The Eagles defense will have a challenge ahead of them on Sunday as they face the Commanders with a new offensive coordinator. Vic Fangio spoke to reporters ahead of the matchup, and talked about how they’ll approach the edge rush group with Jonathan Greenard still working his way back. He also spoke about the safety position, and why preparing for a new OC is a little different.
Here’s what the DC had to say:
On Jonathan Greenard
Fangio mentioned that Greenard’s return is day-by-day, and noted that the edge rusher hasn’t
practiced much yet, so that’s something they want to be careful with. As for how Greenard did on Wednesday in his first practice back, the DC said he did, “Okay.”
“There’s a minimal amount of practice, real practice, that you have to go through, especially for a guy coming off an injury. It’s like the guy, [Aaron] Donald did with the Rams, he’s just coming off rustiness, no injury, and wasn’t ready this week. So, we’ll see.”
The DC later mentioned that it’ll be a little bit before Greenard is game ready for a full load, so until then, it’ll be a pretty good rotation of rushers. Still, Fangio said he has confidence in guys like OLB Arnold Ebiketie and OLB A.J. Epenesa dropping back into coverage. He noted that Ebiketie and Epenesa have made a lot of improvement during camp, and he feels good about it.
On Week 1 prep
He talked a bit about how he prepares for facing a new offensive coordinator who he doesn’t have history with — like in Week 1 against the Commanders OC David Blough.
“It’s a little different than normal. You really don’t know a whole lot about the offense either way, what it might [or] might not be, you make the assumption, right or wrong. They’ll still do some of the stuff that [Jayden] Daniels was good at and comfortable with, they’ll do some stuff the new guy wants to do. So, it’s a little bit of a crapshoot.”
Later on, Fangio admitted that they might need to rotate guys, especially up front, earlier in the season, but it’s less about having a set number of snaps and more about the flow of the game. He explained that if they’re out on the field for 8-10 plays and then the offense goes three-and-out, that stresses things more, and they’ll rotate more.
On the safety position
Fangio confirmed that Marcus Epps will get the start against Washington on Sunday.
“[Epps] was just solid the whole way through, but we still like Michael [Carter III], and we have the ability to play him there some, too.”
He later was clear that they still have a role carved out of Carter, and he’s someone they value for his versatility.
“Michael’s very versatile, can play nickel, can play dime, can play safety, and we plan on using him.”
On having the most light boxes in the NFL
“That’s a credit to the front guys because if that is true, we’re holding up good enough to be able to do that. There’s been times in certain games where it’s hurt us some. There’s pluses and minuses to everything you do. The minus is you’re stressing your run defense a little bit, so we have to be able to play to run when we’re not having a safety down that linebacker depth in the box.”
Other notables
- The DC said that he expects Moro Ojomo to have a similarly impressive year to last season, and hopes that he elevates his game even further. He noted that Ojomo has already been a good player for the team the past two years, so hopefully he just builds on that, but doesn’t feel like the DT needs to prove anything.
- Fangio talked about Jihaad Campbell heading into his second season and said that the LB is coming along, while also noting he isn’t a finished product yet. He pointed to missing time the past two seasons due to injuries have held him back a bit, but he continues to work.
- Fangio was asked about Riq Woolen working to be more consistent from snap to snap, and the DC shared that he likes the CB and his attitude, and he’s working hard.
- He was asked about how they handled mobile quarterbacks last year, and Fangio took a shot at ProFootball Focus (PFF), suggesting they have some “phony stat” to look up about it. But then he explained that it’s a hard thing to rate because overall they might do a good job, but the plays they don’t that go long, that stand out.
