For the second year in a row, the Philadelphia Eagles kept an undrafted rookie cornerback from Alabama when they reduced their preseason roster to the 53-player regular-season limit.

Last season, the Eagles kept Josh Jobe. On Tuesday, Philadelphia kept Eli Ricks.

MORE NFL:

· QUARTERBACK MAC JONES GETS A NEW BACKUP IN NEW ENGLAND

· JAGUARS SIGN FORMER AUBURN DEFENSIVE LINEMAN

· COMMANDERS PLACE PHIDARIAN MATHIS ON INJURED RESERVE

“Obviously, you talk about pedigree, the No. 1 corner in the country coming out of high school and going to LSU,” Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said about Ricks. “Didn’t have his last season that he wanted to. He was a guy we spent a lot of time on in the draft process, and he came in with an opportunity. I think what we saw was a long, instinctive player with good athleticism and ball skills. Those guys are hard to find. His work ethic, his care factor was really high. And so that’s a great success story for him when he had a lot of adversity. Here’s a guy who thought he’d be a high draft pick going into the year. He came in with the right attitude.”

In his second season at LSU, Ricks sustained a shoulder injury, and after transferring to Alabama, the cornerback started five games in 2022 before entering the NFL Draft.

Ricks signed with Philadelphia after going undrafted.

“Howie told me when I first got here, ‘There should be no reason why you shouldn’t make the 53,’” Ricks said. “And I held onto that the whole time during camp, during this whole process, even when I had some doubts. I knew what he told me at the start of the camp, and I just kept that.”

After Jobe made the team last year, he played in 11 regular-season games and got on the field for 12 defensive snaps and 220 special-teams plays. He also played in the Eagles’ three playoff games, including Super Bowl LVII.

“I don’t know if there’s a trick,” Roseman said about identifying undrafted talent. “I think it’s a great credit to our scouts for bringing those guys to our attention, and I think it’s a great credit to those guys for how hard they work and it’s a great credit to our coaching staff for taking the time to develop these guys. We talk all the time from the day that those guys come in our building, every day we’re talking about developing, developing, developing, developing. I think that takes everyone in the building to get in on that.”

Ricks made a splash in his preseason debut when he intercepted Baltimore Ravens quarterback Anthony Brown and ran 31 yards for a touchdown on Aug. 12.

“I would have been the same way as a first-round pick,” Ricks said about his attitude, “but especially as an undrafted guy, you got to do a little bit to actually stand out and just show you belong.”

The Eagles kick off the 2023 regular season on Sept. 10, when they visit the New England Patriots.

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.