Jalen Mills Says Eagles Invented End Zone Celebrations

The Eagles have long been known for their wildly creative touchdown celebrations, specifically ones that involve multiple players flexing in the end zone.

Cornerback Jalen Mills — the presumed starter who will begin the year on the PUP list — took to Twitter to indicate the franchise invented the art. He’s kind of right. During the Eagles’ Super Bowl run, the team made national headlines with their outside-the-box routines.

Some of the better ones included:

Alshon Jefferey pretending to toss a bowling ball as the offensive starters posed as bowling pins.

Nelson Agholor taking to a makeshift pitcher’s mound and firing a fastball at batter Torrey Smith who knocked it out of the ballpark.

Trey Burton spinning the football like a top and then rubbing his hands as if he was warming himself by a campfire.

Brent Celek flapping his arms to mimic a real eagle and then leading the entire offense in a migration pattern from the end zone to the sideline.

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Sidney Jones or Avonte Maddox?

The Eagles have yet to announce who will be the starting outside corner opposite Ronald Darby. The leading candidate out of training camp was third-year man Sidney Jones, but last year’s playoff hero Avonte Maddox seemed to steal the spot in the preseason.

Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz has been tight-lipped about the starting corners. He doesn’t want to tip off the Redskins to his plan.

“We’re still working. We’re not 100 percent set in stone,” Schwartz told reporters. “I’m sure the Washington team would like to know where we are right now with all that stuff. We’ll just play it close to the vest and see what our best groups are and how we can manage.”

Meanwhile, the Eagles official website has Maddox penciled in as the starter. Again, that list is compiled by the team’s media relations staff.

So who is starting Sunday in the season opener? Well, the conventional wisdom points to Jones. He has more experience, plus that move would free up Maddox for nickel package.

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Don’t Rule Out Rasul Douglas

Rasul Douglas was another corner who stood out during the preseason. He received a ton of starting reps with the first-team defense and proved he could lock down the Eagles big receivers.

The corner has admitted on many occasions that he’s “all in” for 2019, even promising 60 tackles and five interceptions.

Douglas may be relegated to the bench to start Sunday’s game, but he’ll see time. He’s too good not to. All three guys — Douglas, Sidney Jones, Avonte Maddox — have proven they can start in the NFL.

“Those guys played a lot of football for us last year, so it’s not just what they have done in training camp,” defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz said. “I’m talking about Sul [CB Rasul Douglas] and Sid [CB Sidney Jones]and I’d even put [CB] Avonte [Maddox] in that mix, guys that have played different corner positions for us.”

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