Cooper DeJeanhas sat just a few stalls away from Marcus Epps in the NovaCare Complex locker room day after day, practice after practice since September.
But, on Game Days, the second-year nickel cornerback says he hardly recognizes Epps.
The relaxed, laid-back safety doesn’t make a peep, at least compared to the boisterous DeJean, who is constantly cracking jokes with his teammates. When Epps is on the field, though, DeJean said that calm demeanor dissipates as if a switch flips in his head.
Enthusiasm emanates from Epps on every play. The 29-year-old wore his heart on his jersey sleeve in last Sunday’s win over the Buffalo Bills, especially on a critical goal-line stand late in the third quarter. After Epps stuffed James Cook for a loss of a yard on third down and Zack Baun prevented Josh Allen from scrambling into the end zone on fourth, Epps screamed and flexed on his way to the sideline.
In moments like those, Reed Blankenship says he’s scared to give his fellow safety a high five.
“He’ll try to slap me as hard as he can,” Blankenship explained. “I’m like, I don’t know if I want to do that. He’s just one of those dudes that you can tell that loves the game and loves the way it’s supposed to be played.”
Epps shows his passion through his physicality, according to DeJean.
“He loves to hit people,” DeJean said. “Loves to play downhill. You can tell he really loves to be out there just by the way he plays and his energy.”
That love for football intensified when the game was taken away from Epps. This time last year, he was recovering from a torn ACL suffered early in the season as the starting safety for the Las Vegas Raiders.
Initial devastation was eventually replaced by a new perspective, one that fueled Epps’ comeback in 2025 upon his return to the Eagles, the team he started for in the Super Bowl in 2022.
Epps says he doesn’t take any moment — even his shortcomings — for granted. His failure to make the New England Patriots roster out of training camp led him to sign to the Eagles’ practice squad two days later. Shortly after Drew Mukuba’s Week 12 ankle injury, Vic Fangio anointed a new starter in Epps, who has seamlessly slotted into one of the league’s most dominant defenses.
Months of doubt over his NFL future gave way to a sense of gratitude in Philadelphia, even before he became an Eagles starter again.
“I feel like this is exactly where I was supposed to be this season,” Epps said last week.
‘Everything happens for a reason’
On the morning of Las Vegas’ Week 4 game against the Cleveland Browns last season, Jakorian Bennett, then a Raiders cornerback, decided to switch up his pregame look.
Bennett donned a black No. 1 Epps jersey as he walked through the Allegiant Stadium corridors to the locker room. Bennett, whom the Eagles acquired from the Raiders in early August, sought to honor Epps, who tore his ACL the week prior against the Carolina Panthers.
Even though Epps was four years Bennett’s senior, the cornerback considered him his closest friend on the team. He admired Epps, who went from a University of Wyoming walk-on to a Minnesota Vikings sixth-round pick to an NFL starter in a span of eight years.
“If you’d seen how much work he put in during the offseason, when you train so hard for, what, four months? Three months? Whatever it is,” Bennett said. “It’s year-round, really, and for it to just kind of be, I don’t want to say that it was just a waste, but just for it to kind of go out that way, it’s kind of unfortunate.”
Bennett, 25, knew just how much work Epps had put in during the offseason. Bennett’s NFL career began with the Raiders in 2023, the same year Epps joined the team after 3½ years with the Eagles. Since then, Bennett has spent two weeks of the summer training with the veteran safety at the gym he owns in Costa Mesa, Calif.
Epps and Bennett initially gravitated toward each other because they both “do things the right way,” the cornerback explained. That approach applies to their preparation, from their film study to the way they take care of their bodies.
Their bond grew stronger in 2024, when they supported each other through season-ending injuries. Bennett had shoulder surgery in November that shut him down for the rest of the year. While Epps called his own recovery a “difficult process” that required him to lean on his loved ones, it also put his career into perspective.
“I realized even more so, how much I really just love football, and just want to be out there as much as I can and play this game for as long as I can,” Epps said. “That perspective just helped me every day in terms of getting up in the morning and continuing to put the work in.”
Epps said he went through plenty of “dark days” during his rehab. He understood the reality of his situation — there was no guarantee that everything he worked to achieve as a starter would be waiting for him in the end. Regardless, he said he believed that everything would work out for the best.
Better days did not immediately arrive. Epps signed with the Patriots on a one-year deal in the offseason, a decision he said he made because they “came after me and they made it seem like they wanted me there.”
But he never made progress up the depth chart, leading to his release at the end of August. The Eagles came calling that same day, a silver lining to his stint in New England.
“That experience, I feel like, brought me back here,” Epps said. “Everything happens for a reason. Got to be able to just stay true to yourself, keep working, have faith in God and that he’s going to put you in the right spot.”
A ‘seamless’ transition
There’s a little bit of weirdness that comes with being the guy who returns to his former squad after a hiatus, according to Epps.
No, that feeling wasn’t associated with his having signed with another team in free agency following the Eagles’ Super Bowl loss. Rather, Epps returned to a familiar place filled with unfamiliar faces, especially on a defense under second-year Eagles coordinator Fangio. Of course, he had to learn Fangio’s scheme, too.
“[Epps] was asking me questions,” said Bennett, who had arrived in Philadelphia just a few weeks earlier. “I’m like, ‘Hey, brother, can’t really help you with that one.’”
While Epps acknowledged he had to make an adjustment, former teammates such as Blankenship, Jalen Hurts, and A.J. Brown, plus safeties coach Joe Kasper, who was a defensive quality control coach during Epps’ first stint, made his transition easier.
“Everybody really just greeted me with open arms,” Epps said. “And I can’t say enough about that and how much I appreciated that, this locker room and this building just welcoming me back and making me feel like I was wanted here and appreciated here.”
Blankenship’s appreciation for Epps dates to his rookie season in 2022, when the elder safety became his mentor. As Blankenship learned Jonathan Gannon’s scheme, Epps implored him to start small. He wasn’t going to become Ed Reed overnight.
Even when Epps wasn’t starting earlier in the 2025 season, he took that same approach with the younger safeties in the room, all while staying ready for his opportunity. Blankenship said he knows how it feels to be on the receiving end of the wisdom that Mukuba, Sydney Brown, and Andrè Sam received.
“He helped me out a lot with doing that, how to break down film, just how to communicate as a whole,” Blankenship said. “I feel like he does a really good job of doing that now.”
DeJean also highlighted Epps’ communication skills, stating that it’s the reason why he has been able to make an impact on the defense so quickly. Epps is adept at making sure his teammates are on the same page by communicating what he sees from the opposing offense before the snap.
His familiarity with Blankenship has helped his transition, too. Blankenship and Epps started five games together between the regular season and postseason in 2022. Their trust flourished in that span, when Epps saw firsthand just how much work Blankenship was putting in behind the scenes. Epps said he knew the rookie would be ready to play every week.
Even though they’re playing in a new defense now, Epps said they picked up where they left off three seasons ago.
“Just having played with him before and having that chemistry and trust especially, I think that’s a huge thing, especially in this system,” Epps said. “The safeties have to have a lot of trust and a lot of chemistry. And it made that a lot easier that we already had that in place. So from there, it’s just communication. And it really felt like it was seamless.”
Epps won’t see the field in the season finale against the Washington Commanders. Instead, he’ll continue his recovery from a concussion after he reported symptoms following Thursday’s practice.
Then, the playoffs await — Epps’ first postseason appearance since the Super Bowl LVII loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. The veteran safety is eager to bring his playoff experience to the team this time around. He said he knows what it takes to make a long postseason run, even though he didn’t lift the Lombardi Trophy three years ago.
His teammates appreciate his presence, too. Epps may not garner much attention off the field with his subdued personality, but Blankenship didn’t shy away from giving him his flowers.
“It’s not just me, Cooper, or Zack back there,” Blankenship said. “It’s Epps, too. He knows what he’s doing. We’re very comfortable with him back there.”
