Jakorian Bennett survives being thrown into fire late vs. Rams

Jakorian Bennett survives being thrown into fire late vs. Rams originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Jakorian Bennett knew it was coming. He expected it.

After Adoree' Jackson played the first 38 snaps as the Eagles' CB2 on Sunday afternoon, he had to exit with a groin injury. So Bennett came in cold to play the final 12 defensive snaps of the Eagles' 33-26 win.

And the Rams went right at him.

I guess I'd do the same," Bennett said after the win. A backup guy comes in, well, a guy that's a backup. Not that I'm a backup guy. A guy that's coming in, of course you gotta try him. Might be tight. Might not be locked in. But I was locked in."

As Quinyon Mitchell traveled with Davante Adams on Sunday, that meant that Bennett ended up in coverage on Puka Nacua for most of that final series.

In fact, on that final Rams possession, Matthew Stafford threw six passes and all six of them went Bennett's way. Bennett gave up 3 catches for 30 yards but came up with a pass breakup on the Rams' second-to-last offensive play before their final field goal attempt.

From the Eagles' 33-yard line and with 18 seconds remaining, Stafford chucked up an underthrown pass to Nacua with Bennett in coverage and Bennett was able to knock it down.

Honestly, they wanted to make the field goal attempt a little easier," Bennett said. They probably tried to throw every ball my way from the first one to the last one, for real. On the slant (an earlier play), I thought I was going to make a play right there but kind of threw it behind him. It was a lot. But it was good. I prepare the right way and the coaches did a good job of preparing me."

If Bennett doesn't make that play, maybe the Rams come out on top.

While Bennett didn't play on defense until the fourth quarter on Sunday, he was involved on special teams and did his best to stay ready on the sideline.

I just tried to do my due diligence before I was even thrown into the fire," Bennett said. Kind of play the game from the sideline, see the things that they were getting. Get thrown into a 2-minute but I practice hard, I practice the right way so it wasn't nothing that I wasn't prepared for. I was just out there trusting my technique, just trying to go out there and make a play."

Bennett, 25, didn't get to Philadelphia until August, when the Eagles traded to bring him in from the Raiders. He didn't have enough time to beat out Jackson for the starting cornerback spot but has been the next man up. While Jackson had a rough first game, he hasn't done enough to lose that starting spot.

That means that Bennett will likely be back on the bench when the Eagles play the Buccaneers in Tampa on Sunday. But Bennett has played defensive snaps in all three games this season, so he needs to stay ready.

Kudos to him," safety Reed Blankenship said. Next-man-up mentality. That's how we do it in the DB room, any room. Whatever happens, whatever unfortunate circumstances happen, next man up."