Eagles have lost rookie cornerback JaCorey Shepherd for the season because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
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The injury occurred during practice on Sunday, when Shepherd and Darren Sproles collided during a seven-on-seven drill. After undergoing an MRI this morning, it was revealed that Shepherd is done for the season with an ACL tear.
Remember when the Philadelphia Eagles thought it would be a good idea to trade Brandon Boykin to the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for a conditional fifth-round pick?
Second-year cornerback Jaylen Watkins and undrafted rookie Denzel Rice are the two players likely to compete for the nickelback job with Shepherd sidelined. He has started 31 games in his career, and has four interceptions. First, realize that the Eagles use the nickel corneback on half (or less) of their defensive snaps. Evans was a sixth-round pick who played slot cornerback at Kansas State.
Biggers, 28, was a seventh-round pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2009.
The team’s plan in nickel situations was to move Nolan Carroll to the slot and put rookie cornerback Eric Rowe on the outside. Perhaps the Eagles would consider using Maxwell in the slot for matchups with specific players.
The Eagles have some options to replace Shepherd. Or Malcolm Jenkins could cover the slot, but that didn’t work so well a year ago.
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