Philadelphia Eagles: Ronald Darby, Jay Ajayi change jersey numbers

Have your receipts ready if you bought a Ronald Darby or Jay Ajayi jersey last season…

Jersey numbers have been a strange issue in the Philadelphia Eagles locker room this past season. With guys being traded and coming onto the team late, they never really got their fair choice of jersey numbers. It all started with former Eagles running back LeGarrette Blount. He initially rocked a No. 35 jersey to begin the preseason, only to change it to his original No. 29 before the regular season kicked off.

Then, Ronald Darby joined the Eagles as No. 35 after they traded for him in the middle of training camp. After stating that No. 35 was apparently ‘ugly,’ Darby quickly made the transition to No. 41 as soon as he could before week one kicked off.

Eagles running back Jay Ajayi had no choice whatsoever last year when he came to Philadelphia. The former Miami Dolphins back arrived in Philly just one week before the Eagles bye week in the middle of the season. He was forced to fill in some big footsteps by wearing No. 36, the number that Eagles Hall of Famer Brian Westbrook once wore.

Now with the 2017-18 season in the rearview, Darby and Ajayi will get a clean slate. On Thursday, the Eagles veterans got to choose their jersey numbers for the 2018 season before the young rookies come into town in the next couple of weeks.

New Numbers:

If you bought a Darby or Ajayi jersey over the past year, it might be time to return it if you can. It’s unfortunate, but it was expected. Ajayi was the first to say that he would probably wear a new number in 2018. He didn’t exactly state why, but it wasn’t hard to tell that he likes his jersey number to be in the 20’s range. After all, he did wear No. 27 in college, and No. 23 on the Dolphins.

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As for Darby, he took to Instagram a month ago to ask his fans if he should keep his No. 41 jersey or not. Apparently, the public consensus voted for a change, and he is giving the people what they want. Darby will now don No. 21 for the 2018 season. Now 36 and 41 will be available to the next set of players coming in after this weekend.