Rams receiver Sammy Watkins looking forward to playing against Eagles and his brother, Jaylen
Sammy Watkins could face his older brother, Jaylen, when the Rams and Eagles play Sunday at the Coliseum. Watkins describes the competitive nature between them growing up.
Rams receiver Sammy Watkins and Philadelphia Eagles defensive back Jaylen Watkins were busy this week in Southern California.
They were preparing for Sunday’s game between the division leaders — and also making arrangements for extended-family members to attend the game at the Coliseum.
“A lot of people are coming,” Sammy Watkins said, laughing. “I think everybody. I’ve never had this many tickets. It’s a big one.
“We’ll split the bill. It will be fine.”
Sammy, 24, and Jaylen, 26, have the same father but grew up in separate households in Florida.
“He lived two minutes away, so we stayed at night at each other’s house, my grandparents live right there,” Sammy said. “It was easy to get to each other, train with each other.
“We always went against each other, though, as far as sports. We never played on the same team.”
Jaylen set the standard for Sammy.
“I wasn’t as good as he was, so just watching him, that’s kind of what inspired me to be like, ‘OK, my brother is really good. What do I need to do to get better?’” Sammy said. “Just hanging around him, every summer just being around football, being around older guys, that’s what I feel like separated me from guys my age.”
Jaylen played in college at Florida, Sammy at Clemson. Sammy was selected by the Buffalo Bills with the fourth pick in the 2014 NFL draft. The Eagles selected Jaylen in the fourth round.
They were teammates in Buffalo in 2015.
“I went against him every day on the scout team,” Sammy said. “There’s a lot of things we used to talk about, ‘Why I took this release,’ things like that. Once he left us and went back to Philly, he was like, ‘Bro, I’m locking down everything.’
It made me feel good.”
Jaylen plays mainly on special teams for the Eagles, but Sammy is looking forward to possibly playing a few snaps against him.
“Hopefully, he’ll get on the field a couple plays so I can crack him a couple times,” Sammy said. “It will be something we can laugh about in the future.”
Twitter: @latimesklein
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