How Eagles corner Kelee Ringo picked up the pieces after losing his starting job originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Kelee Ringo is much more interested in talking about how far he still has to go than how far he’s come already.
Which tells you a lot about Kelee Ringo.
He’s not a finished product. He’s not a perfect player. He doesn’t have this whole thing figured out yet. Not even close.
But he is an example of how good things can happen when you believe in yourself, when you don’t stop working and when you never let your confidence waver.
Ringo has started the Eagles’ last two games at outside cornerback with Adoree’ Jackson hurt, and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio hinted broadly Tuesday that Ringo will remain in the starting lineup, even with Jackson now healthy and off the injury report.
It’s full circle for Ringo, who began training camp as the starter, lost his job to Jackson when he struggle all summer and didn’t play a single defensive snap the first three games of the season.
“When you go through a lot of adversity, you learn a lot from different people and from the challenges that you go through,” Ringo said Tuesday at his locker.
“And then when you see those same things again, you can attack them a different way. I feel like when you’re approaching anything in life, your mindset’s the main thing that needs to be intact. So for me it was just understanding that and understanding who I am as a player and who I am as a man. And that’s helped take me through whatever I’ve faced.”
Ringo isn’t taking any bows. He knows he has to keep getting better. He allowed a 20-yarder to Broncos receiver Troy Franklin in the first quarter Sunday and a 15-yarder to receiver Trent Sherfield in the second quarter. He also missed a couple tackles late in the Bucs game in Tampa.
But overall, he’s held his own in his first extended defensive reps since the end of 2023. He only played 59 snaps all last year before the meaningless season ender vs. the Giants. As a rookie in 2023, he started late in the year when Darius Slay had to get his knee scoped.
“Obviously, with the way things went this summer, I’m sure he wasn’t happy,” Cooper DeJean said. “But he continued to work throughout practice. And you saw it when he was going up against a lot of guys. guys on our offense, just the way he played and how locked in he was. So it’s been awesome to see that pay off.”
In his two starts, against the Bucs and Broncos, opposing quarterbacks have targeted Ringo 10 times, completing five passes for 64 yards.
According to Stathead analytics, Ringo’s 70.4 defensive passer rating ranks 19thof 99 corners who’ve been targeted at least 10 times. Their 50 percent completion percentage throwing at Ringo is tied for 9th-lowest and their 6.4 yards per target is tied for 31st.
Not bad for a guy who lost his job two months ago.
“Nobody’s harder on me than I am,” he said. “So I know I have a long way to go. I’ve only scratched the surface where I’m at right now to where I want to be. I just want to continue to get better.
“I think I’ve played decent, but it’s not good enough to my standard.”
Ringo is in his third season but he’s still only 23, and with his size, speed and physicality, he has the kind of upside that Jackson – who’s 30 and in his ninth season – doesn’t have.
But maybe the most impressive characteristic Ringo has shown is resilience. It’s not easy getting benched. Different guys respond in different ways.
Ringo never whined or complained. He just kept grinding.
“It’s been awesome to see and watch, just the way he’s gone about it and stayed ready,” DeJean said. “He was still very involved in preparation even in the weeks that he wasn’t starting. He was still asking questions, still practicing hard, still locked in at meetings. So it’s no surprise that he’s been able to help us out there on our defense since he started playing.”
Ringo said the support he got from his coaches and teammates over the past few months meant the world to him.
“There’s no better feeling than to have your peers’ respect and them seeing the progress that you’re making,” he said. “And just even beyond that, proving to yourself that you are who you say you are and you are who you believe you are.”
DeJean is 22, Ringo 23 and Quinyon Mitchell 24. This is only the fourth time in franchise history the Eagles have had three corners 24 or younger start multiple games in a season.
In 1966 it was Aaron Martin, Al Nelson and Jim Nettles, in 2017, it was Rasul Douglas, Ronald Darby and Jalen Mills and in 2018 Darby, Douglas, Mills and Avonte Maddox.
Ringo still has to prove he belongs in the same conversation as DeJean and Mitchell, and that’s a weekly challenge that’s still in the beginning stages.
But DeJean said everybody in the secondary believes in Ringo and has been impressed with how far he’s come.
“That’s what we’re here for,” he said. “We’re teammates. And everybody’s going to have our full trust in him and what he can do. And there’s no doubt that everybody has that. And the great thing is, he’s just going to continue to get better.”
