The Arizona Cardinals have reportedly requested an interview with New England Patriots defensive line coach DeMarcus Covington, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Rapoport adds that Covington, 33, and Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort developed a relationship during their time together with the Patriots (2017-19).

Covington’s first crack at the NFL was as a Patriots coaching assistant from 2017-18. From there, he was promoted to outside linebackers coach in 2019 before accepting his current role as the team’s DL coach in 2020.

Since Covington took over his current role, New England has been no lower than 11th in terms of points allowed per game. They jumped up to second in that category in 2021 before dropping to seventh this past season. The Patriots have also produced two top-10 defenses when looking at total yards allowed with Covington coaching the defensive line.

Before joining the NFL ranks, Covington got his coaching start as a graduate assistant at UAB in 2012. He then headed to Ole Miss as a defensive graduate assistant from 2013-14 before joining UT Martin’s staff as its DL coach in 2015. He served as Eastern Illinois’ co-defensive coordinator and DL coach in 2016 before making the move to the NFL.

Arizona moved on from former defensive coordinator Vance Joseph after firing head coach Kliff Kingsbury but kept Joseph in contention for the head-coaching job. Gannon met with Joseph on Thursday before the team reportedly released the DC.

Gannon, a defensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles the past two years, told reporters during his introductory press conference that he is undecided on whether he will call plays for the Cardinals.

The news of the Cardinals’ interest in Covington comes after the team reportedly set up an interview with Chicago Bears LB coach Dave Borgonzi over the DC job for Saturday.

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