Saquon Barkley reacts to ‘the leap,’ Mekhi Becton on the power of belief, and Nakobe Dean’s next challenge awaits

Mekhi Becton: The power of belief

Not only has offensive lineman Mekhi Becton made the transition from the New York Jets to the Eagles, he’s moved from tackle inside to guard without much of a hiccup. Pretty remarkable for a man who has spent much of his football career on the edge.

“Jeff Stoutland (run game coordinator/offensive line coach) has worked with me, gone through reps with me, and he believes in me and that goes a long way,” Becton said. “I feel natural in there and that comes from a lot of work, a lot of reps, and making sure I’m on top of my technique.”

The Eagles have seen plenty of positive results from their free-agency activity prior to the season – players like running back Saquon Barkley, linebacker Zack Baun, and Becton have been major contributors. The ability to project how a player will fit into a new system is tricky.

Becton is great case study of how to make it work.

“When a coach believes in you, it goes a long way,” he said. “You wouldn’t believe how important that is for a player, so I’m just trusting what I’m being taught and I’m feeling great out there.”

Cooper DeJean: Youth served in the secondary

They are just rookies, Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean are, but they have been placed in positions of importance and trusted implicitly in the Eagles’ defense. How has it worked so well, so fast?

“I think really the older guys in our room having trust in us to go out and do our jobs on the field and then teaching us and helping us prepare. They’ve been doing that since we got here,” DeJean said. “They’ve treated us like we’ve been out there and we’ve been playing for a while. Everyone is on the same page. That’s a big help, too.”

Both Mitchell and DeJean have graded highly and been involved in huge moments halfway through their first NFL seasons. Coaching, preparation, talent, desire – all of that matters.

“Great coaching, for sure,” DeJean said. “They’ve prepared us for this moment. We have a lot of young guys, guys who are eager to learn. We want to be big parts of the team and not play as ‘rookies,’ if you know what I mean. We’re out there doing as we are taught.”