Cyprien looking to make a name for himself against Titans
With or without Wentz, Eagles open preseason on Thursday vs. Titans
PHILADELPHIA >> In his Eagles debut in the lone fan-friendly practice of the summer Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field, Johnathan Cyprien scooped up a fumble, cruised upfield and basked in the applause of a crowd of 40,000.
So, what if the scoreboard portrayed him as Godwin Igwebuike, the safety the Eagles released when they added Cyprien? Both players wore No. 41.
Cyprien got a laugh out of the news, asked who he should speak with to correct the mistake, then shrugged.
“I don’t care,” Cyprien said. “I’m going to earn my place. I’m not telling anyone anything. They’ll find out on their own.”
Igwebulke – sorry, Cyprien – has a chance to make another statement Thursday night when the Eagles entertain the Tennessee Titans (7:30, NBC 10) in the preseason opener for both teams.
The safety position is in a state of flux for the Eagles, a melting pot of the old such as de facto starters Malcolm Jenkins and Rodney McLeod, and the new, not necessarily young in Andrew Sendejo, Blake Countess and Cyprien. Youngsters Tre Sullivan and Deiondre Hall showed how they fit in for the Birds last year.
That Cyrpien’s first game test is against the Titans, who released him one year into a contract that would have paid him $5.5 million this season, is something he has no time for. Heck, he’ll get together with Kenny Vaccaro, the safety who took his job before the game.
“Honestly, I don’t look at it as strange,” Cyprien said. “I don’t know if that’s the right word. There’s a lot more people on the outside looking at it differently than I do. I have my own relationships, my own mindset about things and I go about things differently. I know it’s a game and it’s not about who I’m playing and it’s never about who unfriended me.”
Cyprien won’t have to worry about Eagles fans unfriending him providing he brings the aggressive, physical style with him each time he hits the field. The 6-1,
211-pound product of Florida International plays like a linebacker and runs like defensive back.
The torn ACL that wiped out Cyprien’s
2018 season before it began is healed, and he’s been able to jump right into action in full gear for the contact practices with the Eagles.
Learning the defensive terminology has been the toughest transition. Cyprien will play faster once he understands it. The good news is he has fresh legs that should serve him well both at safety and on special teams, the other area in which he’ll need to excel in order to make the club.
After Jenkins and McLeod, the third, fourth and possibly fifth safety slots are open. The Eagles could keep an extra safety to help with some of the matchups they enjoyed before linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill’s sprained MCL. He could be sidelined for the first game of the season.
Sendejo 6-1, 210) is a hitter who’s had issues staying healthy.
Countess, despite the 5-10, 191-pound profile, is a tenacious hitter and special teams leader. He could pick up where Grugier-Hill left off on kick coverage teams.
Cyprien, who hasn’t played since the last day of 2017, must stay healthy and make an impression – and fast.
“I know it’s a business,” Cyprien said. “Teams make business decisions and so do players.”
Carson Wentz said he’s ready to play if the Eagles put him on the field Thursday night.
Either way, the veteran coming off a stress fracture in his back supports the decision-making of head coach Doug Pederson. More and more teams are holding quarterbacks and key players out of the preseason.
“Every coach has their own kind of method,” Wentz said. “Every quarterback has their own kind of plan. A lot of it is just dictated by what Coach thinks. That’s how we do it.” The day the Eagles put edge rusher Joe Ostman on injured reserve with a torn ACL, they handed his locker to journeyman defensive end Kasim Edebali, freshly signed to the roster.
Edebai (6-2, 253) has played for the Saints, Broncos, Lions and Bengals. He has eight sacks in 62 games, although none since 2016.
The undrafted product of Boston College turns 30 next week.
The Eagles also signed cornerback Ajene Harris (5-9, 182), an undrafted free agent out of USC, and waived-injured rookie offensive tackle Casey Tucker, coming off a concussion.
Harris is more of a zone cornerback, according to scouting guides, and has a size-speed ratio working against him. He clocked a 4.53 in the 40-yard dash.
Pederson, too, was impressed by the jump-cut by Miles Sanders in the public practice.
Sanders gets a chance to do it on a game level Thursday. But that’s not all he’ll be judged on.
“It kind of falls in line, I think, with anybody; the execution, hitting the hole, being patient,” Pederson said. “You know, hanging on to the football when he’s tackled. Even some of the bright spots we saw the other night at the Linc practice where he was able to jump cut and circle the defense and use his acceleration to get into the end zone. Those are the things you want to see carry over into a game and (we’ll) give him an opportunity to do that.”