Rodney McLeod, Jalen Mills Working Closely to Shore Up Back End of Defense
No OTAs, no minicamp, no problem for Eagles fifth-year defensive back Jalen Mills making the move to safety.
The Eagles are still full steam ahead with the plan to move Mills from cornerback, where he has played since being taken in the seventh round of the 2017 NFL Draft, to safety. There had been some speculation that the Eagles may reconsider the move after signing Will Parks in free agency and drafting K’Von Wallace in the fourth round.
So, safety it is for Mills.
He and Rodney McLeod have been doing a lot of behind the scenes work together since the Eagles brought Mills back on a one-year deal.
“We’ve been getting a lot of work done, actually,” said McLeod during a videoconference call on Thursday. “It all started a few months back once we were allowed to do virtual meetings. We had meetings with our coaches and also took it a step further and started meeting individually to start watching film together, work on calls, communication, making sure he’s seeing the game the right way as he’s now switching positions.”
Mills was also on a video call right after McLeod’s turn and said he and McLeod have spent a lot of offseason texting each other, too.
The two men broke down each opponent on the schedule this season but Mills also wanted to make sure he knew the backend lingo he will now need to speak this fall.
“I really wanted to hear how he communicated because he’s been on the back end and I was playing on the outside,” said Mills.
“I told him I didn’t want to change anything he did because he’s been successful at that spot, so just learning from him maybe some different type of verbiage he might have used so when I get out there and say something and maybe throw him off or slow him down. I want to make sure he’s still playing fast.
“I know the defense I just want to get the exact verbiage he may have been using on the back end.”
Mills already knows the defense, so that makes sense.
“The hardest part for him is not necessarily defense,” said McLeod. “He knows all the schematics. It’s now lining up in a different spot. So, it’s now him understanding and grasping, ‘Where do I need to have my eyes here? How are you seeing things?’
“I believe the chemistry is going to be a lot easier than a lot of people think, and so far, so good. Seems like even within the couple of days that we’ve been together as a unit, he’s really taken a step further. I’m very confident that we’ll be good once we're going to hit, and he’ll be ready to rock and make a lot of plays at his new position.”
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