Eagles rookie JaCorey Shepherd out to prove he's a winner

JaCOREY SHEPHERD hasn't experienced the thrill of victory much.

The Eagles' rookie cornerback spent the last four years playing football for everybody's favorite homecoming opponent, the University of Kansas. In those four years, the Jayhawks won a grand total of nine games. Nine.

He played for three head coaches in those four years - Turner Gill (who recruited him), Charlie Weis and Clint Bowen, who replaced Weis four games into Shepherd's senior season.

"It was tough," Shepherd said. "Very tough. Nobody wants to lose. But I think that's why I play with such a big chip on my shoulder.

"I did everything I could, regardless of what was asked of me, to put us in a position to win. Losing is something I'm tired of doing. I want to win. And I'm glad I got the opportunity to come to an organization like this because they want to win as well. And I'm going to do what I can to help."

The chip on Shepherd's shoulder grew a little bit bigger last week when the 5-11, 199-pound cornerback was ignored in the draft until the Eagles took him in the sixth round, with the 191st pick. And the fact that they took another cornerback - Randall Evans, of Kansas State - five picks later, would seem to indicate that even their cup isn't exactly running over with confidence in the kid.

"I definitely am using the round I got picked in as motivation," Shepherd said. "But, as I've said from the beginning, that never mattered to me. I just wanted the opportunity."

What also motivates him is the slow 40-yard dash time he ran at Kansas' predraft pro day last month, which cost him any chance of going earlier than he did. Shepherd, who said he was nursing a hamstring injury at the time, was timed in 4.65 seconds, an eternity for a cornerback.

Shepherd insists he's really much faster than that.

"To be labeled as maybe a slower corner, I know that's not me," he said. "Especially if you watch tape. Playing in the Big 12 Conference, there weren't too many times I got a deep ball completed against me. So that definitely does motivate me going forward to show that isn't the type of player I am. Or that 4.6 is not who I am."

Shepherd said his hamstring has pretty much healed and should be 100 percent when training camp opens in July.

"Today was the first day I actually went all out, and I felt fine out there," he said. "There's a little discomfort. But I should be fine. Especially by the time camp time comes around."

Shepherd and the rest of the Eagles' draft picks and undrafted free agents are at the NovaCare Complex this weekend participating in the team's rookie camp.

Where he was drafted and how fast he ran at his pro day are irrelevant now. In the coming months, he will be given an opportunity to make this football team. Whether he does is completely up to him.

The Eagles clearly need help in the secondary. They owned one of the worst pass defenses in the NFL last year. Gave up a league-worst 72 pass plays of 20 yards or more and 30 touchdown passes.

They let both of their starting corners walk and signed the top corner on the free-agent market, Byron Maxwell, giving him a head-spinning six-year, $63 million deal, with $25.5 million in guarantees, even though he has only 17 career starts.

Three of their six draft picks also are cornerbacks - Shepherd, Evans and second-rounder Eric Rowe, though Rowe and Evans also can play safety. And there are two returning corners on the roster - Brandon Boykin and Nolan Carroll.

Shepherd began his career at Kansas as a wide receiver and started two games as a freshman before being switched to cornerback his sophomore year. Despite the fact that the Jayhawks were 3-9 last year, both starting corners were drafted - Shepherd by the Eagles and Dexter McDonald by the Raiders, in the seventh round.

"I knew it was going to be a challenge," Shepherd said of the wide receiver-to-corner move as a sophomore. "But I'm actually a guy who likes a challenge. I don't like nothing that's easy. I never had anything handed to me. I always had to earn it and improve myself.

"I'm going into a situation here where I have competition, as well. I think that benefits me. You actually get the best out of me when I do have competition. If I know I don't have competition, then sometimes I tend to relax. They're going to get everything from me here."

Eagles coach Chip Kelly said he was surprised Shepherd still was on the board in the sixth round. But at least one NFL personnel executive I spoke with wasn't.

"He's kind of a vanilla corner," the scout said. "He might be able to play inside in nickel. He could play a lot of zone. They put him up in press at Kansas, but he wasn't a hands guy. He was a guy that does what we call 'feathering.' He won't get his hands on him, but he'll give the impression that it's press coverage and try to screw up the route."

Shepherd thinks his background as a receiver has helped him grow as a cornerback.

"It definitely helped me, especially in making the transition as quick as I did," he said. "Especially playing the deep ball and knowing how to find the ball in the air. Just reading routes and reading stems coming off [the routes]. That's one of the reason I like to press."

Shepherd's position coach at Kansas was former Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator and head coach Dave Campo.

"I learned a lot from him," Shepherd said. "But now I have to learn a new way, the Eagle way."

On Twitter: @Pdomo

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