Manuel and McLeod are now part of a secondary that includes a player making his own transition from corner to safety in Jalen Mills, and a host of other talented players headlined by three-time Pro Bowl cornerback Darius Slay.
"He's everything that we all envisioned him to be," McLeod said of Slay. "He works hard, man. He's probably one of the last guys off the field and on the field, you feel his presence. He's going to make us a better secondary because of it."
With Mills, Slay, and others in tow, McLeod believes the Eagles have the pieces in place to regain the respect he believes it lost in 2019.
"It's coming together a lot better than I think anyone would imagine," he said of the secondary's chemistry during a conference call with the media Wednesday.
"We're taking advantage of not only the reps we get out on the practice field but the walkthroughs and so far, so good," he later added. "I like the way we're jelling, man."
Manuel likes what he has seen from the Eagles' secondary. On Wednesday, he raved about Avonte Maddox's versatility, and Slay and Mills' leadership qualities. But most of all, he loves the unit's competitiveness.
"Most of the time as a coach when you come in, you normally have to wait to see when that would happen, but the leadership and competitive edge has been amazing from the guys that have already been here and the additions," Manuel explained.
Although Manuel is happy with what he has seen from the secondary so far, he also admitted that there is still much to improve. Two players in particular he wants to see more from were cornerbacks Sidney Jones and Rasul Douglas.
Manuel has a familiarity with Jones dating back to his time with the Seahawks, where he got to watch what the 2017 second-round pick was capable of during his time at the University of Washington.
When the Eagles first hired Manuel, he had a conversation with Jones about the three things he wanted to see out of the former second-round pick. He wants to see Jones be more accountable, compete daily, and be willing to learn.
"If you consistently do those three things in this league, you can have success," Manuel explained. "Everyone's skill set is different. We all understand that. You guys understand that. I also understand that. However, how can you implement now what you do great?"
"You can't be great at everything, but we can also work at things that we know we can get better at. I practice it until I can't get it wrong," he later said.
With Douglas, Manuel wants to see him be more diligent in his approach to the game and self-evaluate more, the latter Manuel did a lot of while he was out of football last season.
"One of the things about Rasul is he wants to know why," Manuel said. "As a player, you always want to know why and as a coach, I always wanted to make sure that we have the why."
"Consistency in technique, consistency in effort, that's what stands the test of time in this league," he later added. "A ball is going to get caught on you. I haven't seen a guy not get a ball caught on them, but consistently, how can you go battle what techniques are you're using? Can you now understand what do I need to apply, the application?"
Manuel believes Jones and Douglas have what it takes to meet his lofty expectations for them. The same goes for the entire Eagles secondary. Eagles Everywhere hope he is correct, just like he was about McLeod at Tropicana Field in 2012.
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Will Marquand Manuel's prediction come true once again? - PhiladelphiaEagles.com
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