Eagles' Reed Blankenship Is Comfortable With Safety Competition

PHILADELPHIA - The one constant on the back end of the Eagles’ defense in the 2025 season will be fourth-year pro Reed Blankenship.

It’s shaping up like the replacement for the departed C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who was traded to Houston in the offseason, will be piecemealed between Cooper DeJean in the base defense (when only two cornerbacks are on the field) and third-year pro Sydney Brown leading the competition to play in the nickel and dime packages.

Rookie second-round pick Drew Mukuba was set back a bit by a shoulder injury that cost the Texas Product six team-drill sessions, while longshot Tristin McCollum seems to have receded closer to fledging backup Andre Sam’ than Brown or Mukuba.

Eagles On SI asked Blankenship about his role in the competition before an open practice at Lincoln Financial Field.

“I just try to be myself. I'm just there to be a helpful hand,” Blankenship said. “I know it's a crazy situation that guys are put in. I've been in it. I'm still fighting to be the best I can be for the team and just watch these guys come to work every day.”

Often, the NFL cliché of iron sharpens iron is counterintuitive, especially when a veteran is competing with a younger player for the job.

In the Eagles’ case at safety in nickel, the candidates are all largely unproven at the pro level, so things have gone smoothly.

“You don't see any sort of, I don't know, any tension between anybody,” said Blankenship. “I feel like that is a shout out to our room and our coaches that allows that environment.

“We just want to work together. We're willing to succeed and watch other people succeed. And they're doing a great job.”

The idea of piecemealing the position is not a concern for Blankenship, especially when it comes to the talented DeJean moving back in a defense that coordinator Vic Fangio used only 160 or so times last season.

“I don't don't think it's any stress,” Blankenship said of the plan to use two players to replace Gardner-Johnson. “It's just a different person out there. I know that whoever's going to be out there, they know their job, whether it's Cooper, whether it's Sydney, Drew, Tristin, whoever, they know what to do.

“That's why I say, I don't want to change up who I am. I want to be as consistent as possible and kind of be that rock in the secondary, and they can lean on me.”

The leader in the clubhouse is Brown, a player who was slowed last season by a torn ACL from Week 18 in his rookie campaign. Now healthy, Brown is making strides.

Eagles S Sydney Brown stops to sign an autograph for a young fan at training camp on Aug. 3, 2025. | John McMullen/Eagles On SI

“I think he'll keep progressing,” Fangio said of Brown. “Sydney's got a lot of good stuff to his game. We just got to polish him up and see things a little better, a little quicker, which is a natural progression for young players, training camp last year from a defensive standpoint, was a very small chance for him to grow.

“So this is his time.”

Blankenship remains comfortable with whatever decision Fangio decides to make.

“They're asking the right questions, they're anticipating the right stuff, and that's all you all you want to see,” Blankenship said of all the options in the competition.

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