Eagles' Vic Fangio drops the line of training camp and other notes originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Vic Fangio dropped the line of the summer on Wednesday.
Ahead of the Eagles’ first of two joint practices against the Patriots in New England, the veteran defensive coordinator was asked what second-year defensive tackle Ty Robinson showed him in the preseason opener on Saturday.
“Yeah, he came to life,” Fangio said. “He’s been on life support since he’s been here, but he came to life and hopefully that will continue.”
Fangio said what most people have observed about Robinson since the Eagles drafted him in the fourth round last year. As a rookie, Robinson was buried on the depth chart and didn’t make much of an impact when he did play.
But the 25-year-old had a great rep that resulted in a sack against the Ravens on Saturday in Baltimore. And that came after Robinson began to make some more plays in practice recently.
The Eagles still have Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Moro Ojomo and Byron Young ahead of Robinson on the depth chart. But Robinson is pushing for a roster spot and the hope is that he’ll continue to develop.
Why Vic loves joint practices
Fangio is never shy on his feelings about the importance of practice. So it should be no surprise that he’s a big fan of joint practices.
The Eagles are practicing twice against the Patriots this week.
“Yeah, I love doing these things,” Fangio said. “I think these things are great. I wish we would do another one. It’s great to go against a new team, new schemes, new players. You learn things. You’re going to get unscouted looks and plays and see how people react. These things are tremendous and can’t get enough of it.”
Explaining playing time
Since he was speaking for the first time since the preseason opener on Saturday, Fangio answered a few questions about why some guys played in that game and why others didn’t.
The only projected starter on defense to play against the Ravens was second-year linebacker Jihaad Campbell. Fangio explained why.
“When Nakobe (Dean) got back last year, his snaps got cut down a lot and I just feel he needs more reps,” Fangio said. “It proved it out in the game. He had a play or two that he didn’t play the right way, that he should be playing the right way. We’ve still got work to do.”
It was a bit of a surprise that Marcus Epps did not play against the Ravens. Epps is in a battle with Michael Carter II for that starting safety job. But just because he didn’t play, it doesn’t mean that competition is over. Fangio said it’s not.
So why didn’t Epps play?
“Because I wanted to see Carter get a lot of snaps at safety,” Fangio said. “Epps has played his whole career at safety. He’s getting a lot of reps in practice. This is new territory for Mike and we need to get him a bunch of reps there to really get him prepared and totally evaluated.”
This summer, Carter has been playing nickel, safety and dime for the Eagles. He’s the only defensive player getting reps at three different positions in camp. But his chance to earn a starting job is at safety. If not, he’ll be a valuable and versatile backup.
Their deepest position
There were plenty of years the Eagles would have killed for one linebacker as good as Jeremiah Trotter Jr. And he doesn’t even start on this team.
But Trotter is having a very good training camp.
“He’s reaping the benefits of being in the system for three years,” Fangio said. “He’s matured. He always knew what to do, but his processing is a whole lot faster and quicker. I mean, the most important quality you can have as an inside backer is instincts, play recognition. His is really showing more in this camp than it had before.”
The Eagles have been using this pairs of linebackers for most of camp. They have real depth at the position:
First team: Zack Baun and Jihaad Campbell
Second team: Jeremiah Trotter Jr. and Smael Mondon
Third team: Chance Campbell and Deontae Lawson
“Our ILB position is probably our deepest position on defense,” Fangio said. “We’ve got Trotter and Smael, that are two good quality players. Campbell, been hurt for a while, but I think he’ll be back out there today, and Deontae. So, I feel good about those guys.”
Ground to make up
A couple of seventh-round picks have returned to the practice field this week. S Cole Wisniewski had been out since Aug. 1 and OLB Keyshawn James-Newby (ankle) had been out since Aug. 3 until they both returned on Aug. 17.
They missed a ton of important reps.
“It’s hard to make up for lost time, especially with the way we practice anymore in the league,” Fangio said. “Reps are at a premium. It’ll be hard.”
But both rookies will have opportunities over the next couple of weeks to push for roster spots. There might be more opportunity for Wisniewski because the safety position isn’t as deep.
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