Eagles special teamer Jaylen Watkins found himself on the turf on Sunday staring down a punt that was coming right toward him. If the ball hit him, it would’ve been a live ball and a turnover waiting to happen.
Kenjon Barner went full-on action hero to save Eagles teammate from muffing a punt
He physically dragged Jaylen Watkins out of harm’s way.
Jeanna Kelley has been covering the Falcons for The Falcoholic since 2011 and the NFL for SB Nation since 2015.
Luckily for Watkins, his teammate Kenjon Barner saved the day.
Watkins was trying to get downfield to block for Barner on the return, but his teammate Steven Means got a hand on the ball as it left the punter’s foot. The punt was much shorter than Watkins expected, and he froze.
“The ball was coming so fast, and I just couldn’t move fast enough,” Watkins said, via Penn Live’s Aaron Kasinitz. “You know know how you watch those movies and people are on the ground and you’re like, ‘Get up! Why are you just sitting there?’ Now I know how it feels. I couldn’t climb up.”
Barner tried to warn Watkins off, but it was too late. So Barner had to be the hero.
“I was just trying to make a smart play and pull him out of the way so we didn’t have a disastrous play take place,” Barner said.
The Eagles shellacked the Bears 31-3 and improved to 10-1. Even if the ball had hit Watkins and the Bears had recovered, it probably wouldn’t have changed the outcome of the game. But it was certainly good looking out on Barner’s part.
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