After a couple of whirlwind days, new Eagles cornerback Ronald Darby finally felt at home on Sunday morning.
On a football field. In man coverage.
"Yeah, it was a stress reliever," Darby said after his first practice with his new team. "I had a lot built up, trying to get the playbook down, trying to learn. I made a few mistakes on some of the plays. But go in there, learn from it, get better each day."
Darby, 23, was at practice on Saturday morning but wasn't allowed to participate because Jordan Matthews, his counterpart in Friday's trade, hadn't yet taken his physical.
So Sunday offered the first chance for Darby to take the field in his No. 35 Eagles uniform and it offered his teammates and coaches the first chance to see him in action.
And the team didn't waste any time.
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During group install and 11-on-11 drills, Darby lined up as the first-team cornerback on the left side, while Jalen Mills manned the right. Darby didn't take every first-team rep but it's pretty clear he's already a starter for Jim Schwartz's defense.
"Yeah, it was a little bit of pressure because [the other corners have] everything down," Darby said. "Me just coming in and trying to figure everything out. Just trying to study and get better every day."
Darby took part in individual drills before having a big role in team portions of practice. He showed off his trademark speed and coverage skills and seemed to look pretty good.
"Well, we were just trying to get him out there," Schwartz said. "It's tough when you come in and you've got one day to try to get up to speed, and there were a couple signs of that where we had a miscommunication. It really wasn't a miscommunication, it's just he's not up to speed on a lot of the calls. But we tried to limit it, mainly a lot of man-to-man just so it would stay that way."
So how did Darby look?
"Hard to really say," Schwartz said. "I mean, I'm watching all 11 guys on defense. You guys are only watching one. You've got to admit, that is the only one you guys were watching, right?"
(Yeah, Schwartz was kind of right.)
For his first practice, Darby lined up on the left side only. That's where he played the first two years of his career in Buffalo and he clearly feels more comfortable there. But during training camp with the Bills before the trade, Darby had been playing on the right side. That's good news for Schwartz, who sometimes likes to flip his corners.
While in Buffalo, Darby lined up opposite Stephon Gilmore, so there was no reason for them to switch and Darby never shaded the other team's best receiver. But there's a chance that's what happens this season. Schwartz said on Sunday that it was too early to determine that.
"My last two years, I had Gilmore on the other side," Darby said. "We really didn't stress it. If a receiver came to the left side, I was on him. If he went to the right, Gilmore was on him."
During the 7-on-7 portion of practice, Darby lined up 1-on-1 against Alshon Jeffery. The two got tangled on the rep and Jeffery came down with the ball. Darby said going against players like Jeffery will help him prepare for some of the other big receivers he'll play this season.
Aside from that play against Jeffery, Darby also gave up a completion to Nelson Agholor on a dig route, but Agholor made a great play near the ground after Darby offered tight coverage.
"He's definitely a good player from what I know and from what I've seen," safety Rodney McLeod said. "It's just going to take him some time to get the communication and scheme down. I think that's the main thing. But I think he did well today. He was competing. He had some tight coverage on Alshon and some other guys. He's going to be a good addition to this group."
With how quickly the Eagles tossed Darby into action with the starting group on Sunday, it seems very possible he'll get a chance to play on Thursday against this old team when the Bills come to town.
It will probably be a weird night for him.
"Yeah, it will be a little weird knowing I was just there a few days ago," Darby said, "but that's just how the league works."
