PHILADELPHIA — Explosive punt returns are impressive and Xavier Gipson has had a few in his brief NFL career, including a game-ending 65-yarder for a touchdown against the Bills during his rookie season with the Jets in 2023.
The No. 1 job of every punt returner, however, is to make sure you secure the football and Gipson has failed in that duty way too often, including Sunday during the Eagles’ mistake-filled 24-21 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
With the Eagles locked in a fourth-quarter tie, Gipson inexplicably fielded a punt at the 2-yard line and fumbled away the ball at the 12-yard line after taking a big hit from Alijah Clark. The Cowboys recovered at the 7-yard line.
“We have these set of rules that at times can be a little bit fluid depending on where you are with field position,” special teams coordinator Michael Clay said Tuesday. “In that case, it came back to bite us right there in terms of where we fielded it and the end result of it. It’s just one of those things where we can’t put the defense in a situation like that ... and now I own (defensive coordinator) Vic Fangio a nice bottle of wine for getting us out of that predicament.”
The Eagles’ defense kept the Cowboys out of the end zone after Gipson’s fumble, but field position remained a factor in Dallas’ favor partially because of that play, which helped lead to the game-winning field goal by Brandon Aubrey as time expired.
Here’s the big question now: Do the Eagles plan to stick with Gipson as their punt returner?
It’s possible they won’t have that option because Gipson appeared to be injured from the hit he took on the play. Nothing was announced during the game, but the team’s first injury report will be released later today.
Wide receiver Jahan Dotson handled the punt-return duties earlier this season and had five returns for an average of 9.6 yards.
Gipson has averaged 11.2 yards on six punt returns, but he has also fumbled three times. This was the first one he lost.
The Eagles have other good options at punt returner besides Dotson and Gipson.
It’s a mystery, in fact, as to why they didn’t turn to their best option earlier this season.
Britain Covey, who two seasons ago led the NFL in punt return yards and returns of more than 20 yards with seven, has been on the practice squad all season after failing to make the Los Angeles Rams’ roster in training camp.
Covey has averaged 11.3 yards on 68 career punt returns and has never lost a fumble. He last played in a game in Week 13 of last season when he suffered a neck injury against the Ravens in Baltimore. He returned to the practice field late last season, but was not activated for the Eagles’ final nine games, including four in the playoffs.
“You’re very fortunate to have a guy of that nature to have on your practice squad in case this does happen,” Clay said. “The amount of people we have to possibly fill that void is pretty good right now.”
The other option is second-year cornerback Cooper DeJean, who handled the majority of the Eagles’ punt return duties last season. He finished with a 10-yard average per return, which ranked 11th among the 29 players with at least 15 returns.
Covey, because DeJean plays such a vital role on the Eagles’ defense, is the logical choice to handle the punt-return duties going forward, but for some reason the team has been reluctant to return him to the role he used to perform so well.
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