Philadelphia Eagles will continue to use ‘cornerback by committee’ approach

The Philadelphia Eagles do not have any definitive answers for the cornerback position right now. Therefore, they will continue to rotate.

This past summer, the Philadelphia Eagles were excited to host a position battle between all of the cornerbacks on board. Back in 2017, they were confident in the trio of Ronald Darby, Jalen Mills, and Patrick Robinson as the starters when all were healthy.

In 2018, that tandem split up. Robinson took a multi-year deal with the Saints, leaving Darby and Mills in Philly at the same spot. While those two started the year off on the outside, neither would finish. Mills suffered a foot injury, which ended his season. And Darby tore his ACL.

The secondary was in shambles at times last year — but at other times, their young cornerbacks were impressive enough to want to give them a chance to try and win a starting spot this summer. Cre’Von LeBlanc joined the likings of Mills and Darby on the injured list.

That left Rasul Douglas, Sidney Jones, and Avonte Maddox as the only guys who were really going to make the squad. Eventually, Darby returned. Knowing that Darby started on the outside for the last two years, he didn’t really have to battle for a starting opportunity.

Maddox and Jones fought for inside and outside spots, while Douglas ended up winning over the opposite side of Darby. This week, Jones was the odd-man-out as he remained on the sidelines for most of the first half. However, the Eagles aren’t confident in their current trio. Therefore, they are taking on a strange approach, which they use in their backfield — the cornerback by committee.

What happens during week two?

We assumed after a summer’s worth of competing; the Eagles would know who their starting cornerbacks were already. That wasn’t the case. Between Monday and Sunday, the Eagles changed their minds twice.

Initially, Jones and Darby were starting on the outside while Maddox remained in the nickel. But by Saturday, Jim Schwartz switched it up. Instead, Douglas would start over Jones.

To put it just, Douglas struggled against the Washington Redskins on Sunday. And the rest of the unit? They were pretty bad as well. Jim Schwartz acknowledged the struggles of the secondary on Tuesday during his weekly press conference. While Schwartz isn’t too fond of the idea of rotating cornerbacks in and out, he understands he doesn’t have much of a choice right now.

While there’s no definitive answer for the position at the moment, Schwartz wants to see a larger sample size. Through one week, though, the results haven’t been promising. According to Pro Football Focus, Rasul Douglas allowed a passer rating of 158.3 when targeted, and let up one of the biggest plays of the day as he got torched by a rookie wideout deep for six.

Ronald Darby wasn’t bad in coverage, but he continues to struggle with tackling. Plus, he’s been on a pitch count as he recovers from his knee injury, which he suffered back in December. Both Jones and Maddox had decent days but were far from flawless. Like Douglas, Jones got beat deep as well, but he benefitted from an overthrown ball.

The starting tandem hasn’t been named yet for week two. Schwartz has bought himself some time to think about who he is going to trot out there for the opening drive, but he’s already made it clear that the rotation will continue. Therefore, the ‘cornerback committee’ will remain a thing for the Eagles until Mills returns, or two defenders win over the position.