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How an Eagles defense loaded with backups held up against Vikings’ onslaught originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
By the time it was over, the Eagles were missing Nakobe Dean, Avonte Maddox, Reed Blankenship and James Bradberry and it left Darius Slay as the only guy left in the back seven from the Super Bowl defense.
And they lived to tell about it.
It wasn’t pretty, but the Eagles’ makeshift defense – loaded with rookies, street free agents and veteran castoffs – didn’t buckle Thursday night when faced with a high-powered Vikings passing game.
Undrafted Josh Jobe, in his first NFL start, played all 58 snaps. Linebacker Nicholas Morrow, released by the Eagles 2 ½ weeks ago, played 55 snaps. Terrell Edmunds and Josh Evans, who competed in an uninspired training camp safety battle, played 58 and 53 snaps. Linebacker Zack Cunningham, who wasn’t even with a team the first two weeks of training camp, played 53 snaps. Undrafted corner Mario Goodrich, in his first NFL game, played 39 snaps. Sydney Brown, Kelee Ringo and Eli Ricks all got on the field on defense for the first time in their career. Unheralded guys like Christian Ellis and Kentavius Street got defensive snaps.
“Just like next man up mentality, for real,” Evans said. “This is the NFL, so guys are going to get hurt, so next-man up. Me, you, all the fans expect the same results. Just got to get it done.”
Yeah, they gave up a bunch of yards and four passing touchdowns, but this rag-tag bunch of scrappy free agents, eager walk-ons and over-achieving undrafted kids did enough to help the Eagles get to 2-0 Thursday night in a nationally televised 34-28 win over the Vikings.
“Just happy, man,” said Slay, who had his hands full with Justin Jefferson all night. “Had a lot of guys step up, man. A lot of guys. Guys that ain’t been out there before. Nobody ever played a full game before, but guys came out there, locked in and focused, got the job done.”
Dean is on Injured Reserve with a…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/eagles-defense-loaded-backups-held-203608098.html?src=rss
Author : NBC Sports Philadelphia
Publish date : 2023-09-15 21:40:06
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