should probably already have a few this season.
He knows it’s just a matter of time.
“It’s coming. I just can’t force it,” Mitchell said. “Gotta just keep doing my job and it’ll come.”
Overall, the Eagles’ defense played very well against a struggling Browns offense. The two rookie cornerbacks were a big reason why. When quarterback Jalen Hurts praised the defense after the game, guess which two players he named first.
“Proud of how the defense really stepped up and played,” Hurts said. “The young guys, Cooper and Quinyon stepping up against some really good receivers.”
There’s a chance that Sunday was the first of many games with Mitchell and DeJean as staples of the Eagles’ secondary. The hope is that they’re both cornerstone pieces.
And maybe in a decade, they can both look up on their walls and remember where it started.
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