Jaylen Watkins didn’t feel discouraged when Chip Kelly spent the offseason loading up in the draft and free agency on defensive backs that fit his specific prototype.
He didn’t feel slighted when rookie cornerback JaCorey Shepherd earned the first chance to play the slot after Brandon Boykin was dealt to the Steelers.
Watkins has bounced around in his 16 months with the Eagles, shuttling from safety to corner to nickelback, in no particular order.
He can play multiple positions, yet he’s seemingly without one.
Guys with undefined roles usually aren’t long for the roster, but Watkins believes he’s in the cards for Kelly’s team.
“I feel like I have an equal shot,” he said. “Guys get drafted every year. I think he wanted to get competition in the room. He’s trying to change the size of the DBs here. All those different things play into that factor, but I don’t worry about that. I know I can play and I know I was brought here for a reason.”
Watkins’ versatility at Florida, where he played corner and safety, appealed to the coaches and now more than ever could come in handy.
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The season-ending ACL injury Shepherd suffered Sunday at the Linc left the Eagles without one of their top candidates to fill Boykin’s void as the nickelback.
The coaches had given Shepherd the first crack at playing the slot, but Watkins said his turn was eventually coming.
“I was at safety in the spring so it was only right [that Shepherd was first up],” Watkins said Saturday, before Shepherd went down with the knee injury. “He was behind Boykin in the spring, Boykin got traded. I feel like that’s only right. That’s where he was at.
“[Shepherd] was actually getting some [first-team] reps when Boykin went down. Plus, they’re trying to teach him. The best way to bring him along is to put him with the vets, so you throw him out there with the 3 or 4 team and it’s rough for him on some calls. Having him out there with the vets, he’s getting used to being out there.”
After the Boykin trade, the coaches also moved Watkins back to corner. They have plenty of options at safety with Walter Thurmond, Chris Maragos, Chris Prosinski, Jerome Couplin and Earl Wolff all competing to play opposite Malcolm Jenkins or to back up.
At corner, the Boykin trade left the Eagles thinner, especially in the slot. Watkins, who has practiced at outside corner and inside since training camp started, is competing with E.J. Biggers and rookie Randall Evans to win the nickelback job.
“Love it,” he said. “You never know, safety is still an option. Obviously right now I’m a corner, nickel. So I’m gunning for whatever is open. My chances are pretty good, I feel like.”
The Eagles could also move Thurmond into the slot on nickel downs and put another safety on the field to take Thurmond’s place, or move left cornerback Nolan Carroll into the slot and replace the outside void with either rookie Eric Rowe, Watkins or another defensive back.
Watkins believes his experience at all three defensive back positions makes him an ideal fit inside in the nickel.
At safety, he was learning an entirely new position. At corner, he’s back in his comfort zone.
“I played corner my whole life, so at safety I was learning on the go,” he said. “But now at corner, I’m just refining technique, so that’s really the big difference.”
By and large, Watkins has showcased his improvement from last year, when he didn’t see the field on defense until the season finale.
On Thursday, he picked off Mark Sanchez on the first play of a hurry-up drill that thwarted the second-team offense's drive immediately after Sam Bradford had led the first offense into the end zone.
In the 1-on-1s against receivers, Watkins said his work on refining technique has paid off in battles against the wideouts.
“My technique is much better, much thanks to [secondary] Coach [Cory] Undlin and just all season being smarter with leverage, just knowing the game more,” he said. “You think you know a lot when you play four years in a system, but then you come in and being around the vets you learn more. So I’ve been able to take that and take the next step as far as being on the field and eliminating certain [bad] plays.”
Limiting bad plays and accruing more good ones — like picking off Sanchez during a hurry-up drill — will be Watkins’ ticket to making the 53-man roster.
“He made the right read I think, but I just did a good job of baiting him to throw,” Watkins said. “Stuff like that, I know what I can do. But by making plays in clutch situations I’m showing the coaches what I can do.”