As the Philadelphia Eagles prepared to make their playoff push late during the 2024 regular season, one of the team’s fan favorites was mysteriously stashed away and left off the 53-man roster.
That unsolved mystery remains to this day for the reigning Super Bowl LIX champions: What really happened to wide receiver and punt return specialist Britain Covey?
Despite routinely logging full practice sessions with the team, Covey was often scratched on game days due to a lingering neck injury. He never saw the field from Week 13 on, and had been left hanging as a free agent until agreeing to a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Rams on Monday.
Covey was once one of the NFL’s ascending young punt returners, leading the league in return yards in 2023 with 417. He held that special teams role for Philly to start last season, and was also mixing in on offense as a receiver until suffering a broken scapula in the Eagles’ Week 3 game at the New Orleans Saints.
He didn’t return to game action until Week 12, but at that point, the Eagles had mostly tightened the strings on their wide receiver rotation to four: A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Jahan Dotson and Johnny Wilson. The Eagles had also broken in a new punt return man in cornerback Cooper DeJean, who was an electric kick returner during his Iowa Hawkeyes days.
That left Covey on the outside looking in, and he wound up finishing the season with a second stint on injured reserve due to said neck issue. Based on how things played out for him this offseason, it was clear the Eagles were ready to move on, especially after the team signed veteran running back and punt returner Avery Williams.
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The Rams are getting a shifty 28-year-old who’s easy for fans to root for as a former undrafted free agent. He’ll compete for L.A.’s punt returner job with second-year pro Xavier Smith, who averaged 9.3 yards per punt return for the Rams in 2024.
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