The numbers didn't jump off the page but when you look at the film, third-year receiver Britain Covey was one of the bright spots in the Eagles' disappointing 22-21 loss to Atlanta on Monday night.
One of the NFL's best punt returners, the undersized Covey played a career-high 23 snaps on offense (32% of Philadelphia's total) and was heavily involved when on the field, catching all six of his targets for 23 yards. It would have been eight for eight for 44 yards if not for a pair of Cam Jurgens penalties for being illegally downfield.
The increased role was tied to the absent A.J. Brown, who felt tightness in his hamstring last Friday and was ruled out the Saturday before the game.
"I think it was awesome," offensive coordinator Kellen Moore said of Covey's performance. "Great example of a guy who hops in there late in the week and was ready to roll. That's what happens in NFL seasons. Guys like Covey are ready and available, but they never know when they are going to hop out there. He jumped out there and handled it really well. Converted some stuff and gave us a nice run after catch. Gave us a lot of positives."
According to Pro Football Focus, Covey was the third-best skill-position player on the night for Philadelphia behind tight end Grant Calcaterra and running back Saquon Barkley. An Eagles team source said Covey was No. 1 when it came to in-house grading.
"It's funny because you haven't played yet and maybe people view you as a tier below but like I don't do that," Covey said before practice on Thursday. "You know, like everyone compares me to a Cole Beasley or [Julian] Edelman as someone who could be that [a great slot WR] and in my mind I am. So when you get an opportunity you try to show it's not your a tier below. No, that's who I am. That's who I can be."
Covey excelled during a week where the game plan was installed with the typical heavy emphasis on Brown, the Eagles' All-Pro wideout.
"You can't change that much," Covey admitted. "We repped certain plays for four extra days last week going into it. So we had already wrapped the plays multiple times and stuff. So it's tough. You change a few things but you can't change a lot. ... It puts the coordinators in the tough position for sure."
The most impressive part of Covey's skill set was his short-area quickness.
"I pride myself on separation above all things because I can't afford to not have separation of myself," Covey said. So my goal is to always have a yard more separation than anybody else and I did it. But you know, you still don't have too many opportunities on routes [down the field]."
With Brown expected to miss Sunday's game in New Orleans and the game plan being implemented to reflect that perhaps that's the next step for Covey, who has earned the trust of quarterback Jalen Hurts.
“It's just a lot of time on task working with [Covey], and, you know, conversations and reps, his approach, his intentionality in what he does," Hurts said. "And you know, he showed up for us, and we’ll need him to continue to do that."
Whatever his role against the Saints, Covey plans to embrace it and perform it with efficacy.
"Whatever my role is that week I'm gonna go all out with it and I'm not gonna complain if it's not that big," Covey said. "I'm just gonna do it."
