Now, Scott is part of a Super Bowl squad and hoping to help the Eagles to their second Lombardi Trophy on Sunday when they face the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII in Glendale, Ariz. They won their most recent of three Super Bowl appearances in 2017 against the New England Patriots.
“I’ve been telling him, ‘Enjoy the experience,’” Krause said. “‘You’re living out a childhood dream. Play hard and enjoy it, be the best you can.’ I’m just super proud of what he’s done. He’s excited to be a Philly Eagle, that was his dream growing up and the team he always supported. He’s living a true childhood dream.”
Krause keeps in touch with Scott, who graduated from Fairfield in 2017, through weekly texts during the season, mainly just checking in on how he’s doing and chatting about the upcoming games.
Scott was inactive in the NFC Championship, as the defense got back to full strength with its regular starters for the first time in weeks, but Krause said he has been preparing to contribute as usual. The 23-year-old was active and played in all but one other game this season, including four starts and a lot of action on special teams.
Fairfield now has alums in back-to-back season representing the school at the Super Bowl. Former Indians offensive lineman Jackson Carman, who was a year behind Scott in school, went with the Bengals last year and played four snaps on special teams.
“Last week, Josiah was not active, but he’s on the active roster right now and that’s exciting,” Krause said. “Having back-to-back seasons with guys from your program playing at the pinnacle of football is a really cool thing.”
Scott was a three-time All-Greater Miami Conference player at Fairfield before graduating in 2017 and then immediately make an impact at Michigan State.
He spent three seasons in East Lansing as an outside cornerback before declaring for the 2020 NFL draft. The Jacksonville Jaguars selected him in the fourth round. After one season with Jacksonville, in which he appeared in six games in a limited role on defense, he was traded to the Eagles.
The versatile defensive back played 13 games last year, mainly on special teams, but found more of a role on the defense this season as a backup nickel cornerback and even learning safety. Scott had 26 tackles, including two for a loss, and the first two interceptions of his career during the regular season when cornerback Avonte Maddox dealt with various injuries.
“He had a nice run, starting four games in the middle of the season, had a couple interceptions so logging first NLF interceptions was exciting,” Krause said. “He played outside corner in college, was drafted by Jacksonville and turned into that slot corner role. He’s had to play a little more high safety, inside, this year, but he’s developed his game as far as diversity of things he can do as a player. Plus, he’s played multiple special teams roles, so they believe in his tackling ability. Those are things I kind of knew about him in high school, so it’s cool to see it coming to fruition at the highest level. He was always a great tackler, a lot of times the knock on corners is they are not great tacklers and don’t want to tackle, but he was always such a great tackler and that will serve him well in the NFL.”
Scott spent a lot of time at safety during training camp, which was new for him, but during an interview with local reporters in August, he said he embraced whatever role the coaches had for him. The versatility, he hoped, would make him more valuable to the team.
“I pride myself of being a smart player and being able to play any position in the secondary so being able to play corner, nickel or safety in this defense, I pride myself on that,” Scott said in the interview, posted in video form on the team website. “So, I took it and ran with it. I’m enjoying it.”
Though Scott’s playing time was inconsistent, he contributed to the league’s best defense – one that ranked No. 1 in most major categories much of the season. Now the Eagles will test that against the top offense in the league with Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs putting up more points and yards than anyone else.
If Scott does get to play Sunday, Krause doesn’t expect him to shy away from the big stage.
“He’s a guy that never shows his nerves,” Krause said. “He was rock solid all the time, even-keeled, and now is no different.”
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