Eagles notebook: Meet the newest Philly Dawg on the roster originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
It didn’t take long for Lewis Cine to see a familiar face.
And another. And another. And another.
The former first-round pick said it was like a reunion this week when he arrived to the NovaCare Complex after the Eagles signed him to their 53-man roster. He’s just the latest University of Georgia defender to wear midnight green.
“Walked in and it was all love, all daps and hugs and whatnot, catching up,” Cine said. “It’s a really, really good feeling to see the guys.”
In Philadelphia, Cine has reunited with five of his teammates from the Bulldogs’ national championship team in 2021: Jordan Davis, Nakobe Dean, Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith and Kelee Ringo.
Because of that Georgia-to-Philly pipeline, Cine already knew a lot about the Eagles.
“Oh of course. Who doesn’t if you go to Georgia?” Cine said this week. “Let’s be honest. Isn’t the saying Philly Dawgs? Again, we just catch up, we text each other, call each other and keep up with each others’ careers. It’s not like I haven’t heard from them in a good minute.”
Cine said the first of his former teammates he saw in the facility this week was cornerback Kelee Ringo but he quickly saw the rest of them.
Cine, 25, was taken with the No. 32 overall pick in the 2022 draft by the Minnesota Vikings but suffered a serous compound leg fracture in Week 4 of his rookie season. In his three year NFL career, Cine has played in just 11 career games.
“Man, I just have to say God has a plan for me,” Cine said. “I’m just going to trust him and go from there. There’s a lot I can’t control and a lot that I can. I’m just going to control the things I can control and allow God to handle the rest.”
Upon his arrival in Philly, Cine said all of his medical tests checked out and he’s feeling healthy.
After the Vikings cut Cine in August, he spent the entire 2024 regular season on the Bills’ practice squad before the Eagles signed him this week. The timing of the signing makes it seem like this is a move about the future and not the 2024 playoffs. In Buffalo, Cine played in just one game all season. And even though the timing of his signing seemed a bit strange, Cine didn’t seem all that surprised to be in Philly.
“Honestly, I felt like Philly has been a big fan of me and I’ve been a big fan of Philly,” Cine said. “It’s just that I felt like timing certain things weren’t probably aligned and then everything just clicked and here I am.”
The Eagles had a spot on their roster and have seemingly had some interest in Cine dating back to his pre-draft process a couple years ago. If nothing else, this is a low-risk high reward for Howie Roseman.
After a couple practices, head coach Nick Sirianni seemed impressed.
“He made some good plays (in practice),” Sirianni said. “You’ll see him in the locker room, right? Big guy, strong. Great size and really fast when I was watching him on some teams yesterday. Yeah, excited that he’s here.”
Why you don’t put limits on players
Eagles inside linebacker Zack Baun was a Pro Bowler in 2024 in his first year as a full-time starter. Back in May, when the Eagles first put Baun at inside ‘backer, that seemed like an unlikely scenario.
Although Vic Fangio thought Baun could play the position, even he didn’t expect this type of season.
“Well, it’s hard to say that going back to then,” Fangio said. “But I think you don’t put any limits on players. If you put limits on them, you’ll get limited production. Take them to the ceiling that they can go to.”
In 16 games this season, Baun had 151 combined tackles, 3 1/2 sacks, 5 forced fumbles, 4 pass breakups, 1 interception, 11 tackles for loss and 5 quarterback hits.
Not only did he make the plays you’d expect an inside linebacker to make; he made splash plays week in and week out. He was one of the best linebackers in the league and one of the biggest surprises of the 2024 season.
The 28-year-old is on a one-year deal so he’s about to cash in. Baun has said he’d like to stay in Philadelphia but we’ll see what the offseason brings.
The best in the world
The AP All-Pro team was released on Friday at noon and Lane Johnson finished on the second team at right tackle behind Penei Sewell for the second straight season.
Johnson and his teammates weren’t happy about it.
“He deserved that one, for real,” said left tackle Jordan Mailata, who was also a second-teamer on the All-Pro team. “You guys saw before me. I didn’t see that. But he definitely deserved that. We can’t control that. I think it’s pretty funny that whoever put that up there left a reminder, film don’t lie.”
Earlier in the day, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni didn’t mince words on Friday when asked about right tackle Lane Johnson aside from the framing of the All-Pro results.
“Lane is the best offensive lineman in the NFL,” Sirianni said. “I have no doubt about that.”
Johnson, 34, has had another tremendous season in 2024. He was named to his third straight Pro Bowl (and sixth overall) but ended up on the second team in All-Pro voting for the third time in his career.
“Every time you have an opportunity to be around Lane and watch him play, I can’t tell you how many times I’m watching the tape and I’m like, ‘Man, this guy is one of the best football players in the world,” Sirianni said. “This guy is the best offensive lineman in the world. Like I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched the pass protection and said that to myself or paused it and said it to the offensive staff when we’re watching tape together because he does things that are so, like, crazy athletic and for how big he is. One thing I like to say to guys on the offensive staff, too, is when you watch him move his feet in pass pro and get his hands on a guy, but just how he moves his feet. I go, ‘If you guys think you can score one bucket on Lane Johnson in basketball, you are dead wrong. He would lock you up. I don’t care how many points you averaged in high school.’
“He’s the best offensive lineman in the world and I have no doubt in my mind about that. I love him. I love everything that he brings to this football team as a player, as a leader, as a person. He’s a great teammate. But I keep going back to, yeah, best offensive lineman in the world.”
Learning on the job
The Eagles came into the season with Britain Covey as their punt returner but Covey was limited to just five games this season because of injury and is on IR as the Eagles enter the playoffs.
Rookie Cooper DeJean has filled in and has performed admirably.
“I think he’s just gotten better and better,” Clay said. “Obviously, his first one was a rough start in Tampa Bay. Obviously, some of it is not his fault whatsoever. But you could just see the confidence.”
Yeah, things didn’t get off to a great start. In Week 4, DeJean entered the game as the primary punt returner and on his first attempt, Isaiah Rodgers launched a Buccaneers player into DeJean for a muffed punt. It was a disaster.
But things have gotten much better for DeJean since.
This year, DeJean has returned 21 punts for 211 yards. His average of 10.0 yards per return, which ranks 7th in the NFL among players with at least 20 returns this season.
“You can understand why he was a good returner at Iowa,” DeJean said. “He’s tough and catches the ball really well. He tracks the ball. He just keeps getting better. He always works at it in practice, and it helps having Covey out there. A-Mo (receivers coach Aaron Moorehead) does a great job with the returners, trying to set the line, telling them they are good and telling them what to expect here. And (special teams assistant) Tyler (Brown) does a great job with telling him about the wind in pregame and what’s happening.
“But Coop has done a really good job for us and he kind sneaks up on you with a 23-yarder or a 31-yarder, those 15-yard returns or chunk plays, a first-down and a half which helps out against the opponent’s net. Coop is just going to keep getting better and better and the guys are going to get better.”
Season-ending honors
The NFL doesn’t have an official all-pro team but the one that is recognized as the top honor is the Associated Press All-Pro team, which began in the 1940s. Two Eagles were first-teamers on this year’s team.
Here’s a look at all the year-end regular season honors the Eagles have gotten so far:
• Associated Press All-Pro team
First team: RB Saquon Barkley, LB Zack Baun
Second team: WR A.J. Brown, LT Jordan Mailata, RT Lane Johnson, DT Jalen Carter
• NFLPA all-pro team
RB Saquon Barkley, DT Jalen Carter
• NFL NextGen Stats all-pro team
RB Saquon Barkley, RT Lane Johnson, LB Zack Baun, NCB Cooper DeJean
• ProFootballFocus all-pro team
First team: LT Jordan Mailata, LB Zack Baun
Second team: RB Saquon Barkley, WR A.J. Brown, RT Lane Johnson, Flex CB Cooper DeJean
• Pro Bowl
RB Saquon Barkley, LB Zack Baun, DT Jalen Carter, OG Landon Dickerson, OT Lane Johnson, C Cam Jurgens
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