{"id":829251,"date":"2025-02-23T13:12:12","date_gmt":"2025-02-23T19:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/23\/nfc-east-news-brandon-graham-aiming-for-a-return-on-super-bowl-sunday\/"},"modified":"2025-02-23T13:12:12","modified_gmt":"2025-02-23T19:12:12","slug":"nfc-east-news-brandon-graham-aiming-for-a-return-on-super-bowl-sunday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/23\/nfc-east-news-brandon-graham-aiming-for-a-return-on-super-bowl-sunday\/","title":{"rendered":"NFC East news: Brandon Graham aiming for a return on Super Bowl Sunday"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Why Brandon Graham was so encouraged by his 1st practice back – Dave Zangaro, NBC Sports Philadelphia<\/a><\/h3>\n

The Eagle\u2019s defensive leader may be able to pull off an impressive comeback.<\/p>\n

\n

Brandon Graham still isn\u2019t 100 percent sure he\u2019s going to be able to play in Super Bowl<\/a> LIX but he was encouraged by his first practice back on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Things are trending the right way.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do feel good,\u201d Graham said. \u201cMan, I ain\u2019t gonna lie, I didn\u2019t know what to expect, honestly.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2019re talking about a pretty miraculous return.<\/p>\n

But the Eagles wouldn\u2019t have activated Graham\u2019s practice window on Thursday if there wasn\u2019t a legitimate chance he\u2019d be able to play in New Orleans.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, I was kind of shocked that I wasn\u2019t really feeling nothing as I was striking in individual,\u201d Graham said. \u201cIt\u2019s just a day-to-day thing, but I feel like I\u2019ll be ready.<\/p>\n

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\u2019t feel any pain.<\/p>\n

Thursday was just the first step.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe gonna ramp it up every day. Every day,\u201d Graham said. \u201cWe gotta get ready. We got two weeks. Today was a great start. As long as I don\u2019t have no setbacks, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s going to be no problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Initially, the doctors told him it was unlikely he\u2019d 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.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

ESPN panel: What went wrong for Commanders? – Ivan Lambert, USA Today<\/a><\/h3>\n

An inability to make Philadelphia one-dimensional hurt Washington.<\/p>\n

\n

The offseason is now here for the Washington Commanders<\/a>; an ESPN panel discussed Tuesday, \u201cWhat went wrong for the Commanders?\u201d<\/p>\n

Dan Orlovsky, who quarterbacked in the NFL for seven seasons with four different teams, replied, \u201cThey couldn\u2019t cover.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey tried to stop the run, and Saquon hit the big run early, so they said, \u2018we have to figure out a way to get another person down to the football\u2019 because Philadelphia had such control of the game early on, and they just could not cover.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, 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\u2019ve 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked whether the Commanders\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

Dan Graziano a longtime New York Giants<\/a> and NFC East reporter offered, \u201cAt the trade deadline they brought in Marshon Lattimore. Obviously, that didn\u2019t work out.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Hawkins said it would get more challenging for Daniels in year two, \u201cI don\u2019t 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\nJoe Schoen checks in at Senior Bowl; talks Shedeur Sanders, Mike Kafka – Dan Salomone, <\/a>Giants.com<\/a>
\n<\/h3>\n

Draft prep and scouting is in full swing for the Giants.<\/p>\n

\n

College all-star events, which are currently underway<\/a>, provide the opportunity for general managers and head coaches to meet prospects in person and learn more about their background.<\/p>\n

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<\/a>. 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 \u2013 defensive coordinator Shane Bowen and inside linebackers coach John Egorugwu \u2013 on staff of the West Team.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a great kid, he\u2019s a great kid, a really good personality, football smart, his dad is a football coach,\u201d said general manager Joe Schoen, now in Mobile, Alabama, for the Senior Bowl<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t say.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a little bit clich\u00e9, 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,\u201d Schoen said about the son of Pro Football Hall of Famer and Colorado coach Deion Sanders. \u201cIt was good getting to meet him. He\u2019s had a really good career at Colorado and obviously looking forward to getting to knowing all those guys in the rest of the process.\u201d<\/p>\n

The consensus among draft experts in the media is that Sanders and Miami\u2019s Cam Ward, who isn\u2019t 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\u2019s the plan?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to be open to anything,\u201d Schoen said. \u201cWe\u2019re in a good position sitting at three with the players that are available. By process of elimination, we know we\u2019re going to get a good player. Regardless of what happens the next couple of months, we know there\u2019s going to be a really good player there.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why Brandon Graham was so encouraged by his 1st practice back – Dave Zangaro, NBC Sports Philadelphia The Eagle\u2019s defensive leader may be able to pull off an impressive comeback. Brandon Graham still isn\u2019t 100 percent sure he\u2019s going to be able to play in Super Bowl LIX but he was encouraged by his first<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":829252,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1227,4237],"tags":[7344,6104],"class_list":{"0":"post-829251","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brandon","8":"category-graham","9":"tag-brandon","10":"tag-graham"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=829251"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829251\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/829252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=829251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=829251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=829251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}