Philadelphia Eagles Pro Bowl cornerback Darius Slay showed the ultimate respect for Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin in the offseason. Slay called McLaurin the second-most difficult wide receiver he covered last season.
McLaurin has had plenty of success against Slay, including in Sunday’s 34-31 overtime win for the Eagles. But this was the first time the veteran cornerback had faced Commanders quarterback Sam Howell.
Let’s just say Slay was impressed.
“He was great, man,” Slay said courtesy of Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post.
“They got a good future with him, man. He gotta keep working, but great game by him, for sure, by extending plays……He made a lot of big plays.”
In addition to covering McLaurin, Slay was matched up in coverage against Byron Pringle at one point when Howell attacked him deep. However, Pringle appeared to slow down on the route, and the pass fell incomplete.
Howell completed 29 of 41 passes for 290 yards against the Eagles, leading a game-tying drive in the final seconds of regulation to force overtime. While the Commanders fell short, they hope Howell will be the guy facing the Eagles for years to come.
According to JP Finlay of NBC 4 in Washington, Philadelphia head coach Nick Sirianni was also impressed by Howell.
Told this story on the pod but roughly 90 minutes or so after the game Nick Sirianni was on the field playing catch with his family. Talked for a second as I was taping stuff and I asked him about Howell, "He played good. That kid is good." Cool praise from the Eagles coach.
— JP Finlay (@JPFinlayNBCS) October 2, 2023