The 33-year-old Pro Bowl cornerback knows he is running out of seasons to get a ring
There has never been a doubt about the talent and effort All Pro cornerback Darius Slay brings to the field every week.
In the past, Slay – who will call anyone out for using his first name when speaking to him, has been a free spirited, fast-talking guy who never seemed to take himself seriously.
But he always plays hard.
But reality hit him and the rest of the defensive back room when the Eagles suffered through one of the worst collapses in franchise history, losing six of their last seven games including an embarrassing 32-9 first round playoff loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
And to borrow a line from Garry ‘G’ Cobb, the Eagles secondary was at the scene of the crime for nearly every disastrous play during that collapse.
The other reality is that the second round pick in 2013 out of Mississippi State will turn 34 before the end of the season.
Slay has six Pro Bowl appearances but zero rings.
This spring he asked how many more years he thinks he can play, Slay replied “Not too many.”
He knows he will need this new group of d-backs to grab a Lombardi Trophy over the next season or two.
Slay knows the secondary will need to get its swag back and real soon in order to accomplish that.
So when he came to the stage at the NovaCare auditorium during the offseason training sessions to talk to the Eagles media corps, it shouldn’t have been a surprise to hear how much Slay wants to lead and how to bring rookies like Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell to NFL speed as soon as possible.
“That’s the main thing, to teach them how to be a pro,” Slay said at a press gathering this spring. “I was talking to them today, just letting them know I’m always here for y’all. If there’s anything you need from me, I got you.
“I want to give them a blueprint of everything to help them make sure they succeed at this level. That’s my job to do. That’s always what I’ve been brought up to do. Definitely, because I’m the older brother of all the siblings so, it’s always been my kind of duty to lead by example and make sure they get the right direction.”
Someone asked Slay about Mitchell wanting to learn so much from him, the rookie joked that he wanted to move in with him. Slay said Mitchell wasn’t the only one.
“Yeah, all of them do it,” said Slay said with a laugh; then paused for a moment to reflect on that idea. “Nah, Nah, Nah, Nah, Nah, Nah…I ain’t…he ain’t here all the way about movin’ in…but he’s welcome. Anything he needs from me, I told him I got him. After he got drafted, he hit me up and we talked for a little bit. I just told him…whatever you need, let’s get it! I’m here to make you be great.”
Slay was asked about his early impressions of Mitchell.
“A lot of great things,” Slay said of the Toledo product. “Quick dude that’s got a quick twitch. I love his ‘off,’ I’m a real good ‘off’ man at what I do. I watched his tape in college for a good minute. There are some things I’m going to help him with and some he’s already asked me to do. “That’s my duty to do. I’m looking forward to helping him. I see a great talent in him. I’m looking forward to him making a lot of plays for this organization.”
What about DeJean? The second round pick out of Iowa.
“Oh man…he’s very athletic,” Slay said. “As you can see the guy is versatile. He was everywhere [at Iowa]. Both of them are just quiet right now. So I’m trying to get them to start talking a little bit.
“Both of these guys are very athletic, very talented. I’m looking forward to keep working with them. Watching them on film, it’s really amazing to watch. They remind me of my days when I was young.”
SOMETHING IS GOING TO GIVE WITH THE D-BACK ROOM NUMBERS
Slay talked about the competition in the defensive back room. There are 19 players on the training camp roster. They all can’t make the team or the practice squad.
Some good players will be cut.
“It’s going to be a good competitive room,” Slay said. “That is what the job is for, competitive, but at the end of the day…I told the group…we’re all here to compete. We’re all here to help everyone to get better. It’s not like ohhhhh, somebody here is better than that…hatin’ on each other or any kind of stuff like that.
"We’re all here for each other. And who the best man wins, take what you learned here and take it to the next team you go to. We’re all here to help each other get better.
“We’re not here to terminate somebody. I told them all today…we’re all family at the end of the day.”
THE NEW DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR COMES WITH A NEW OUTLOOK
Vic Fangio comes to the Eagles with a reputation of taking a straight line from point A to point B. If you happen to be in the way and your feelings get hurt, so be it.
Some players from the Miami Dolphins were not sad to see Fangio leave and weren’t afraid to voice those feelings.
Slay was asked to comment on his new DC’s system and his demeanor towards his players.
“I’m still learning it,” Slay said at the end of April. “So I don’t have it down pat. So, whenever it’s time to game plan, and understand everything…right now we’re just building the defense in…and trying to make sure we get our identity first. At that time, we’ll continue to get better.”
Slay was asked about Fangio being “old school?”
“It’ll be great,” Slay said. “If you’ve been following us, our team has been built on leadership and guys that have always been willing to go out for the other guys.
“I think he’s a guy that just is going to build a team up, with great energy. He’s a guy that’s been in the room with a lot of great vets. And here you’ve got a team full of vets that have been around a lot of coaches…not one time since I’ve been here as an Eagle has somebody said something bad or had a negative to say about a DC because we always go hard for him. It doesn’t matter who it is because we want to win.
“I don’t know what happened over there but from my point of view over here, he’s a great dude. I ain’t heard nothing but great things about him. I used to watch (All Pro) Aqib Talib and those guys, corners who played under his system and they've always talked highly of him."
WHY SLAY SHOWED UP TO A VOLUNTARY CAMP
“I want to compete with the younger guys when they see my face,” Slay said when asked why he felt it was important to be at all the practices. “I want them to understand what 12 years look like and how I got to 12 years.”
Slay said he cares about his family both at home and at NovaCare.
“I’m a family man, I got kids. My daughter does a lot of stuff. She do sports, so I want to make sure I’m there for that but at the end of the day, I’ve got a job and I want to reach out to other people.
“I take care of my family first for sure,” continued Slay, who has 28 career interceptions and five defensive TD. “But these too (The Eagles) are my extended family as well. So I come here and make sure I plant the seed and let these guys know I’m here too as well. I make sure I’m just a call away anytime.”
What advice does he give to rookies?
“I told them to slow down and make sure you just do your assignment,” Slay said. “You wouldn’t be in the league if you couldn’t compete. You can compete already. Just make sure you can do your job, know your assignment, know how to do it, know where you’ve got to be and all that.
“Make sure you’re on top of all that stuff. That’s the main thing I learned as a rookie, I just made sure I knew my assignment. Because I knew my competitive edge would kick in when it’s time to lock in.
“I tell them to learn…learn the defense, the ins and outs then put your competitive edge in…because, you wouldn’t be in the league if you couldn’t compete.”
SLAY’S KNEE FELT SO GOOD…WANNA RACE?
Slay underwent arthroscopic surgery in mid-December 2023 and missed a few weeks.
He came back for the last few games of the season, but it was obvious he wasn't near 100 percent.
He said he is doing fine now.
Slay said he got his knee “cleaned out” and “I’m feeling great. I honestly feel like I’m 25 again…feeling good.”
He felt so good he wanted to see how he would do against the younger guys on the team.
“I came a couple times in OTAs before 7-on-7s and guys wanted to race…you know…guess who won? The 33-year-old guy! I wanted them to know…the wheels are back!”
Now he just needs the ring to finish it off. *
Email Al Thompson at al.thompson@footballstories.com
Some stats and info from pro-football-reference.com and Wikipedia.com
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EAGLES SECONDARY 2024
(As of July 17, 2024)
Left cornerback
2 Slay Jr., Darius
22 Ringo, Kelee
23 Ricks, Eli
28 Jobe, Josh
Strong safety
8 Gardner-Johnson, C.J.
21 Brown, Sydney
35 Sam, Andre'
Free Safety
32 Blankenship, Reed
43 Garner, Mekhi
36 McCollum, Tristin
Right cornerback
34 Rodgers, Isaiah
30 Mitchell, Quinyon
24 Bradberry IV, James
27 McPhearson, Zech
38 Nickerson, Parry
Nickelback
29 Maddox, Avonte
33 DeJean, Cooper
1 Hall, Tyler
37 Goodrich, Mario
41 Stephens, Shon
Source: Ourlads.com
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