Eagles player Isaiah Rodgers learned this hard lesson during his suspension

PHILADELPHIA – Eagles cornerback Isaiah Rodgers learned a hard lesson during his suspension.

The NFL reinstated Rodgers last month after he served a year-long suspension for violating the league’s gambling policy by placing bets at an NFL facility that involved the Indianapolis Colts. After that suspension, the Colts released him and the Eagles signed him to a one-year, $1.01 million contract.

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Rodgers only received a call from the Eagles after his release. No other team showed interest in him.

“It’s brought me closer to my loved ones and brought me closer to the game,” Rodgers told reporters after OTAs on Thursday. “It’s actually helped me not take this game for granted and just understand that the league doesn’t need anybody.”

During the 2023 season, Rodgers did not let the suspension affect his training program. He considered Sunday a typical game day and took Tuesday off.

Rodgers believes this routine is why he performs well in offseason workouts. While doing these drills at home, Rodgers imagined himself covering Eagles wide receivers AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith.

Now, Rodgers can interact with Brown and Smith and other teammates every day. In his year away from football, he missed spending time with his teammates and coaches.

“I would just say not being in the locker room,” Rodgers said, describing the hardest part of last year. “That brotherhood. The feeling and understanding that I made a mistake and I served my time. It just feels good to be back with a great team and a great culture and finally have that locker room environment back in my heart.”

Rodgers was the last of six players suspended indefinitely for gambling last season to be reinstated by the NFL this offseason. He explained that his suspension was lifted after all the others because the league viewed his conduct as more serious.

“Rules are rules and they’re there for a reason,” Rodgers said of what he learned from his suspension. “So if you break them, you have to face the consequences. If you don’t, you keep being great.”

Before being suspended, Rodgers developed into a solid player for the Colts. He carved out a role as a returner in his rookie season. Over the next two years (2021 and 2022), Rodgers played more than 40% of the defensive snaps and started 10 games.

Rodgers will have to beat out rookie cornerbacks Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell, as well as other cornerbacks, to earn a spot in the starting lineup in 2024. He’s happy to be part of the competition and is ready to take on any role.

“I can do whatever the team asks me to do,” Rodgers said. “I can play defensive end and come off the side. That’s what I’m going to do. Whatever coach asks me to do, I’m going to focus on my playbook and study it.”

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