July 24, 2024
Philadelphia Eagles rookie defensive back Cooper DeJean will start 2024 training camp on the NFI list with a freak hamstring injury, according to a report from Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.
#Eagles DB Cooper DeJean will begin camp on NFI and will be sidelined sidelined three weeks with a hamstring injury suffered when he was caught in an awkward position during offseason training, per league source. It is unrelated to any prior injury. The Eagles are confident in a…
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) July 23, 2024
"Caught in an awkward position," huh? 🤔
DeJean was a second-round pick (40th overall) in the 2024 NFL Draft. The Eagles thought of him as a first-round talent, as did a number of notable draft analysts. He was Mel Kiper's 14th ranked player overall, Daniel Jeremiah's 24th ranked player, and Dane Brugler's 27th ranked player.
He did not compete at any of the major offseason pre-draft events, like the Senior Bowl or the NFL Combine because he was still recovering from a fractured right fibula suffered in practice at Iowa. That injury ended his 2023 season, and may have caused him to slip to the second round.
DeJean is an ultra-versatile defensive back who was expected to compete for starting jobs either at outside corner or in the slot. His chances of starting Week 1 took a big hit as a result of this setback.
As PhillyVoice reported on Sunday, second-year safety Sydney Brown will begin training camp on the PUP (Physically Unable to Perform) list.
The PUP list is a tool teams use for players prior to the start of training camp, in case the player is not ready for the start of the regular season. The PUP list must be applied to a player prior to the start of training camp, or it cannot be used at all. Once a player practices in camp, at all, they immediately become ineligible for the PUP list during the regular season. The player cannot participate in practice while on the PUP list.
The benefit of the PUP list is that a player is eligible to come off of it during training camp, or, if the team deems it necessary, after the first four games of the regular season. Once the regular season starts and the player remains on the PUP list, they must spend the first four weeks on the PUP list, and they would not count toward one of the 53 roster spots. (They would still count toward one of the 90 roster spots while on PUP during training camp.)
A short explanation of the NFI (non-football injury) list, which DeJean will be on, is that it essentially functions the same way as the PUP list, but is reserved for players who were injured outside of normal team activities.
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