Eagles rookie Britain Covey’s tough day reinforces his ‘dog mentality’

It’s always those first few days that irritate you the most. It’s that first day of training. You know how it is. Everyone is sitting around because no one’s log-in codes work. There’s also the first day on the production floor, when you learn that nothing you did in training had anything to do with what you’d be doing during the actual workday. Believe it or not, the Philadelphia Eagles can relate, especially the guys who are still trying to prove something.

A professional football star’s job description is different from our own, but they see similar challenges. They have to deal with work-day traffic, underutilization, and discussions about pay raises. In Britain Covey‘s case, the first day at a new facility involved a parking issue.

Perhaps you’ve heard, but one of the more recent undrafted rookie free-agent signings had a rough start to his workday on Monday. The three-time First-Team All-Pac-12 nod (2018, 2020, 2021) was denied access to the players’ parking lot, and as a result, had to park with the fans who were in attendance.  Here is his detail of the events.

"I’ve been elevated to the active roster. I’m a return guy. They kind of looked at me skeptically, and after a little bit they were like, ‘Look, man. We’re sorry. You just don’t have the pass.’ I didn’t want to make a scene so I just said, ‘OK, just point me to where everybody else parks.’ And so they pointed me to where everybody else parks."

Again, tough days at the office are one of those similarities we all have with our beloved Birds.

Don’t expect any setbacks of any sort to stop Eagles rookie Britain Covey.

Britain Covey earned his spot on the Eagles practice squad on August 31st, one day after being waived during their final roster cuts. He’s been elevated from the practice squad to the Eagles’ active gameday roster in each of the team’s first two regular-season games to serve as the team’s punt returner. He’s seen nine special teams snaps, returning five punts for 27 yards.

Philadelphia has the option, per league rules, to elevate him from the scout team to the active roster once more. It isn’t the ideal situation. It clearly isn’t the position that Britain wants to be in. Being on the practice squad can sometimes feel like ‘football limbo’. You’re on the team but barely.

If we haven’t learned anything else about Covey, we’ve learned that he’ll persevere. There are other things we’ve seen from him during his development that are better examples of that statement’s accuracy than him being denied access to the team lot at Lincoln Financial Field, but having to find an alternate route to the locker room, in a way, is also evidence that there’s still work to be done.

The former Utah Ute has already become relatively popular and is taking things in stride. Here’s what he told ESPN.

"A few of (the fans) were looking at me like, ‘I feel like that guy is…’ and finally I said, ‘Are we ready for the game?’ And they said, ‘Yeah, are you?’… I’m determined to prove myself here and you have to start from where you started, and that’s the bottom, and prove yourself. Honestly, for me it’s a great story because it reminds me of my mentality. … It makes me want to play better, it makes me want to be better."

If that doesn’t scream ‘dog mentality’ nothing will. The Philadelphia Eagles’ next home game is scheduled for Week 4 in the NFL on Sunday, October 2nd versus the Jacksonville Jaguars. Something tells us that Covey will have all of the appropriate parking passes by that time.