What Cooper DeJean and Eagles Defense Need To Change After Abysmal Week 1

There's no way to sugercoat Cooper DeJean's perfromance on Sunday.

DeJean was abysmal against the Washington Commanders, the obvious weak link in the Philadelphia Eagles pass defense. Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels went 7-of-9 for 83 yards targeting DeJean, 55 of those yards of which were to Stefon Diggs.

DeJean also had an illegal contact penalty when Daniels targeted Diggs. The passer rating Daniels had when targeting DeJean -- 142.1. When DeJean was targeted facing Diggs, Daniels went 4-of-5 for 55 yards and a touchdown -- a perfect passer rating of 158.3.

This is a First Team All-Pro slot cornerback, one of the elite slot cornerbacks in the NFL. Performances like this just don't happen to DeJean, who was on the field for all 70 of the Eagles defensive snaps.

The Eagles aren't taking DeJean off the field. Vic Fangio was transparent on that this summer.

Maybe they should? What can the Eagles do to get DeJean back to an All-Pro level?

Follow the script

There's a few things to process regarding DeJean's performance on Sunday, the first being his assignment heading into Week 2. Stefon Diggs won't be lining up as the slot receiver for the Tennessee Titans this week.

Diggs is one of the best route runners in the NFL, and had his way against DeJean. Commanders offensive coordinator and play caller David Blough saw the mismatch early and exploited it, especially since the outside was taken away thanks to Quinyon Mitchell and Tariq Woolen.

About the Eagles not taking DeJean off the field. In years past, DeJean would go off the field when the Eagles went to base defense in the past, but he is the safety in base defense this year.

The Eagles were in base defene on just 18.6% of their defense snaps, par for the course under Fangio. Should the Eagles just keep Marcus Epps on the field at safety and give DeJean a quick breather?

That's not going to help DeJean in coverage. All of the nine targets facing DeJean when he was lined up in the slot. DeJean will just have to be better with his footwork and continue to watch the film on what he can improve upon -- and understanding his assignment for Week 2.

The Eagles can't overreact

DeJean is going to be on the field as much as he can, since that's how Vic Fangio wants it. He'll play the slot nearly 80% of the time then transition over to safety when the Eagles go to base.

The Eagles will even line up DeJean in the box. He's that valuable to the defense for a reason.

Could the Eagles give DeJean a few plays off? Sure they can, but the same isn't being said about Andrew Mukuba, Quinyon Mitchell, and Tariq Woolen -- other members of the secondary who played every snap.

The Eagles want DeJean on the field, period. This is the same player that has allowed as many touchdown passes in the slot as touchdowns scored in his career (1). The Eagles aren't going to move DeJean to the outside based on one game -- or just take DeJean off the field.

With Tariq Woolen around, the Eagles were never going to do that anyway.

DeJean's assignment is going to be Wan'Dale Robinson this week, a player he's familiar with from seeing him play the slot over the past two seasons with the Giants. Robinson is a good player, but Cam Ward isn't Jayden Daniels either.

Outside of a Week 6 performance against the Eagles secondary (6 catches, 84 yards, TD), Robinson hasn't done much against the Eagles since DeJean arrived. DeJena has allowed just 26 yards to the Giants in his career and has been targeted just six times in 86 coverage snaps.

DeJean has been really good against the Giants, and Robinson has been their slot receiver in the three games he has faced them.

Stay the course for this week. History -- and performance -- is on DeJean's side.

Make sure you bookmark Philadelphia Eagles on SI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns, and so much more!

Add us as a preferred source on Google