The Eagles are preparing for their last game before the bye week, and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio spoke to reporters about Brandon Graham coming out of retirement to help the defense, how Jihaad Campbell on the edge with Nakobe Dean on the field, and gave some insight into Jalyx Hunt’s pick-6.
Here’s what the DC had to say:
On Brandon Graham coming back
Fangio doesn’t know how impactful BG will be right away, acknowledging that they’ll have to see what kind of shape he’s in and how ready he is to take the field.
“We’ll see. We’ll see what kind of shape he’s in, what kind of retention he has from last year. Shape comes in two forms, one, just your conditioning, but in football shape, too. Contact shape. So, hopefully the sooner the better.”
The DC also talked about how he always wanted Graham to return.
“All the way from the start, I was teasing him not to retire all the way back to last February or March.
So, yeah, I’ve run into him, and we’ve talked when he’s come by. I always tease him about it, trying to light the fire.“
Fangio also admitted that his experience with BG last season is what gives him confidence that him re-joining the defense will be good.
He also agreed to the obvious, that once Graham gets back on the field, it’ll carve into some of the snaps of the other edge rushers. As for how many snaps he thinks the veteran will be up for, the DC doesn’t know just yet.
“[BG]‘s coming out of retirement, and he’s older, but when I was coming out of Chicago, we traded for Khalil Mack who had missed the entire training camp, and the fatigue police said he can only play about 20-22 snaps in this game because we got him the week of the first game. And I said, ‘Okay,’ and he played about 45. So…”
“I think he performed basically like I thought he would. It’s new out there, particularly the packages he was going up there earlier were different than this week, this past game, so there’s a lot to learn, there’s a lot to get comfortable with. The more he’s up there, the better he’ll get at it.”
Fangio later said that they moved Campbell over because he wanted to get Nakobe Dean on the field in spot duty — the plan was base for Dean, and nickel for Campbell. They never know exactly how many plays that will mean come game day, but the DC was happy with the breakdown and how they came about. He also noted that was their plan all week and wasn’t changed after Azeez Ojulari got injured — Fangio also doesn’t expect Ojulari to play in Week 8.
On the CB position
Jakorian Bennett is able to return this week, but how much he’ll be able to contribute and when will all depend on practice. Players aren’t able to practice while on IR, but once they open up his window and get him on the practice field, they’ll take a look at where he’s at. Fangio noted that Bennett will be in the mix to compete for that CB2 job as he works his way back.
On Sunday against the Vikings, Fangio said that Adoree’ Jackson was playing fine before getting sidelined, and then Kelee Ringo did fine when he stepped into the CB2 spot. The DC gave Ringo a bit of an out on some of the catches he’s allowed, saying some were on tough routes. Ultimately, he thinks Ringo can still be better than he’s been, and expects the CB to continue to get opportunities.
On Jalyx Hunt’s pick-6
“The whole key to the play was Jalen Carter. He beat the center quickly, got into the quarterback’s face, hit him just like we teach him to hit him, and he caused the interception, and Jalyx [Hunt] made a great catch.”
Other notables
- When asked about their red-zone success, Fangio pointed to making some plays and a little bit of luck.
- The DC agreed that Andrew Mukuba has made some good plays, but has also given up some really big plays, and said that the ability is there for the rookie, but he has to be more consistent.
- Fangio had a lot of compliments for Giants’ QB Jaxson Dart, calling the rookie very athletic, elite scrambler, and the coaches have done a great job developing the offense around him.
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