PHILADELPHIA – When Eagles cornerback Avonte Maddox brought beginner Cooper DeJean to a golf course in New Jersey to play a 2v2 match with teammates last summer, Maddox and safety Reed Blankenship they both tried to get DeJean to talk more.

DeJean, a 21-year-old cornerback from Iowa, has a quiet demeanor. He doesn’t talk very often and won’t say much during a conversation.

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So every time DeJean spoke that day, Maddox and Blankenship looked at each other and laughed. They were surprised to hear him speak after months of silence.

After moving across the country, it took DeJean a while to get comfortable with his new teammates and living in a big city. Now, he makes jokes with his friends in the locker room and explores different places.

“It’s been a lot different, but I’ve gotten used to it and I know where things are,” DeJean told NJ Advance Media. “I enjoyed my time. There are a lot of different places to eat that we’ve tried that are pretty good. There is a good pizza place that I tried last week. There’s a chicken place I like. Fried chicken with love and honeyi love that place But the food. People are welcoming. The fans are passionate. I like that.”

DeJean, a second-round pick, has become even more confident on the field. After missing most of training camp with a thigh injury, he needed more time to learn Vic Fangio’s defensive scheme and had to shake off the rust, so the Eagles benched him for the first four weeks of the season.

After the bye week, DeJean became the starting nickel cornerback. He collected 10 tackles, half a sack and provided good coverage in his first two starts. The Eagles will need him to play well in the next 11 games, including Sunday’s tough matchup against the Bengals wide receivers. Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.

“For me, it’s important to make sure I’m on top of things from a football standpoint,” DeJean said. “I’m here most of the day. Most of it is football. When I go home, watch the tape for a bit. I try to balance my personal life as well. I talk to people, my friends back home, whatever. So finding that balance a little bit with being away from home. Getting back to them, but also staying focused and preparing mentally and physically for football.”

Last month, DeJean became the Eagles’ punt returner Britain Covey went on injured reserve. He gained 102 yards in Week 3, averaging 11.3 yards per return and a long of 28 yards in Eagles dominant win over New York Giants last sunday

DeJean said he can be a “game changer” in return. But when Covey returns from injury, the Eagles could let him return punts again and have DeJean focus on defense.

“It’s kind of like if you imagine he was a kid, you know he was the kid who was good at everything,” Covey said. “You can put it in golf and in a few years, it will be very good. You can put it on ping pong. You can put him in any sport because he’s athletic and has great hand-eye coordination.”

“camouflaged”

Every day, DeJean sits at the Eagles facility from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Learn from defensive backs Darius Slay, CJ Gardner-Johnson and James Bradberryamong other players. The veterans told DeJean to take care of his body and stay focused during practices and meets.

DeJean asks questions of his teammates and coaches to get “on the same page with them.” He said learning the different calls for each specific game plan has been the most difficult part of the transition, but his teammates say he’s done a good job of mastering the concepts.

“He’s really good at knowing where to be in certain conversations that we have,” Maddox said. “Even if it’s a call we have where he’s closing down zones or in the right spot, watching the quarterback’s eyes. He just makes plays.”

Eagles defensive tackle Thomas Booker was impressed by DeJean’s maturity.

“I think he’s one of these guys that’s camouflaged,” Booker said. “You wouldn’t be able to tell if he was a rookie or if he had been here for five to seven years.”

Pro Football Focus gave DeJean’s Week 7 performance the third-highest grade (86.3) among NFL cornerbacks. As the season progresses, he could develop into one of the league’s rising defensive stars.

“His poise (is impressive),” the Eagles practice squad wide receiver Parris Campbell said. “He goes in there and he’s just ready, like he didn’t shake at all. I think it’s good for a beginner. You can see when he’s out there on the field, he’s just confident. He knows he can run. They’re just playing this trick, man. It’s cool to see.”

“I didn’t know she could dance”

Eagles cornerback Isaiah Rodgers has seen DeJean “opening up a lot off the court” in recent weeks. DeJean makes his teammates laugh when he recites rap lines. They sing in the hallways and on the practice field and sometimes dance to the music.

“He got some moves on him,” Wilson said. “I saw that today in training. Actually, that’s the craziest thing. I was dying to laugh. I said, “Man, she doesn’t need to dance.” But he can dance, that’s the funny part. I think he was dancing with (rapper) BlocBoy JB with Reed Blankenship, half brothers right there. It was funny as hell. He was doing the “Shoot” dance move. with Reed. I was like, ‘Okay.'”

Campbell said DeJean “doesn’t say much” but trash talks his teammates and gets “an edge” from it. He thinks DeJean is a better trash talker than the Eagles’ rookie cornerback Quinyon Mitchellwho talked smack to the Eagles receivers AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith during training camp and looked at the Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans in a week 4 loss.

“It’s a quieter discussion,” Campbell explained.

After the Eagles’ 20-16 win over the Cleveland Browns in Week 6, Rodgers said DeJean spoke out loud to help him and other teammates understand their assignments. Maddox also said DeJean has done a good job of communicating since passing him for the starting job.

DeJean is also proud of himself.

“Ever since I was a kid, that’s what I’ve wanted, to play at the highest level,” DeJean said. “I want to be one of the best. … I just want to come in and take full advantage of the opportunities I have on the field and make an impact on this team in any way I can.”