With mounting injuries, Kelee Ringo’s chance for playing time with the Eagles could come soon

Kelee Ringo’s third training camp with the Eagles did not go as planned. The 23-year-old ceded reps to veteran Adoree’ Jackson, then watched the team that drafted him in the fourth round in 2023 trade for a player, Jakorian Bennett, who eventually slotted above him on the depth chart.

Ringo has been a key special teamer with the Eagles, but he has had a limited role on the defense, and a similar situation was playing itself out as the calendar flipped to September and the season began. But the cornerback said he wasn’t discouraged.

“You can’t be down on yourself when certain things don’t go your way because it’s never the end,” he said. “It’s not the end at all.

“You’re in the rotation, but you’re good enough. Everybody is here for a reason, and everybody is capable of being able to produce.”

Ringo could be called upon to produce as soon as Sunday vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Eagles are without Bennett, who is on injured reserve with a pectoral injury he suffered in Week 1, which he played through, then aggravated during the final drive of the Rams game. He aggravated it because Jackson was off the field dealing with a groin injury. That ailment kept Jackson out of practice Wednesday and made him a limited participant Thursday.

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Even if Jackson can play, he has yet to get through an entire game in three starts with the Eagles. Bennett played 12 snaps Sunday after Jackson left the game.

Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio hinted at a looming opportunity for Ringo when he had his weekly press conference Tuesday, a day before Bennett was placed on IR.

“I’ve told Kelee here recently, not in the last few days, but since the end of camp, he’s going to get his opportunity at some point, and he’s got to be ready,” Fangio said.

When asked how Ringo handled losing out on an open competition for a starting job in camp, Fangio said he thought Ringo dealt with it well.

“It didn’t affect his role as a special teamer, which he’s one of the top ones in the league,” Fangio said. “I think he knows that, eventually, he’ll get a shot, for some reason whatsoever, and he’ll be ready.”

Ringo said he always believed his chance to play would come.

Why?

“It’s a long season,” he said. “It’s my third year in the league, and I’ve kind of seen a few things go around here and there. The best thing that I could do — no matter what it is, no matter how it was, that I was going to have my opportunity — is to stay ready.”

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Tampa Bay’s receiving corps suffered a blow this week with the loss of Mike Evans, who will miss multiple weeks with a hamstring injury. But Chris Godwin is nearing his return, and rookie Emeka Egbuka has made an immediate impact with 14 catches, 181 yards, and three touchdowns in his first three NFL games.

Godwin’s potential return would make things more difficult and give the Eagles, and potentially Ringo, a good stress test.

The second cornerback spot was a question mark coming out of camp. Jackson won the job, but Ringo and Bennett lost the gig as much as Jackson earned it. Jackson then struggled against the Cowboys in Week 1 before responding well in the two games that followed.

The current injury status of the group has brought the position back under the microscope. In addition to placing Bennett on IR, the Eagles signed Parry Nickerson to the active roster from the practice squad. It is not a deep corps, and it’s a position the Eagles could be forced to address again depending on how things go this weekend and if Jackson’s groin injury worsens. Bennett’s injury will not require surgery, but injured reserve requires him to miss the next four games.

“Is it frustrating? Yes, of course,” Bennett said. “I’m trying to be out there on the field with them. I know it’s a long season.”

Bennett said Ringo, despite being in fierce competition for a job, helped him digest the playbook when he arrived in August. Ringo is ready, Bennett said, because he “comes to work every day. He’s got all the physical attributes.”

After going through simulated reps Wednesday during the portion of practice open to reporters, Lane Johnson was upgraded Thursday to a full participant and is tracking toward being ready for Sunday after being knocked from the Rams game with a neck stinger.

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In addition to Jackson, the Eagles listed linebackers Zack Baun (knee) and Jihaad Campbell (triceps) as limited participants, as well as backup quarterback Tanner McKee.

Baun said he is “feeling good.” Neither linebacker practiced Wednesday, although Campbell said after practice Wednesday that he wasn’t concerned his injury would force him to miss time.

Will Shipley (oblique) practiced fully for the second consecutive day.