As the Philadelphia Eagles overhauled their secondary, a familiar face remained but changed positions.
The Eagles re-signed defensive back Jalen Mills, who started 34 games at cornerback over the past four years. The plan is to move the 26-year-old to strong safety to replace veteran Malcolm Jenkins.
Mills told 97.5 The Fanatic that he believes the position switch will unleash his talent.
"I feel like at my position, my competitiveness and the position that I (know) this Eagles defense is going to be able to put me in to make the plays that I know I can make, that I'm going to have a breakout season," Mills said, via NJ.com. "I'm ready for it, so as far as when we're talking about any type of other players and bringing in other guys, especially at the safety position, I definitely feel like I can hold my own."
Mills missed the end of the 2018 season due to a leg injury, and started the 2019 campaign on the PUP list, sitting out the first six tilts. When healthy he was one of the Eagles' better defensive backs, compiling 37 passes defended and four INTs in four seasons.
Some scouts viewed Mills as a better fit at safety than corner when he was coming out of LSU. Making a position switch during an offseason truncated by a pandemic raises the learning curve for Mills, but if he pulls it off, the Eagles secondary should be much improved in 2020.
