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Pro Bowl cornerback Darius Slay has a magnetic personality, a breath of fresh air that his Philadelphia Eagles teammates love to breathe in. Rookie Jordan Davis didn’t flinch when asked to name the funniest guy in the locker room. Slay, all day. He lightens the mood and keeps things moving.
“Slay, man, I’d say Slay. He’s a one-of-a-kind personality,” Davis told reporters on June 3. “He’s a guy you want to be around. He’s always keeping things light. You know, football is a hard game, it’s a hard sport, but just having those people that can keep things light, keep things moving, and keeping your mind off the football and the grind is really important.”
That’s not to say Slay isn’t serious out there. He is constantly trying to improve his own game while mentoring the younger guys and challenging his peers. That includes talking a little trash to the receivers lining up across from him during intrasquad 7-on-7 drills at OTAs. Friendly trash, of course.
“Every day is a rivalry. I’m out here trying to whoop their a** every day,” Slay told reporters on June 3. “But like I said it’s a battle, that’s why we practice, to get each other better.”
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Bet On It: Players, Coaches Get Competitive
The NFL isn’t too keen on gambling, at least when money is involved. The league suspended Calvin Ridley for the 2022 season after he was caught betting on a game. That’s a whole can of worms.
Meanwhile, Slay revealed that there has been some legal wagering going on at OTAs between players and coaches. No money. They are betting on physical challenges, like pushups and sprints.
“We bet with the coaches against each other,” Slay said. “We bet sometimes, pushups on command, whatever coach doesn’t want to do, we just bet on it all the time to make it competitive. We like the pressure.
“It builds chemistry and that’s one thing coach [Nick Sirianni] is about. He loves us having chemistry. He loves us being close together, being friends, being more than friends outside of football so that’s what we’re doing, building that great relationship that coach be doing.”
Slay Not Giving Up on Jalen Reagor
While fans and media continue to beat Jalen Reagor up for failing to live up to expectations, his teammates have the young receiver’s back. The additions of veterans A.J. Brown and Zach Pascal should provide extra sounding boards. Remember, Reagor just turned 23 years old on January 2.
“He’s just been working consistently hard,” Slay said. “He’s been grinding. He’s still young. Reag is only 23 years old and going into his third year in the league, that was my second year in the league — so he’s still learning, he got high hopes. He’s a good kid, he works hard, and we just got to get him going. That’s it. We all got to be behind him, one train.”
It should be noted that Reagor recently buried one of his best friends, Jeff Gladney. He served as a pallbearer at the funeral and posted an emotional Twitter tribute to his former college teammate and roommate. The kid has been through a lot. Let’s cut him some slack.
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