Eagles locker room buzz: Britain Covey’s parking mishap, Arryn Siposs’ top-end speed on display

Britain Covey’s first regular-season game at the Linc was preceded by an incognito quarter-mile walk.

A few hours before the Eagles’ decisive Monday night win over the Minnesota Vikings in which Covey served as the punt returner, the practice-squad call-up was spurned from the parking lot reserved for players on the active roster.

Even though he had a pass to the nearby lot saved for players on the taxi squad, the attendants unwittingly pointed him toward a public space instead. Covey pleaded his case, but the attendants likely didn’t buy that the 5-foot-8, 173-pound rookie driving a Toyota RAV4 was telling the truth.

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“So I had the practice squad pass, right?” Covey said. “But all the guys on the team told me, ‘You’re going to get elevated. When you pull up, just tell them that you’re elevated.’ So I pulled up, I could tell they didn’t recognize me. I said, ‘I’ve been elevated to the active roster,’ and they looked at me a little skeptically. They said I didn’t have the pass for it. They did their job. I never wanted to come across like they weren’t doing their jobs.”

“I just said I’d park where everyone else parks,” he added. “So they pointed me where everyone else parks, but they literally pointed me to where everyone else parks.”

When Covey saw the massive line of cars waiting to enter the lot, he suspected he’d gone to the wrong place. When he saw tailgaters and trailers, he was certain of it.

Luckily for the former All-American from Utah, his relative anonymity and smaller stature saved him from getting mobbed by fans.

“It felt like John Stockton in Barcelona,” he said.

The experience of walking to the game with fans had some value for Covey, though. Although Eagles security czar Dom DiSandro will likely advise against it, he said he might even do it again.

“It was inspiring to me to see the fans and realize I’m not that far removed from that stage of life,” Covey said. “Being one of those little kids at a tailgate. I might do it again. Wear a hat and not get recognized. ... I really want to be a great player here. It might not be immediate, but I’m determined to get better and be a good player.”

Covey’s parking mishap offers a glimpse into the practice squad experience. He’s been the Eagles’ lone punt returner in the first two weeks of the season but hasn’t been permanently elevated to the active roster, making the first two games something of an extended tryout.

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The Eagles have protected Covey on the taxi squad each of the last two weeks and elevated him for game day, but this Sunday’s game against the Washington Commanders will be the last one for which he’s eligible to be elevated. The Eagles will either have to replace him with another punt returner or put him on the active roster after that.

“It can be difficult,” Covey said of the practice squad experience. “You still feel like you’re in tryout mode all the time, so you have to be on your toes. I understand why it’s done. I think it just gives you that extra determination to prove yourself. I’m more frustrated than anybody when I don’t play well or when I don’t do well in a practice.”

Even if Covey does eventually get one of his desired parking spaces and the bump in salary that comes from being on the 53-man roster, he said he’s sticking with his Toyota.

“Honestly, I like that car,” Covey said. “It saves gas money, it’s great.”

The Eagles were nearly flawless in all three phases during their Week 2 victory over the Vikings. However, a blocked field goal placed a damper on the special team’s performance.

On the play, holder/punter Arynn Siposs retreated nearly 50 yards to make a touchdown-saving tackle on Vikings defensive back Kris Boyd at the Eagles’ 30-yard line. Siposs’ stop ended up being crucial as the Vikings didn’t score thanks to an interception from cornerback Avonte Maddox. The Eagles shut out the Vikings in the second half.

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“He’s coming from Australian football where that’s what he does — he’s running around all the time,” kicker Jake Elliott said of Siposs. “We usually open it up once a week just in case those situations happen, and so we don’t pull anything. I’ve seen his top-end speed before. I knew he had some wheels in him.

“From a special teams standpoint, we’ve got to clean it up so that doesn’t happen again. But you can’t coach that effort from Arynn. Because if that blocked kick turns into a touchdown, it will be a much different game.”

Asked who’s faster between the two players, Elliott chuckled before declining to answer. He did point out he’s quite quick himself. Through two games, Elliott has made two of three field goals, and all eight of his extra-point attempts.

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Wide receiver A.J. Brown canvassed his Twitter following for banana pudding recommendations earlier this week. As is often the case for the star receiver still adjusting to the intensity of Eagles fans on social media, the reception surprised him. Brown said he’s had multiple people reach out offering to send him a pan of the Southern dessert, but he has since learned that Darius Slay’s wife, Jennifer, is the go-to.