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The Philadelphia Eagles roster retool trickled down into their embattled secondary where they allowed Ronald Darby and Malcolm Jenkins to walk in free agency, replacing the duo with Darius Slay, Will Parks, Nickell Robey-Coleman, K’Von Wallace and Jalen Mills’s move to safety.
Marquand Manuel is the newest addition coaching wise and the Eagles are hoping he brings some of the experience that helped the Seahawks once young secondary develop into the Legion of Boom.
“I think people respect him because one, he has played the game, his passion, and the way he coaches his group,” McLeod said. “The expectations that he has for us are very high. He has coached a lot of good secondaries, and we want to be another group to be respected in this league and treated as such. He is going to fit perfectly, and we are going to be good.”
He harped on that lack of respect that the Eagles back-seven faces on a weekly basis.
“As a defense, I think we lost a little bit of respect,” said McLeod. “It was gained as the (last) season went on, I believe. We caught our stride, guys (got) confident in one another. We were getting to the spots that we needed and you saw things coming together. But as a secondary, I felt that we were a little disrespected at times.”
McLeod is the one veteran holdover from the purge whose play has been consistent and as he assumes a new leadership role, he’s looking for the Eagles secondary to redeem itself after some embarrassing play over the past two seasons.
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