Why Brandon Graham was so encouraged by his 1st practice back – Dave Zangaro, NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Eagle’s defensive leader may be able to pull off an impressive comeback.
Brandon Graham still isn’t 100 percent sure he’s going to be able to play in Super Bowl LIX but he was encouraged by his first practice back on Thursday.
Things are trending the right way.
“I do feel good,” Graham said. “Man, I ain’t gonna lie, I didn’t know what to expect, honestly.”
Graham, 36, suffered his torn triceps in Los Angeles on Nov. 24. Super Bowl Sunday will be just 11 weeks from the injury. This is typically a rehab that takes at least 4 months, so we’re talking about a pretty miraculous return.
But the Eagles wouldn’t have activated Graham’s practice window on Thursday if there wasn’t a legitimate chance he’d be able to play in New Orleans.
“Today, I was kind of shocked that I wasn’t really feeling nothing as I was striking in individual,” Graham said. “It’s just a day-to-day thing, but I feel like I’ll be ready.
On Thursday, Graham participated in individual drills and anticipates joining team drills on Friday when the Eagles practice as the NovaCare Complex. What was most encouraging, Graham said, was that when he did strike with his surgically repaired left elbow, he didn’t feel any pain.
Thursday was just the first step.
“We gonna ramp it up every day. Every day,” Graham said. “We gotta get ready. We got two weeks. Today was a great start. As long as I don’t have no setbacks, I don’t think it’s going to be no problem.”
For the first month after surgery, Graham said he really tried to take it easy. But over the last month, he has been rehabbing hard to get to this place. He said he began to think it was a possibility to return when he heard from trainers, massage therapists and some other folks who had been through the injury before.
Initially, the doctors told him it was unlikely he’d be able to return for the Super Bowl. But as time went on and Graham showed off his strength, that possibility became a realistic one.
ESPN panel: What went wrong for Commanders? – Ivan Lambert, USA Today
An inability to make Philadelphia one-dimensional hurt Washington.
The offseason is now here for the Washington Commanders; an ESPN panel discussed Tuesday, “What went wrong for the Commanders?”
Dan Orlovsky, who quarterbacked in the NFL for seven seasons with four different teams, replied, “They couldn’t cover.”
“They tried to stop the run, and Saquon hit the big run early, so they said, ‘we have to figure out a way to get another person down to the football’ because Philadelphia had such control of the game early on, and they just could not cover.”
“Now, it is a taller task than I am making it out to be, because Philadelphia has plenty of people that you have to cover. You’ve got DeVonta Smith, A.J. Brown, Dallas Goedert. But in reality, they could not make Philadelphia one-dimensional, and on top of that, turnovers were a huge part. But they could not make Philadelphia one-dimensional.”
When asked whether the Commanders’ defense could fix this weakness next year, Orlovsky replied that it would take one or two humans. In other words, the former NFL quarterback is saying the Commanders need to find a couple of new starters through free agency or the draft.
Dan Graziano a longtime New York Giants and NFC East reporter offered, “At the trade deadline they brought in Marshon Lattimore. Obviously, that didn’t work out.”
He also discussed whether Jeremy Chinn would be re-signed and the fact that the front seven has not stopped the run well all year. He said Washington will spend resources looking to fix its defense.
Andrew Hawkins pointed out that the Commanders need to focus on wide receiver. He pointed to Tee Higgins leaving the Bengals and finding Jayden Daniels as the quarterback who can give Higgins the rock.
Hawkins said it would get more challenging for Daniels in year two, “I don’t care who you are. That second year gets really tough because defenses are keying in on you, your tendencies, and what you like to do.”
Joe Schoen checks in at Senior Bowl; talks Shedeur Sanders, Mike Kafka – Dan Salomone, Giants.com
Draft prep and scouting is in full swing for the Giants.
College all-star events, which are currently underway, provide the opportunity for general managers and head coaches to meet prospects in person and learn more about their background.
The Giants did just that recently with several outstanding players, including quarterback Shedeur Sanders, a frequent projection for the team at No. 3 in mock drafts. The Colorado standout and Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year was at the East-West Shrine Bowl in Texas, where the Giants have two coaches – defensive coordinator Shane Bowen and inside linebackers coach John Egorugwu – on staff of the West Team.
“He’s a great kid, he’s a great kid, a really good personality, football smart, his dad is a football coach,” said general manager Joe Schoen, now in Mobile, Alabama, for the Senior Bowl.
You don’t say.
“It’s a little bit cliché, but he checks all the boxes of a [player with a] dad that is a football coach and the passion that he approaches the game with,” Schoen said about the son of Pro Football Hall of Famer and Colorado coach Deion Sanders. “It was good getting to meet him. He’s had a really good career at Colorado and obviously looking forward to getting to knowing all those guys in the rest of the process.”
The consensus among draft experts in the media is that Sanders and Miami’s Cam Ward, who isn’t participating in any all-star events, are the top two quarterbacks in the 2025 class. If they are both taken before the Giants, who are in search of their next franchise quarterback, what’s the plan?
“We’re going to be open to anything,” Schoen said. “We’re in a good position sitting at three with the players that are available. By process of elimination, we know we’re going to get a good player. Regardless of what happens the next couple of months, we know there’s going to be a really good player there.”