Britain Covey has talked this talk before, because it seems like every time he returns a kick there is something going on at the end. A big hit. Some trash talking. A celebration after a productive return.

Something. Always.

"I have what looks like a, I guess you could say I can be frenetic on my returns, but I always have a plan," Covey said. "I spend my week preparing for gameday and trying to make the most out of every opportunity. Sometimes that involves giving them (players in coverage) a chance to hit me and that's just part of the game. I protect myself. I know what's coming.

"But what matters is what I do when I have a chance with the football in my hands. I'm looking for positive plays. I'm trying to do anything I can to help this team win games."

Covey is doing that, and he's doing it his way. As much as he is a topsy-turvy, human bouncing ball on the field, his NFL career has had similar misdirections. He has been on the 53-man roster, he has been on the practice squad, he has toggled back and forth, he has been injured and he has been unemployed.

If it looks like every time Covey touches the ball he wants to run through a brick wall it's because he would do exactly that.

"Urgent football. Play like every step matters because it does," he said. "It's the best feeling in the world to see everyone coming at you and then you make a move and you're still running."

That has happened quite a bit for Covey in 2026. He's averaging 12.6 yards per punt return, ranking seventh in the NFL among players with five or more returns, and he has been electric of late. Covey's brilliant 41-yard tip-toe through the Rams and down the sideline set up an Eagles touchdown in Week 4. On Sunday in London, he averaged 10.5 yards on four returns, including an 18-yarder.

There is a rise in the crowd – it was certainly noticeable the last two weeks – when Covey catches a punt and heads up the field. He has done it enough in his Eagles career – he came on late in the 2022 season and dazzled in that postseason, averaging 17.5 yards per punt return, came back to average 14.4 yards per return in 2023, and 11.3 yards per return in his injury-shortened 2025 campaign - to merit the anticipation of a big play.

There have been times when the end to the play is a slam-bang, Covey-goes-flying-after-the-hit effect, but the 5-8, 173-pound Covey insists that he embraces the impact.

"It's football. I know that. It usually isn't as bad as it looks," he said, laughing. "Sometimes, that's just my momentum carrying me in certain direction. I love just popping right up and running off the field with a smile on my face."

That's how the plays the game – with a smile, with a carefully constructed recklessness – and he's delivering big-time plays on special teams.