Philadelphia Eagles: CB Sidney Jones
It’s always fun to watch game tape with smart cornerbacks. That was the case when I did so with Washington alum Sidney Jones, who the Eagles selected with the 43rd overall pick in the 2017 draft. Had he not suffered a torn Achilles tendon during the Huskies’ pro day on March 11 of that year, Jones would have unquestionably been a first-round pick. That injury cost him all but one game in his rookie season, and he missed six games in 2018 with various hamstring maladies. Hamstring issues persisted in 2019, though Jones recorded his first two NFL interceptions this season and started to become a relative force in a cornerback group with a real need for somebody to step up.
Jones has done that when healthy, allowing just four completions on 11 targets for 25 yards, no touchdowns, and one intercepotion in the second half of the season. His opponent passer rating allowed in that span? 7.0, the lowest in the NFL. And Jones was the point man on what may have been Philly’s most important opponent incompletion of the season — this Dak Prescott throw to Michael Gallup with 1:21 left in the Eagles’ 17-9 win over the Cowboys. This ended Dallas’ final drive on fourth-and-six, and it’s a great example of Jones’ practiced aggressiveness as a downfield and boundary cornerback.
Did Jones get away with one here? Should Dallas have had the ball at the Philadelphia one-yard line? It’s possible, though there was contact going back and forth, and Jones was playing the ball. And given referee Tony Corrente’s recent history regarding late-game reviews of potential pass interference calls… well, that wasn’t going to happen.
Jones was not on the defensive roster when the Seahawks beat the Eagles 17-9 in Week 10, but given his performance in another 17-9 game, it’s safe to say he’ll see a lot more action this time around.