Will Nolan Smith be given more playing time?

Eagles notebook: Can Nolan Smith earn more playing time? originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

During training camp, there was a ton of excitement and buzz around Nolan Smith. The No. 30 pick in the draft was making flash plays and it seemed like he could really help the Eagles in his rookie season.

But he’s been buried on the depth chart and just hasn’t been playing very much this season.

Through eight weeks, Smith has played in every game but has totaled just 47 defensive snaps (9%). While he’s been a major contributor on special teams, he’s firmly the fifth guy in the edge rusher rotation.

“He’s in a deep room,” head coach Nick Sirianni said. “He’s in a very deep room with three guys last year, in particular, that had ten-plus sacks. So again, as Nakobe (Dean), as Cam Jurgens last year, they’re in a position where there isn’t rotation as much.

“So last year those guys were more just backups, and as far as Nakobe has special teams, whereas Nolan, he’s in a deep room, very similar to those two guys, and he gets mixed reps here and there throughout the game.

“So, again, he’s getting good reps there on special teams and making some plays there on special teams. So again, not anything that Nolan has done where we’re really excited about Nolan and the possibilities that he has as a football player. He’s just in a very deep room and sometimes you get in the flow of the game, and you ride the hot hand. And (Josh) Sweat and Haason (Reddick) have really been playing really good football.”

There’s no doubt that Sweat and Reddick have played well this season. They’ve been two of the Eagles’ best players. But the rotation might be something to look at in the second half of the season:

Josh Sweat: 371 snaps (73%)
Haason Reddick: 361 (71%)
Brandon Graham: 146 (29%)
Derek Barnett: 99 (20%)
Nolan Smith: 47 (9%)

Perhaps we’ll see Smith begin to get some more snaps as the year goes on. He hasn’t had more than nine in any game this season.

Don’t call it a comeback

The Eagles last week got behind against the Commanders 14-3 but found a way to come back and win the game. That’s familiar territory for this Jalen Hurts led group.

What leads to these comebacks?

“Just believing, continuing to play the game, not letting the scoreboard or whatever is going on in the game in that moment determine how we come out and play,” Hurts said. “Obviously, I’ve had a ton of different games on this run here but I think it comes down to execution and how you execute. Just want to do that at a high level.”

While the Eagles would obviously like to avoid getting into holes, there’s no panic when they find themselves there. Some of that is likely leadership, starting with Hurts, but at this point, they know they can do it.

Sirianni always talks about that Dawg Mentality, which basically stresses having a short memory and moving on. The saying is a little corny but his players have bought into the philosophy.

“We gotta stop doing that (getting behind). We gotta stop doing that,” Fletcher Cox said. “But through it all, when we’re down like that in a game, if you look at that sideline, you don’t really see nobody throwing fits or being out of character. I think the biggest thing is everybody stays in character no matter what the score is. Because at the end of the day, you kind of believe in each other.

“The belief starts right here in the locker room, in the cafeteria, walkthroughs, believing in the coaches. Those are things that we talk about. It all showed last week, the resilience of this team, never giving up.”

It started in the offseason

A.J. Brown is off to an incredible start this season and is putting together an all-time great season. But what really impressed his coaches was how hard Brown worked in the offseason. In 2022, Brown was a Pro Bowler and had the best season of his four-year career. But he didn’t rest on that.

“Kind of just how I was raised,” Brown said. “Me having the desire to be one of the best to play this game. Soon as you stop working, soon as you stop learning, you stop growing. That’s not what I’m trying to do. I’m trying to continue to challenge myself each and every day and challenge my teammates and continue to grow.”

In eight games, Brown already had 60 catches for 939 yards and 5 touchdowns. Through eight games, he already has more receiving yards than the Eagles’ leading receiver in 2021, 2020 and 2019.

What did Brown want to work on this summer?

“Just really just my all-around game,” he said this week. “Just trying to be in shape more and more. Just doing stuff, extra workouts, build the endurance to play well in the game. That’s something that I focused on. That’s something I said early on, just focus on my mindset. Because it’s pretty much mental.”

Trust in a rookie

Last week against the Commanders, there was a moment when Darius Slay got the wind knocked out of him and was about to exit the game. Luckily, there was a challenge, which gave him enough time to get back on the field.

But in that moment, the guy who was preparing to replace him on the field? It wasn’t Josh Jobe, who came into the season as the top backup option on the outside. It was undrafted rookie Eli Ricks, who has been impressing the coaching staff all year.

“Yeah, I think he’s been humble,” defensive coordinator Sean Desai said. “He prepares like a pro and he’s learning, and he’s like a sponge. He just wants more and more information and he’s trying to take on all these roles and learn so many different things and he goes out there and he competes.

“When he was not up, and he was on the [scout team] and playing out there, he’s competing in those reps and that’s how you get noticed and you get elevated. In the meeting room he’s prepared, and when you get your chance, you make the best of it and he’s done a good job of that.”

After playing just one defensive snap in the first four weeks of the season, Ricks has average 16 snaps per game over the last four and played a career-high 25 against the Commanders in Week 8.

Subscribe to Eagle Eye anywhere you get your podcasts: 
Apple Podcasts | YouTube Music | Spotify | Stitcher | Art19 | RSS | Watch on YouTube