Eagles cornerback Kelee Ringo could get another chance to start this week, Vic Fangio says

Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers may not have been a one-and-done showing for Kelee Ringo in the starting outside cornerback role.

Ringo, the Eagles’ 2023 fourth-round pick out of Georgia, filled in for the injured and inactive Adoree’ Jackson (groin) on the boundary opposite Quinyon Mitchell in the 31-25 victory. Vic Fangio said Tuesday he thought Ringo did well but he added that he believes the third-year cornerback “can be better.”

Did Ringo earn another chance to start against the Denver Broncos this Sunday, even if Jackson is healthy? The defensive coordinator said “it’s possible.”

The 6-foot-2, 207-pound cornerback stood out with both good and bad plays against the Bucs. He registered a pass breakup against wide receiver Sterling Shepard on a critical fourth down in the third quarter, forcing a turnover on downs. Pro Football Focus credited Ringo with allowing just one reception on three targets for 8 yards.

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But Ringo was also flagged for pass interference in the fourth quarter and missed three tackles, according to PFF, which was the second-highest total on the team.

“He was pretty sticky in man coverage,” Fangio said. “[I’d] like to see his tackling improve. One thing a guy has to learn that has played predominantly special teams is tackling on defense is a lot different than tackling on special teams. But I’m confident he can improve that.”

Ringo lost the starting job in training camp to the 30-year-old Jackson, who had tightened up his play in his two games that followed his Week 1 performance against the Dallas Cowboys in which he allowed five receptions for 103 yards (including three of CeeDee Lamb’s receptions for 72 yards). With Jackson banged up and Jakorian Bennett (pectoral) on injured reserve, Ringo could have a chance to seize the job.

For the first three games of the season, Fangio deployed a rotation at safety in the spot alongside Reed Blankenship. In base defense, Sydney Brown was on the field. In nickel, Drew Mukuba took his place.

That wasn’t the case against the Bucs. Mukuba played 100% of the defensive snaps (72) at safety for the first time this season. This development didn’t have anything to do with the Buccaneers’ personnel, either. Fangio said that “right now, [Mukuba is] playing full-time.”

The second-rounder out of Texas took his lumps Sunday. He was at fault on the explosive 77-yard touchdown pass to Emeka Egbuka in the third quarter. Fangio explained that Mukuba was supposed to play his deep zone. But his eyes were in the wrong place, allowing Egbuka to slip past him and haul in the touchdown pass.

Even as Mukuba experiences growing pains, Fangio seems to be sticking with his rookie safety as the starter.

Nakobe Dean, who has been recovering from a torn patellar tendon in his knee that he suffered in the wild-card round of the playoffs, is eligible to begin practicing this week now that he has been on injured reserve for the minimum four games.

Fangio said the Eagles will open Dean’s practice window “either this week or next week.” Once the team does, Dean will have three weeks before he must either be placed on the 53-man roster or on season-ending injured reserve.

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The 24-year-old inside linebacker is coming off a stellar 2024 season as one of the key cogs in Fangio’s top-ranked defense. In 15 regular-season games, Dean recorded a game-sealing interception against the Jacksonville Jaguars, four pass breakups, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, and 128 tackles (No. 2 on the team).

“He played great last year,” Fangio said. “Besides being the signal-caller guy and being a leader, you can’t be a leader if you don’t play good. And he played great for us last year.”

The Eagles could have a surplus of riches at the inside linebacker position upon Dean’s return. Zack Baun, the 2024 All-Pro, and rookie Jihaad Campbell are playing at a high level in the middle of Fangio’s defense. Campbell continued to make strides against the Bucs, notching his first career interception.

What role will Dean have in the defense when he returns? Fangio said, “We’ll see when we get there.” However, he did say he doesn’t foresee Campbell transitioning to edge rusher — a responsibility he had in college at Alabama — “right now” to accommodate Dean at inside linebacker.

The Eagles offense soared, then stumbled from the first half to the second on Sunday. In the first half, the Eagles accumulated 201 yards of offense, most of which came through the passing game (130 yards and a touchdown). Jalen Hurts was almost perfect as a passer, completing 15 of his 16 attempts.

That script flipped in the second half. The Eagles amassed minus-1 yard of offense. Hurts went 0-for-8 passing, including six targets for A.J. Brown. Saquon Barkley had four rushes for negative yardage, with three of those plays coming on first down.

“I felt like at times, we were just trying to do what we kind of wanted to and looking back, I think there’s some things we can change as far as how we want to approach that situation,” Kevin Patullo said. “But really, it just comes down [to] learning from each situation. We’ve had very unique games to this point, so I think it’s been good to go through that early in the season.”

The Eagles offensive coordinator explained that his group got “off-rhythm” in the second half. Then the Eagles were searching for that spark-plug play that could get them back in rhythm. But with the running game lagging through four games and the passing game hitting snags, what are those obvious buttons that Patullo can push that can pull the Eagles out of those in-game ruts?

“That’s part of the process we’re going through — right? — as a staff, as a team, throughout this first four games is finding what that is,” Patullo said. “There’s some things that we know a little bit, like, OK, this is starting to pop up that we know we’re excelling at a little bit. I think as we go, we’ll start to figure out that more.”