A.J. Epenesa succumbed to the instinct limned by poets, painters and pillars of salt.He looked back. The Philadelphia Eagles edge rusher could not resist. For six years, he’d fixed his eyes on the quarterback. For 1,725 previous snaps, including the preseason and postseason, he’d burst into the backfield as a pass rusher.That’s where the action is, isn’t it?Surely, he could keep pace in pass coverage with a tight end’s wheel route and risk a peek…The ball had already left Tyler Huntley’s hand. The backup Baltimore Ravens quarterback had chosen his matchup. And Epenesa was sprinting to catch up as he had never done before — looking back all the while, looking back at the ball. When Epenesa leapt, the pass nearly clipped his outstretched left hand. The ball nestled into Matthew Hibner’s gloves for a 29-yard gain.Days later, as Epenesa reflected on that pass in the preseason opener, he recalled he wasn’t “too far off” from making a play but could “make that tighter.” He’d learned to not look at the quarterback, to keep his eyes “on the work” — in this case, his coverage.These are new lessons for a former Iowa defensive lineman — the son of a former Iowa defensive lineman — who, at 270 pounds as an All-American high schooler and at 280 pounds as an All-Big Ten Hawkeye, has known little else than surging across the line of scrimmage.“I wasn’t covering any wheel routes back then,” Epenesa laughed.Nor in Buffalo, where Epenesa spent six seasons within former Bills coach Sean McDermott’s attack-oriented, one-gap scheme. Epenesa averaged 0.7 coverage snaps across 105 regular-season and playoff games, according to TruMedia. He totaled four interceptions, including a pick-six in 2023, but he pointed out that each pick was a heads-up play in a series of rushes that forced quarterbacks to make bad decisions.“I’m kind of put in a different situation now where I won’t be able to get up the field as quickly as I have in the past,” Epenesa said.Epenesa is a standing edge defender now — a new role, he said, in which he could be dropping in coverage “every other play.” He is covering wheel routes. And the flats in zone coverage. And a list of other dropback responsibilities. He is the latest of a long list of edge rushers who have had to learn how to drop in coverage under defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.“He’s done really well with it,” Fangio said of Epenesa. “And I think he’ll continue to improve.”Fangio, who arrived in Philadelphia in 2024, has not considered an edge rusher’s lack of experience in coverage a disqualifying factor. It has been the norm. Former edge rusher Josh Sweat’s coverage snaps per game tripled under Fangio. Nolan Smith’s coverage snaps per game have doubled from his rookie season under former defensive coordinator Sean Desai. That former edge rusher Bryce Huff totaled just eight coverage snaps in the 14 games preceding his departure underlines how Fangio values a player’s skillset and willingness — not his history.“I believe they wouldn’t have me here if they didn’t think I could do what the whole job entails,” Epenesa said.