Riq Woolen feels like ‘a rookie again’ with the Eagles. His prove-it year is big for him and the Birds.
A Super Bowl winner as a Seahawk a year ago, Woolen is trying to parlay a big season with the Eagles into a multiyear deal.
A month into 2026 training camp, five months after signing with his new team, and more than four years after being drafted by Seattle, Eagles cornerback Riq Woolen still feels nervous before some of his practice reps.
Why?
“It’s like I’m a rookie again,” Woolen said. He spent his first four NFL seasons with the Seahawks, but after losing some of his playing time last season during what would become a Super Bowl run, it was time to find a new team.
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Woolen was one of the better man-coverage corners last season, but he struggled in zone, and the open market wasn’t that kind to him in terms of finding a long-term deal. He landed with the Eagles on a one-year deal worth $12 million guaranteed and had to move nearly 3,000 miles away, mesh with new teammates, and learn a new scheme. Hence the feeling like a rookie all over again.
“I feel like every day I continue to get better and feel like I fit in,” Woolen said Monday.
Moments like his plays during Thursday’s joint practice session in New England help the fitting-in part. First, Woolen jumped an A.J. Brown out route near the goal line and picked off Drake Maye for a 100-yard pick-six. Later, he again had tight coverage on Brown and forced the ball free into the air, allowing Jalyx Hunt to make a diving interception.
That Woolen’s big day came on the heels of one of his worst days of camp Wednesday was a good sign for him and the Eagles. Woolen may feel like a rookie now, but he is wise enough at 27 to know that a short memory is crucial to playing cornerback in the NFL. The younger version of himself didn’t know how to handle it, he said Monday.
“That’s just part of the game and it’s part of being a DB as well,” Woolen said. “One thing may [not] go your way, but you got to be able to rebound and be able to keep playing plays and keep making plays because that’s what the coaches and team expect.”
Woolen, who is unusually tall for a corner at 6-foot-4, was on the radar of the Eagles last season when it became clear that he could be made available before the trade deadline. He had one of the best seasons in recent years in man coverage — according to Next Gen Stats, his 27.6% completion rate allowed in man coverage was the lowest by any defender to face 20-plus targets in man since at least 2018. But the Seahawks, according to Sharp Analytics, deployed man coverages on 15.2% of their defensive snaps, sixth-fewest in the NFL. The Eagles, meanwhile, used man coverage on 24.5% of their snaps last season.
That should favor Woolen, and maybe defensive coordinator Vic Fangio will dial that number up a little more to fit Woolen’s strengths. But Woolen will need to improve his off-ball play if he wants to earn a long-term contract in the spring.
Woolen, who has 12 interceptions in his first four NFL seasons, had arguably the best offseason program of any Eagles player. He blanketed DeVonta Smith on multiple occasions during OTAs. Then, on the last day of minicamp in June, he “sacked” Jalen Hurts on a corner blitz and then picked off Hurts on the next play, on an errant throw toward Dallas Goedert. But Woolen’s play during training camp has been inconsistent, highlighting what could be an issue for a team that doesn’t have much in the way of reliable depth behind him.
The Eagles had a bit of a revolving door across from Quinyon Mitchell last season before Adoree’ Jackson claimed the role. They entered the offseason seeking an upgrade, knowing Cooper DeJean would remain at nickel and even play some safety after struggling a bit on the outside. Woolen has the potential to provide the Eagles with a major upgrade, but he still has to prove he can be reliable working in zones and not take plays off.
“At times he can get a little lazy or sloppy with his technique and have a bad down or two, but he’s still showing everything that I think he can do,” Fangio said earlier this month. “He’s just got to get in such great shape and calloused to football that those don’t happen.”
Woolen also will need to shed his reputation, too. He was called for three taunting penalties last season, including one in the NFC championship game late in the third quarter that extended a Los Angeles Rams drive that ended with a touchdown.
Woolen agreed when asked Monday if there were misconceptions about him in free agency.
“I can’t be likable to everybody, but I know that people who really do know me, I know there’s a reason why they like me and that’s because I’m being myself,” he said. “As long as I’m here being where my feet are at, I feel like my personality will outshine a lot of things.
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“I still feel like I have a lot more to prove to these guys, even the fans and everybody here. People only know me where I come from, and what they’ve heard from where I came from. People don’t really know me as a person. The more and more I make plays, the more and more I talk to you guys, talk to people around here, they’ll be able to understand me and get to know me and the type of player I am.”
The real games are only a few weeks away, but Woolen will get his first taste of his new home field and fan base Tuesday, when the Eagles have their annual open practice at Lincoln Financial Field.
“It’s another opportunity to show people how I play ball and express who I am,” he said.
Forgive him if he’s a little nervous.
The Eagles’ first-stringers get little to no action in exhibition games, annual joint practices with other teams become one of the few opportunities for starters to get preseason reps of consequence. This year, the Eagles traveled to New England for two days of live workouts with the Patriots. The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane and Boston Sports Journal’s Greg A. Bedard recap what they saw, and explain why, even after the joint practices, the Eagles still haven’t shown much of an identity. Listen here.
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