The Eagles have three Pro Bowl cornerbacks on their roster with Asante Samuel, the recently signed Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.
Who is going to play where? That has been the hot topic at training camp, but we have not been able to see it play out on the field yet. Samuel has been excused from camp so far for personal reasons. Asomugha can't practice until Thursday at the earliest because of the rules in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. Rodgers-Cromartie took part in his first practice on Saturday.
As for where he fits in this defense, Rodgers-Cromartie will do whatever to make it work.
"Wherever I fit in, I'm going to get in," Rodgers-Cromartie said.
Even if it's as the nickel cornerback?
"That'd be alright with me, as long as I can get on the field and compete," he said. "I just worry about playing. I know what I have in both of those guys and what they bring to the table. At the same time I know what I can do. I'm just going to go out there and compete."
Acquired on Thursday as part of a trade with the Arizona Cardinals, Rodgers-Cromartie is the youngest of the three top cornerbacks at 25 years old. A first-round pick in 2008, Rodgers-Cromartie has 13 career interceptions. At 6-2, 182 pounds, he has tremendous size and athleticism. He was on the right side his first two seasons, but moved over to the left side in 2010 and had three interceptions with two of them being returned for touchdowns.
Rodgers-Cromartie had been the focal point of the trade that sent Kevin Kolb to Arizona for quite some time. He said the rumors didn't bother him, but he was surprised that he was dealt since it was the Cardinals that invested a high draft pick on him in the first place. But now that he's an Eagle, Rodgers-Cromartie is focused on learning a new scheme that should take advantage of his ball-hawking skills.
"They're all about getting after folks," he said. "If you get a pass rush and get somebody to get after that quarterback and now you have to make that throw on time, I think that plays into my advantage of jumping the ball and breaking on the ball quickly."
And no matter where opponents throw the ball this year, the Eagles want to make those quarterbacks pay dearly.
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