Eagles' Top CB Trending Toward Playing Vs. Giants

The Eagles have traditionally not fared well when six-time Pro Bowl CB Darius Slay misses time.

Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Darius Slay (2). / Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

PHILADELPHIA - The Eagles listed cornerback Darius Slay as questionable for Sunday’s game at the New York Giants but the plan is to play for the six-time Pro Bowl cornerback.

And that’s important because Philadelphia has not persevered well without Slay on the field. The 12-year veteran has missed just seven regular-season games since joining the Eagles in 2020 and the team won just one of those seven ties without its best CB.

Slay injured his troublesome knee in the 20-16 win over Cleveland last Sunday and Isaiah Rodgers with some help from Kelee Ringo finished things up.

Slay was at practice Wednesday of this week in a limited fashion before sitting on Thursday and then returning Friday as a full participant.

All that was part of the plan to manage Slay through the week to get him to Sunday.

“We just kind of like just do what’s right trying to make sure I make it to Sunday,” Slay said after practice Friday. “So that was what we decided as a staff they wanted to do. So we went out there today to try to get some work.”

A complication on game day is the MetLife turf which is not popular with the players.

Slay has gotten in hot water before and made sure to say the stadium issues have nothing to do with the fans.

“It’s just a stadium y’all,” Slay said. “Nothing against the fans but dang, the stadium bad. It be like that. You know it’s like you go to the neighbor. Your neighbor's yard is not cut, you know? So maybe cut their grass.”

If MetLife only had grass to cut. Eagles right guard Mekhi Becton played four seasons at MetLife with the Jets and was less political than Slay.

“I don’t wanna play in that s@#$ty stadium. It’s bad,” Becton said. “Everything is just bad about that stadium. I don’t really like it. I’m just glad I only gotta do it one time a year. Just gotta go in there, do my 1 of 11 and go home.”

Becton tried to explain the issues with the playing surface.

“You can just tell the difference like if you was to get on that turf and go on a different turf. You can tell,” he said. “It’s a night and day difference in turf. It just feels lifted. There’s a lot of things that don’t feel right about that turf.”

If Slay is given the all-clear on game day, his main responsibility will be Giants star rookie Malik Nabers, who will be returning after missing two games while in the NFL’s concussion protocol.

Nabers has 35 receptions and 386 receiving yards in his first four career NFL games and could join Puka Nacua (46 receptions) as the only players with at least 40 receptions in their first five career games with five-or-more catched against the Eagles.

“Great receiver man. Young guy that’s really working,” Slay said when discussing Nabers. “Competitive guy that’s living up to the LSU receiver corps thing. They got a great receiving corps coming always out of LSU and he’s one of the next ones up right now. So he’s doing a great job at what he does, contested catches, running routes.

"He got it in him.”

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