When the news of Adoree' Jackson's injury kept him out of the Philadelphia Eagles' Week 4 matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, many fans were dreading the idea of Kelee Ringo playing in the game.
Ringo battled with Jackson for the starting CB2 job during training camp. While Jackson didn't thoroughly impress, Ringo struggled mightily, which resulted in his removal from contention during the last week of training camp.
Since then, he has been more of a special teams player, working on return coverage. His defensive coordinator, Vic Fangio, told him his opportunity was coming before Jackson's injury. Sunday opened up Ringo's chance to take back the job every Eagles fan wanted to win at the beginning of camp.
Fangio gave his blunt assessment of Ringo's play vs. Buccaneers
Ringo finished the game with four tackles and one pass deflection as the Eagles held on for the 31-25 win over the Buccaneers. From the initial reactions, it was poor for Ringo as he missed multiple tackles that infuriated fans.
When speaking with the media on Tuesday, though, Fangio felt a bit different. In fact, he complimented Ringo for his play.
"I thought he did good. He can be better. The true test for him will be to see how he improves, but overall, good."
"He was pretty sticky in man coverage. I'd like to see his tackling improve. You know, one thing a guy has to learn who has played predominantly special teams is tackling on defense is a lot different from tackling in special teams, but I'm confident he can improve on that."
Fangio was also asked about whether Ringo would start at CB2 when Jackson returns. The idea wasn't exactly shot down.
"It's possible."
This certainly opens an interesting Pandora's Box for the Eagles, with Ringo and Jackson back at it again, battling for the CB2 job. Jackson has made a convincing argument for keeping his job after allowing just 49 receiving yards combined in Weeks 2 and 3 after surrendering over 100 yards in the Eagles' Week 1 win over the Dallas Cowboys.
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Philly's practices leading up to the Denver Broncos showdown on Sunday will be fascinating to track. Fangio has a tough decision to make: whether to stick with Ringo or, if Jackson is healthy, go back to the nine-year veteran.