PHILADELPHIA -- When A.J. Brown was asked who stood out amongst the cornerbacks in Philadelphia Eagles minicamp, he was quick to praise them all. When asked about Isaiah Rodgers, Brown gave his props.
"For a guy that has not played football for a year, and coming back, he looks like he's been playing non-stop," Brown said of Rodgers, who is coming off a yearlong suspension for violating the NFL's gambling policy. "Honestly. I'm going to give praise to him, giving him his flowers.
"You can tell he loves football and he's happy to be back. You can tell he's jumping all over the field."
Rodgers impressed throughout the spring, enough for the Eagles to move him up the depth chart. With James Bradberry facing an uncertain future, the Eagles have given Rodgers and Kelee Ringo an opportunity with the first team opposite of Darius Slay.
Both have fared well in the OTAs and mandatory minicamp, enough where they are in the mix for the starting cornerback spot opposite Slay.
"Kelee is difficult at times going against because I go against him a lot. He's definitely growing," Brown said. "You can see a different step with him. I'm not going to put too much pressure on him, but you can definitely see a different step with him.
"He's hungry. He's competing at a high level."
The Eagles cornerback room also has impressed Rodgers, knowing he'll be in a battle for that spot. Even if Bradberry is back, there's no guarantee he'll start come Week 1. The Eagles have been cross-training Bradberry at safety, but the media didn't get to see it in mandatory minicamp since Bradberry sat out 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 portions of practice with an undisclosed injury.
There's a starting spot open for Rodgers, Ringo and first-round pick Quinyon Mitchell. They appear to be the frontrunners for the job heading into the summer.
"They come in and ask questions, questions that I never asked when I was a rookie," Rodgers said of Mitchell and Cooper DeJean. "So just knowing that they're willing to learn, and learn from me. Even though I was sitting out for a year, they still trust my knowledge, trust my game plan going into practice.
"So I think that's the one thing about this room is that everyone is willing to learn."
The cornerback battle will be one to watch this summer. Brown is liking what he's seeing from these guys through the OTA and minicamp practices.
"The young guys are hungry. That's good," Brown said. "It's not just for our room. It's for the team, and for their room, too, to raise the level of expectations."
