Eagles Notebook: Birds re-sign punt returner Britain Covey
Kelly Green is back. Packers go all-in.
From The Reporter/MediaNews Group: https://tinyurl.com/8up2k449
PHILADELPHIA — Seeking stability in the return game, the Eagles brought back wide receiver and punt return specialist Britain Covey, signing him to their practice squad on Thursday.
The 28-year-old cleared waivers with the Los Angeles Rams, filling a hole created when the Birds cut Ainias Smith and Avery Williams earlier in the week.
Covey spent three seasons with the Eagles but became a free agent in March.
The Eagles lacked an experienced punt returner, and no clear candidate emerged in training camp. Third receiver Jahan Dotson handled punts at Penn State but has never returned them in the NFL. Cornerback Cooper DeJean, who assumed return duties as a rookie when Covey was out injured, is projected to play virtually every defensive snap this season, making coaches wary of using him on special teams.
Covey, undrafted out of Utah in 2022, offers proven production. In 2023, he averaged 14.4 yards on 29 returns, the third-best single-season mark in franchise history behind Brian Westbrook’s 2003 season and DeSean Jackson’s 2009 campaign. Covey led the league with 417 punt-return yards and ranked third in the NFL behind Marvin Mims and Derius Davis. His 11.3‑yard career average is ninth highest among undrafted players with at least 50 returns and fourth best in team history, trailing only Ernie Steele, Brian Mitchell and Darren Sproles.
He also logged a career-high six catches in Week 2 of 2023. He has 11 career receptions for 76 yards. With the Rams this preseason, he caught nine passes for 79 yards.
Covey’s rise stalled in 2024, as injuries limited him to five games. When the Eagles opted not to tender him he became an unrestricted free agent.
The Eagles added Williams during the offseason, and Covey signed a one-year deal with the Rams. Los Angeles waived him at final cutdowns.
By re-signing him, general manager Howie Roseman kept open the option of elevating Covey for game days without immediately using a roster spot.
The Eagles also signed veteran safety Marcus Epps and offensive tackle Luke Felix-Fualalo to the practice squad. Epps, who was with the organization from 2019-22, provides depth in a secondary thinned by Andrew Mukuba’s hamstring injury. Felix-Fualalo, a native of Australia, fills the International Player Pathway exemption slot.
Kelly Green is back: The Eagles will wear their Kelly Green throwback uniforms in three games this season against division opponents: Week 8 vs. the Giants, Week 12 in Dallas and Week 18 vs. the Commanders.
Since re-introducing the jerseys two years ago, the Cowboys game is the first time they’ll wear them on the road.
The Birds are 4-0 in the old-school unis, with big moments including Saquon Barkley’s reverse hurdle and Nakobe Dean’s game-sealing interception in the end zone against the Jaguars, a division-clinching win over Dallas last season and the rainy overtime victory against the Bills in 2023 in which Jalen Hurts ran for the decisive touchdown.
The Eagles began wearing the Irish-inspired “Kelly Green” jerseys in 1935, gradually phasing out the original yellow and blue. They wore them from their NFL Championship seasons in 1948, 1949 and 1960 to some godawful years in the ‘70s. From 1985 to 1995, the Birds wore a slightly darker shade, though it is still considered a version of Kelly Green.
Since 1996, when the organization switched to midnight green, the Eagles wore Kelly Green just once — in 2010 against the Green Bay Packers, honoring the 50th anniversary of the 1960 title over Green Bay — until reviving the jerseys in 2023.
Packers go all-in: When Dallas played at the Linc last December, several Eagles fans heckled Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on the field pregame. “Keep doing what you’re doing, Jerry!” they yelled. Jones admitted it gave him a chuckle, considering his team hasn’t been to a Super Bowl in three decades.
Jones, 82, has said he wants to win another championship before he dies. But he seems to be heeding Eagles fans’ advice. By trading edge rusher Micah Parsons, one of the best players of his generation, to Green Bay for a pair of late first-round draft picks and defensive tackle Kenny Clark, the question arises: Is Jerry trying to win now or plan for the future?
Regardless of what’s going on in Jerry World, it’s clear the Packers are all-in on winning now.
Green Bay’s 2024 season began and ended with losses to the Eagles, in the opener in Brazil and then in the NFC wild-card round. The Packers went 11-6 in the regular season but finished third in a crowded NFC North behind Detroit and Minnesota.
During the spring, Green Bay led an effort to ban the tush push play, which the Eagles have developed to near perfection. That effort failed.
Eagles practice squad: Right now it's Covey, Felix-Fualalo, Epps, CB Ambry Thomas (a former third-rounder claimed from the 49ers), QB Kyle McCord, CB Eli Ricks, S Andre Sam, CB Parry Nickerson, CB Brandon Johnson, OLB Patrick Johnson, OLB Antwaun Powell-Ryland, LB Chance Campbell, OT Hollin Pierce, OG Kenyon Green, WR Terrace Marshall, TE E.J. Jenkins, WR Elijah Cooks and TE Cameron Latu.
NOTES: The Eagles claimed Willie Lampkin, an undrafted rookie out of North Carolina, off waivers from the Rams on Wednesday. The Cowboys claimed OL Trevor Keegan off waivers from the Eagles. … LG Landon Dickerson (knee), LT Jordan Mailata (concussion), WRs A.J. Brown (hamstring) and DeVonta Smith (groin) and CB Kelee Ringo (quad) all practiced for the second straight day. … Mukuba (hamstring) was out again. … Teams don’t have to release full injury reports until Week 1 practices officially begin Sunday.
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Follow Christiaan DeFranco on X at @the_defranc.