Shortly after Nickell Robey-Coleman signed with the Eagles, he looked at his new team’s schedule and didn’t have to look too far.
Week 2 vs. the Los Angeles Rams. He circled it.
“Yes, that was the first game I circled on the schedule,” Robey-Coleman said on Wednesday. “I’ve still got it circled right now. I was like, ‘Yes! Got the Rams! Week 2, let’s do it!’ It’s going to be fun. I’m looking forward to it."
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Any player would be excited to face their former team, to go against their old friends and to show them they still have it.
There’s even more motivation for Robey-Coleman.
Back in March, the Rams declined the option on Robey-Coleman’s contract, leaving the 28-year-old as a free agent. It was a move that NRC admitted surprised him.
“When they decided to decline my option, it definitely gave me a whole nother level of motivation to go out there and re-showcase myself again on another level,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s a business, but it’s all love. They did what they had to do. I moved on, I did what I had to do.
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“And now I’m an Eagle, and I’m happy to be an Eagle. Stuff like this motivates me for the game coming up this Sunday. I’m super-excited to show what I’ve been doing over here in Philly.”
Had the Rams decided to pick up Robey-Coleman’s option, he would have come with a $4.5 million cap hit in 2020. So the Rams went younger and saved cap space, but also gave up one of the best nickel corners in the NFL.
The Eagles weren’t really in the market for a nickel corner this spring but they ended up getting quite a deal on NRC, signing the veteran to a one-year deal worth $1.35 million.
During training camp, I asked Robey-Coleman if it bothered him that nickel cornerbacks aren’t valued as much as outside corners. He said it did a little but he wants to be the guy to change that.
On Sunday, Robey-Coleman will have one of the toughest tasks he’ll have all season when he’ll spend most of his afternoon covering Cooper Kupp.
“He’s a really, really, really good slot receiver, and I think highly of myself in the slot as well,” he said. “So, it’s going to be interesting.”
While Robey-Coleman is eager to play against his former team, he said he really enjoyed his time in Los Angeles. Even though he’s from Florida, Robey-Coleman went to USC and after four years in Buffalo going to the Rams was kind of like a homecoming.
He’s spent this week talking to his new teammates, trying to give them any tips he can with his insider information about the Rams.
“I’m excited to play against my old team,” he said. “The guys over there, it’s all love, it’s big love over there. But I’m just sharing all the information that I can possibly remember from being in LA.”
The one thing he definitely remembers from LA is that they didn’t bring him back in 2020. While he understands it’s a business, Robey-Coleman is hoping to show the Rams they made a mistake.