How Jakorian Bennett has been catching up in Eagles' CB battle

In the two weeks he has been with the Eagles, Jakorian Bennett has been playing catch-up in the CB competition.

By Dave Zangaro • Published August 19, 2025

It has become commonplace in the two weeks since Jakorian Bennett got traded to the Eagles.

The cornerback will try to catch DBs coach Christian Parker or CBs coach Roy Anderson during their lunch break or after the staff meeting, whenever they have a moment. 

Bennett will shoot them a text: "Hey, when do you have time free?”

And then he’ll meet with one or both of his coaches. Those meetings can last anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour and they’ve been happening frequently.

"I’m just trying to catch up,” Bennett said. "Because these guys, they’ve been battling with each other for a little minute before I got here. So I’m just trying to catch up, get up to speed so I can just go out there and do what I do. Play fast.”

Bennett, 24, isn’t just trying to learn his responsibilities as an outside cornerback in Vic Fangio’s system. He wants to learn the entire playbook because he knows the benefit of understanding the roles of every player to better understand the defense as a whole.

It’s been a bit of a cramming session for Bennett, who played his first two years with the Raiders.

"I always ask questions,” Bennett said. "I feel like a question never asked is a dumb question. I just try to ask all the questions I can ask because when you’re on the field, you just want to feel free, you just want to feel like you know everything and you can just go out there and play fast. 

"When you ask all the questions, there’s nothing you should question on the field. You should just go out there and trust yourself.”

The Eagles acquired Bennett in a trade with the Raiders for DT Thomas Booker IV on Aug. 4, but the former fourth-round pick from Maryland is now firmly in the battle to be the starting outside cornerback opposite Quinyon Mitchell. Heck, Bennett’s presence in Philly alone is a pretty good indication of how that battle has gone this summer.

And now with just over two weeks before the season opener against the Cowboys, Fangio on Monday said the competition is close and "all the guys are pretty even right now.” That battle began with Kelee Ringo and Adoree’ Jackson but has since expanded to include Bennett and rookie Mac McWilliams.

The longer this competition lasts, the more time Bennett has to fight for the job. And Bennett isn’t blind to the opportunity in front of him to win a starting job on a team with Super Bowl aspirations.

"I just feel like it’s a good opportunity for me to just do what I do,” he said. "That’s what I said, that’s why I’m meeting like I’m meeting, doing the things I’m doing. Obviously, I see the opportunity so I just gotta go out there and just be prepared and just play how I play.”

In addition to the coaching staff, Bennett’s new teammates have been helping him catch up too. On Monday, Bennett specifically shouted out Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean and Reed Blankenship for their help and for making him feel at home.

Bennett has been spending time with his new teammates in the NovaCare Complex and also out to a few defensive back dinners.

"They definitely make me feel like I’ve been here the whole time,” Bennett said, "but I’m, what, going on two weeks now? Something like that.”

While Bennett was already on the roster for the first preseason game against the Bengals, Fangio said they didn’t play him because they didn’t want to put Bennett in a bad position without any practice reps. But against the Browns, Bennett played 35 snaps on defense and 8 on special teams in the second preseason game.

Not only did Bennett make the tackle on the opening kickoff, but he also had a big-time pass breakup on a long-developing route from Browns receiver Gage Larvadain in the second quarter. It was just one play but it was an impressive moment for a guy who wasn’t even in camp a couple weeks earlier.

When Bennett was traded to the Eagles, he took an 11:30 p.m. red-eye flight to Philadelphia and left the rest of his life back in Las Vegas. He came to Philly with two suitcases and the rest of his stuff is still at his house out west. But all that can wait. Bennett is singularly focused on learning the playbook and catching up.

If his mind has wandered away from that playbook for just a moment, he allows it’s to think about his jersey number.

Because No. 49 isn’t exactly a prize.

"I been thinking about this,” Bennett said. "I’m glad you said something. It depends on what number is available after the cuts. But if it’s no number that I like, man, I don’t see anything wrong with being 49. It is a little ugly but it’s alright.”

https://www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com/nfl/philadelphia-eagles/jakorian-bennett-cornerback-battle-catching-up-vic-fangio-eagles-training-camp/679790/