Jan 18

HOU10-7
KC15-2
ESPN @9:30 PM UTC

Jan 19

WAS12-5
DET15-2
FOX @1:00 AM UTC
LAR10-7
PHI14-3
NBC @8:00 PM UTC
BAL12-5
BUF13-4
CBS @11:30 PM UTC

How Brandon Graham learned to accept reduced role on defense

Share

Brandon Graham spoke to the media on Wednesday and was asked about his nomination for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.

Brandon Graham didn’t like it at first. Not at all.

Now he loves it.

Graham admits it took a little time to adjust to his new role as a rotational edge rusher for the Eagles.

And that’s understandable. 

Since he finally broke into the starting lineup in 2015 – his sixth NFL season – Graham has been a fixture at defensive end for the Eagles. During the six years from 2015 through 2020, he missed just one game, played 72 percent of the Eagles’ defensive snaps, made his first Pro Bowl, averaged 7.0 sacks per year and recorded the biggest strip sack in Super Bowl history.

But at 34 years old and coming off a season-ending Achilles injury, Graham found himself in a new role this fall, rotating in behind Josh Sweat and Haason Reddick in the Eagles’ edge rusher hierarchy.

Twelve games into his 13th season, B.G. hasn’t started a game and is playing only 39 percent of the defensive snaps – about 25 per game.

But he’s sure making the most of it

“I feel great,” he said Wednesday. “My goal is to hopefully win it all and run it back: ‘Come on, Howie, get me again and we’ll do it again!’”

It was kind of expected that this would be Graham’s final season and he’d graduate into some sort of off-field role with the Eagles, the team that drafted him in the first round in 2010 – four coaches ago.

But now? Graham has 5 ½ sacks, 10 quarterback hits, six tackles for loss and a forced fumble.

For those of you who buy into Pro Football Focus's grades, he's the Eagles' highest-rated defensive player with an 89.6 grade and 5th-highest among all edge rushers. 

It drives him crazy not to be out there all the time, but he understands now it’s best for the team.

“I’m just enjoying my role, whatever role it is,” he said. “Because there’s no pressure. Come in, play my plays, sometimes make a big play, sometimes, it’s all right, it’s that type of game today, they ain’t running my way, they ain’t giving me nothing when I’m out there. It’s all good, because I know things definitely come around if you stay focused. 

“For me, I think that was the biggest adjustment in having a lesser role than I’m used to but just taking that mindset of, you know what? Bleep it. It’s all good.”

B.G. is only the second Eagle 34 or older with five sacks in a season, the first since William Fuller had 13.0 at 34 years old in 1996. The only other players in the league this year who are at least 34 with five sacks are the Texans’ 34-year-old Jerry Hughes, who has 8.0, and the Ravens’ 36-year-old Calais Campbell, who also has 5 ½.

Only Fuller (35 ½) and Hall of Famer Reggie White (29) have had more sacks in an Eagles uniform after turning 30.

And of the 59 NFL players with at least 5.0 sacks this year, only four have played fewer snaps than Graham.

“When I come in, maybe I can be the knockout punch because they’ve been getting (the quarterback) ready,” Graham said. “’Jab, jab, jab, BAM, there it is.’ But it’s been working out like that. Ever since I changed my mindset on it, it’s definitely working out.

“I just know that for me to show the young guys that you’ve got to maximize your role, I’ve got to do the same, and so that’s where I was checking myself. You get in moments where you’re like, ‘Man, I want to be out there, it’s the last drive of the game, I know I can help,’ but I know I’m an older guy and I know I’ve still got a lot, but enjoy your role and when your play comes, just be ready for it, and that’s how I play it.”

Graham said he learned to accept his role after the opener against the Lions, when he was surprised he didn’t get snaps late in the game as the Lions nearly came back from a 17-point 4th-quarter deficit.

“It got tight toward the end, and I (said), ‘Coach we got a rotation,'" he said. "But I just know my role is when people go out and I go in, make sure there’s no drop off. That’s my role and I’m just having fun.”

Contact Us