He’s still shagging punts. Not every day, but enough days to keep sharp. Cooper DeJean has a lot on his plate between playing the slot and now having safety duties to work on, so returning punts may be a thing of his past.
It wouldn’t be a bad idea, and the Eagles may be warming to that idea. They signed Avery Williams in free agency, and even though he missed spring OTAs with an injury, he is getting a good run at being the punt returner and kickoff returner.
It’s a real advantage to have somebody who can do both because roster spots are at a premium. Williams did both for three years with the Falcons.
There’s also Ainias Smith, who can return punts, too, and perhaps he has an inside track to the job. Anything to take a piece of something off DeJean’s plate.
“I think Ainias has done a really good job of just improving his feet, his hands,” said special-team coordinator Michael Clay. “He's put in the work. You could definitely tell in the off season wherever he was training at and OTAs to now him just being more confident, kind of just calm cool collected back there, which has been great.
“We're excited to see maybe a little live action as we move forward with him catching and see what he can do. He was a pretty explosive return at Texas A&M.”
In five seasons with A&M, Smith had 82 for 836 yards and two touchdowns. Last year, Smith struggled to catch the ball and looked like he was pressing. He also dealt with an injury during camp. He has returned looking like a different player.
As for DeJean, he stepped in last year when Britain Covey went down with an injury and missed most of the season. DeJean had 21 returns for 211 yards with a long of 31 yards.
“Once we get closer to the regular season, we'll have a better feel,” said Clay about DeJean returning to the role. “But as of now, do I feel it? Probably not. But you never know what's going to happen. You never know if he wants to be out there, and if the player wants to be out there, he wants to be out there. But for right now, let me get these young guys, see if they could catch a couple punts out there.”
