Roob's Eagles Observations: Jakorian Bennett Helps Himself In Cornerback Battle

Roob's Eagles Observations: Jakorian Bennett helps himself in cornerback battle originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Thank God that’s over.

The Eagles’ three-game preseason ended Friday night with an 19-17 win over the Jets at MetLife Stadium in a game that seemed like it might never end.

Some good things happened. Some bad things happened. Best of all, the preseason is over, and Eagles-Cowboys is less than two weeks away. Here we goooooo!

But we do have one final edition of Roob’s Instant Observations with roster cuts coming on Tuesday and a lot of interesting decisions coming for Howie Roseman and Nick Sirianni.

Let’s take a look at what we learned Friday night.

1. It wasn’t a perfect performance, and he was facing an undrafted rookie free agent quarterback, so you have to consider that. But I just see Jakorian Bennett making plays when he’s out there that Kelee Ringo and Adoree’ Jackson haven’t been making. Bennett had great coverage on receiver Arian Smith on an early incomplete pass by Brady Cook deep in Jets territory, then had back-to-back big-time tackles for short games on Cook passes to receiver Brandon Smith and tight end Jeremy Ruckert. Bennett and had a pass breakup and allowed three short gains before leaving the game. I still think Adoree’ Jackson is going to start the season as CB2 across from Quinyon Mitchell, but I like what I’ve seen from Bennett, especially considering he just got here two weeks ago. I wouldn’t be shocked if he’s a starter by week three or four. Or earlier.

2. Kyle McCord had a few nice throws, notably an 11-yard pickup to Ben VanSumeren on a blitz, a 19-yarder to tight end Kylen Granson and a 14-yarder to new acquisition John Metchie III. But let’s be honest. McCord is not ready. He had one bad interception – a deep ball down the right sideline to Darius Cooper, who was draped in double coverage – and threw three other passes that could have or should have been picked off. Final stats: 15-for-35 for 136 yards with no TDs, one INT and a 42.1 passer rating. Final stats for the preseason: 24-for-56 for 191 yards, one TD, two INTs and a 43.1 passer rating. McCord, who led the BCS in passing yards and touchdowns last year at Syracuse, is a 22-year-old rookie 6th-round pick and there are going to be ups and downs for any rookie QB who doesn’t get many reps in practice. But the downs are drastically out-numbering the ups, and it’s a little scary right now because Tanner McKee has been out since Monday with a finger injury and we don’t know how serious it is, opening day is 13 days away, and the thought of McCord having to play in a meaningful regular-season game is scary. Now, most likely McCord won’t have to play. But I can’t imagine Nick Sirianni and Howie Roseman are thrilled about going into a season with an erratic rookie 6th-round pick as the No. 3. Dorian Thompson-Robinson has been significantly worse than McCord, and he didn’t even play Friday night, so he’s certainly not the solution. I don’t know how you’re going to find a quarterback on the street who’s better suited to playing now in this offense than McCord. So I’m not sure the Eagles have options here. Not an ideal situation.

3. Veteran edge rusher Ogbonnia “Ogbo” Okoronkwo keeps showing up, both in practice the last week of training camp and again Friday night at the Meadowlands. Okoronkwo is another older veteran who, like Nickerson, has bounced around the league (Rams, Texans, Browns, Eagles) but has had some decent production, with 12 ½ sacks the last three years in limited playing time. Ogbo has been better than Azeez Ojulari this summer and at least as good as Josh Uche, who’s now hurt. Ogbo had a couple hurries against the Jets and he also had a hurry against the Browns. The Eagles are going to keep five edges, and there are no locks after Nolan Smith and Jalyx Hunt. I figure rookie 6th-rounder Antwaun Powell-Ryland is headed to the practice squad, and especially if Uche isn’t ready for the opener, I think Okoronkwo and Patrick Johnson – who’s had a very nice summer and is a terrific special teamer – will probably both wind up on the 53.

4. Kudos to Mac McWilliams for being the only guy to realize that a loose ball late in the third quarter was a fumble and not an incomplete pass. Jets quarterback Adrian Martinez dropped back and Eagles rookie Antwaun Powell-Ryland smacked the ball loose before his arm motion went forward. The ball came loose and a bunch of Eagles just kind of stood around and watched, thinking it was incomplete. These guys are all taught to jump on the ball no matter what. If it really is an incomplete pass, no harm done. If it’s a fumble, now you have the football. McWilliams scooped the ball up and returned it eight yards and the refs indeed called it a fumble and a change of possession. That led to a field goal. Just heads-up play by the rookie from Central Florida, and was great to see that his head was in the game when a few others had no idea what was going on.

5. How about that Parry Nickerson? I just wrote about Parry’s wild NFL journey and how he’s really elbowed his way into the 53-man roster picture as a slot corner who can also play outside. Nickerson showed why the oldest defensive player on the roster has a shot at sticking Tuesday with his tumbling 1st-quarter interception. Nickerson, covering Jets slot receiver Malachi Corley, anticipated Brady Cook’s pass to Corley, jumped the route, batted the ball up, secured it as he was flying through the air, then plunged to the ground, turning his body to keep the ball safely away from the turf. It was a big-time play and the kind of play that gets the coaches’ attention four days before roster cuts. Nickerson has been good all summer. I don’t know what’s going to happen Tuesday, but I really believe he’s earned a spot on the 53. (Full disclosure – Nickerson had a terrible missed tackle on Lawrance Toafili’s 19-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.)

6. This game is so funny sometimes. Lewis Cine has probably been the most invisible guy in training camp. He hasn’t made one play. Hasn’t come close to making one play. He’s been banged up, ineffective, missed time, limped around and just hasn’t looked remotely like the guy that the Vikings drafted in the first round in 2022. If you ranked the training camp performances of all 90 guys on the roster, he might have finished 90th. So what happens in the third quarter? Cine makes this incredible, athletic, acrobatic, diving interception on a pass by Adrian Martinez. One of the Eagles’ best defensive players of the preseason. The Eagles liked Cine enough to bring him late last year and stash him on the practice squad so he could get a head start on learning the defense. Maybe they’ll keep him there for another year. Maybe a play like he made Friday night will help his case. It really was impressive. Good for Cine. But try to figure this game out and you just can’t do it.

7. Interesting that Matt Pryor didn’t dress for this one. That generally means you’ve made the team. Pryor, originally the Eagles’ 6th-round pick in the 2018 Dallas Goedert / Josh Sweat / Jordan Mailata draft, has bounced around the NFL the last few years – Colts, 49ers, Bears – mainly playing guard. But he spent most of this training camp at tackle, and it sure looks like he’ll take over that swing tackle role that Fred Johnson held last year. The Big V role. There wasn’t a ton of competition for that swing tackle role. The Eagles signed Pryor this offseason but they also signed 10-year veteran Kendall Lamm, who’s been exclusively a tackle with the Texans, Browns, Titans and Dolphins, but Pryor’s been better this summer. Rookie 6th-round picks Cameron Williams and Myles Hinton aren’t ready. So looks like the job belongs to Pryor, whose only five career starts at tackle came with the Colts in 2021. Doesn’t seem ideal, and I still think Pryor is a better guard than tackle. But Jeff Stoutland knows what he’s doing. He wouldn’t have him out there if he wasn’t ready.

8. Nice to finally 22-year-old running back Montrell Johnson finally get some room to work. Johnson, an undrafted rookie from Florida, missed about a week and a half of camp and preseason opener with a hamstring injury and didn’t have a lot of opportunities to run in the Browns game, finishing 6-for-20. But he looked very good Friday night with a couple twisting 13-yard runs and then a 15-yarder up the middle for a touchdown. Johnson came in as a pretty intriguing free agent thanks to his college production – over 3,000 yards, 33 TDs and a 5.4 career average in one year at Louisiana and three at Florida. But the injury really cut into his summer, and this was his first chance to show what he’s all about, and he really took advantage. Johnson finished 14-for-59 with that TD and looked good for the most part. What happens now? I don’t think the Eagles will keep a fourth running back behind Saquon Barkley, A.J. Dillon and Will Shipley. If they do, it’s Johnson. If they don’t, they’ll try to sneak him onto the practice squad. He’s an impressive kid and you’d hate to lose him.

9. Who was that No. 78 running around in the fourth quarter on the Eagles’ defense? That was Jereme Robinson, a rookie defensive end from Kansas who the Eagles signed … earlier in the day? Robinson took the roster spot that opened up when they placed wide receiver Johnny Wilson on Injured Reserve with knee and ankle injuries suffered at practice on Tuesday. Robinson, 6-foot-3, 265 pounds, is with his third team this summer. He started training camp with the Bears and then spent some time with the Patriots before joining the Eagles. He actually went out there and ran around and did some good things just a few hours after signing with the Eagles. Gotta give credit for showing up.

10. My favorite play of this game came on the Jets’ two-point conversion attempt after Donovan Edwards’ touchdown run brought the Jets within two at 19-17 with 3:10 left in the game. On the conversion attempt, Edwards ran up the middle and was stood up by linebacker Dallas Gant, the Eagles’ other former Toledo player. Jacob Sykes helped Gant clean up, but it was impressive stuff. Edwards was just inches away from the goal-line but Gant just stuffed him, and a replay review confirmed that Edwards didn’t get in the end zone. Does it matter? Nah. Was anybody still watching? Nah. Does anybody care? I care, dang-it! That was a monster stuff by Gant.