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Eagles training camp notes: Momentum for a bubble guy, evaluating defense, more originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Patrick Johnson hopes it leads to bigger things.
The Eagles’ fourth-year edge rusher played the role of hero on Friday night when his strip-sack in the fourth quarter set up a game-winning field goal for Jake Elliott in the Eagles’ 16-13 win over the Ravens in the preseason opener.
“It felt great, man, confidence-wise,” Johnson said. “Going into my Year 4, I really needed something like that for myself to just kind of get in the flow. I feel like I’ve had a solid camp so for that to happen in the first preseason game, it was huge.”
Not only did Johnson force the fumble but he also recovered it with 16 seconds left to give Elliott, who missed a 50-yarder seconds earlier, a chance at redemption. Johnson said when the play call came in, he was excited because he knew he had a chance to get to the quarterback.
As Johnson enters Year 4 in the NFL, he is still fighting to make the Eagles’ 53-man roster. He’s been on the team the last three years since he was drafted in the seventh round out of Tulane back in 2021. While Johnson hasn’t been a major part of the defensive end rotation, he has played 362 snaps on defense in three years.
Where Johnson has really made his mark, though, is on special teams. He has played 868 special teams snaps in the last three years — the most of any Eagle.
It seems pretty obvious that Johnson is firmly on the bubble with a little over two weeks before final cuts. But he’s hoping his strip-sack will provide some momentum going into the home stretch.
“Absolutely,” Johnson said. “Football is all about confidence so when things are happening, you keep building more confidence, you start playing faster, play more freely.”
Key to evaluating
In the Eagles’ preseason opener, most of the offensive starters sat and most of the defensive starters played.
Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio explained…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/eagles-training-camp-notes-momentum-110000855.html
Author : NBC Sports Philadelphia
Publish date : 2024-08-13 11:00:00
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