Philadelphia Eagles CB Darius Slay is More Than Just Big Plays: 'He Has It All!'

Philadelphia Eagles veteran cornerback Darius Slay continues to help the team on and off the field.

PHILADELPHIA - You don’t get the nickname “Big Play” in the NFL without taking a chance or two.

Five-time Pro Bowl cornerback Darius Slay validated that thesis again on Sunday night when he peeled off his responsibility of Jaylen Waddle to interrupt a Tua Tagovailoa wheel route to Raheem Mostert in the fourth quarter of an emphatic 31-17 Philadelphia Eagles win over the high-powered Miami Dolphins at Lincoln Financial Field.

The interception was the punctuation on a statement win in a heavyweight battle between two 5-1 teams coming in.

“(Defensive coordinator Sean Desai) called a great defense that I could have great eyes, with vision of the quarterback and receiver,” Slay explained. “Waddle had run a route that kind of led me to the running back, so I covered my dude, but I had vision at the quarterback, so I saw the ball not being thrown to my dude, so I just came over and made a play.”

Darius Slay sunk the Dolphins with a signature big play / USA Today

While Slay made it sound simple, savvy defensive backs who understand when it’s time to freestyle a bit aren’t the norm in the modern NFL where “do your job” has become a mantra.

And most coaches would subscribe to the “do your job” sentiment right up until they get a player with the football IQ to handle more than what is on the menu.

The Eagles have the luxury of having two veteran outside cornerbacks in Slay and James Bradberry, who play the game with a feel that can’t be taught.

Slay is the best of both worlds in that he’s now 32 with 10 seasons under his belt yet has still somehow kept in the same neighborhood of the 4.36 speed he left Mississippi State with back in 2013.

“I mean he’s like 40 years old and he still runs like that,” slot corner Josiah Scott joked. “He’s super smart. I mean he studies a lot so it’s easy for him to make plays like that.”

“Slay has it all,” head coach Nick Sirianni added. “Football IQ, athletic ability. “I can’t tell you how good of a leader Darius Slay is.”

The leadership aspect is where Sirianni ultimately settled, perhaps because the team has had so many young moving parts in the secondary. On Sunday, it was rookie safety Sydney Brown making his first NFL start, and undrafted rookie cornerback Eli Ricks splitting time in the slot with Scott, who just returned from the Pittsburgh practice squad.

Slay’s large personality and his wont to always have fun often don’t match up with the conventional serious NFL leader.

The veteran’s impact on his teammates is real, however, and was first revealed when the Eagles brought in Olympic hurdler Devon Allen as a developmental prospect at receiver before the 2022 season.

Allen continued to run track and was set to participate in the Penn Relays after signing and it was Slay who got a host of players together to support their new teammate by attending the meet.

Slay was ultimately named a team captain for the first time in his career for the 2022 campaign and the honor moved the typically brash cornerback.

That captain status was rolled over again for the 2023 campaign and Sirianni told a similar story of Slay keeping the injured Zech McPhearson involved while the latter continues his rehab from a torn Achilles suffered in the preseason.

“Shoot, I’ll say it, he brought – Zech McPhearson is down, right? When you go through injuries, you’re going to be down. It’s tough. (Slay) brought him to the (Phillies) game the other day to spend time with him. Like that’s something you guys wouldn’t know and I feel comfortable saying that because I want people to know how good of a leader he is.

“Everyone knows how good of a player he is.”

The Dolphins sure do.

“You have to feel what it’s like to play such a good team on the road,” Miami coach Mike McDaniel said. “Your margin for error is so small, and it’s an important building block along your progression for the season, you know. If you’re going to lose games, you want it to be against a really good team, and you want it to hurt.”

Slay made sure it hurt.

“I’ve been in that position a lot, big-time moments,” Slay said while reminiscing over his 28th career interception. “Sunday night, I like to make plays on these big days. That’s why my name’s 'Big Play,' really.

“I make plays at critical moments and do what I can do.”