Devon Allen Missed OTAs After Testing Positive for COVID-19
Devon Allen hasn't played organized football since 2016 at Oregon, instead opting to use his lightning speed to reach the top of the track and field world.
With that goal accomplished as a 110m hurdler on two U.S. Olympic Teams, Allen wants to revisit his football days with the Ducks and agreed to sign with the Eagles back in April.
Allen, however, wasn't participating in on-field workouts at the Eagles' OTAs over the past two weeks and we now have a reason why.
Appearing on the Takeoff with John Clark podcast, Allen revealed he tested positive for COVID-19 on May 29 which limited him to virtual meetings in the spring.
Thankfully Allen is fine and his symptoms were mild but he's now champing at the bit to get to work with Eagles quarterbacks Jalen Hurts, Gardner Minshew, Reid Sinnett, and Carson Strong.
“I haven’t been with an NFL caliber quarterback since I was in college,” Allen said.
Allen, however, did get some facetime with his new teammates while participating at the Penn Relays back in April when he set the 110m hurdles meet record. A number of Eagles players showed up to cheer Allen on.
One of them was Darius Slay, the always energetic Pro Bowl cornerback who can talk trash with the best of them. Allen joked that "Being a pro track and field athlete, I don’t race for free," when asked if any of his teammates wanted to take down an Olympian in the 40.
“I was like, ‘All right, we’ll race but for $10,000 a race,’ and nobody took me up on that yet," Allen said.
Slay responded on social media.
The Eagles open training camp on July 26 and Allen plans to put his track exploits on hold until after the Super Bowl if things go to plan.
“The training is similar," he said. "I train to be as explosive and strong as possible on the track, and that’s pretty much what I’ll be doing with football."
Eagles Special teams coordinator Michael Clay was recently asked about Allen's potential as a kick returner and hinted at what is essentially a developmental plan.
"Devon hasn't played football since 2016, but we're excited to have that type of speed really," Clay said. "Saw him playing in college at Oregon. He was a very good receiver at Oregon, has top-end blazing speed. He is an Olympic athlete for a reason.
"But we're excited to see him back on the football field. It's just him getting back into football shape, one, so he doesn't get hurt. But we're going to try and untap some sort of potential that he may be holding back from not playing in a little bit."
Allen is a long shot to make the initial 53-man roster but a spot on the 16-man practice squad is virtually assured if Allen proves serviceable in training camp and subsequently clears waivers.
-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Sports. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talker Jody McDonald, every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube.com and JAKIBSports.com. You can reach John at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
