{"id":126495,"date":"2025-06-13T11:28:15","date_gmt":"2025-06-13T11:28:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/126495\/"},"modified":"2025-06-13T11:28:15","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T11:28:15","slug":"eagles-set-expectations-for-jihaad-campbells-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/126495\/","title":{"rendered":"Eagles set expectations for Jihaad Campbell’s summer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eagles set expectations for Jihaad Campbell’s summer<\/a> originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia<\/a><\/p>\n

Eagles first-round pick Jihaad Campbell had shoulder surgery in March so he wasn\u2019t able to do very much on the practice field this spring.<\/p>\n

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But on the last day before summer break, there was a very welcome sign at the NovaCare Complex: Campbell participated in linebacker drills.<\/p>\n

Campbell, 21, is still a ways away from being a full participate in practice \u2014 defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said August \u2014 but this was at least a step in the right direction for the No. 31 overall pick.<\/p>\n

And even though Campbell hasn\u2019t been fully cleared just yet, head coach Nick Sirianni has set very clear expectations for the rookie as Campbell continues to recover.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaking sure that he gets all the mental reps that he possibly can get at this particular time,\u201d Sirianni said on Tuesday before the Eagles\u2019 final practice this spring. \u201cI think we\u2019re probably the only sport that practices more than they play, and then also that has more walkthrough even than you have practice reps.<\/p>\n

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\u201cSo he\u2019s going to be getting a lot of those opportunities to watch walkthrough, to watch practice and get those mental reps because as a guy is not in, obviously you\u2019re not working the fundamentals of block destruction or tackling or how to take the football away, but what you\u2019re trying to make sure is that they have the mental part of the game down. Those are things that he can do in the film room. Those are things he can do out in the field when he is watching practice. So that\u2019s his mission right now and our goal for him right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The other expectation for Campbell and the rest of the Eagles\u2019 rookie class of 2025?<\/p>\n

Be in shape when you report for training camp on July 22.<\/p>\n

The good news for Campbell is that his injury is an upper-body one so he should be able to maintain his conditioning as he rehabs that surgically repaired shoulder.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe really pride ourselves on that, that you can\u2019t play with great detail and you can\u2019t play with great physicality, you can\u2019t play with relentless effort if you\u2019re not in great shape,\u201d Sirianni said. \u201cSo they\u2019ll have, obviously we all have conditioning tests. They\u2019ll have conditioning tests when they get back. Be in great shape, have your body, if your body\u2019s supposed to weigh this, that\u2019s what it needs to weigh and make sure you can run all day because again, the thing you notice the most when you\u2019re not in good shape, one, injuries happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the Eagles emphasized Campbell\u2019s pass-rushing upside when they drafted him, the coaching staff has Campbell at inside linebacker to begin his career. According to Fangio, the reason is that there\u2019s more to learn in the defense at inside linebacker than there is at edge rusher.<\/p>\n

But perhaps, eventually, we will see Campbell\u2019s unique skills and versatility be put to use.<\/p>\n

Just last year, the Eagles were able to help turn Zack Baun into an All-Pro inside linebacker with a very similar build and skillset as their new rookie. It\u2019s easy for outsiders to make that comp but Baun sees it too and he has been impressed by Campbell so far.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThat\u2019s a big dude. Similar to myself,\u201d Baun said. \u201cA versatile guy that can do a lot of different things. Just starting to see him move around a little bit and the dude can move and he\u2019s impressively very smart on the board as well. I\u2019m really excited for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the spring, the Eagles have been without both Campbell (shoulder) and Nakobe Dean (knee) in team drills so Jeremiah Trotter Jr. worked next to Baun in the middle of the Eagles\u2019 defense. Trotter is a solid insurance policy but it seems likely that either Campbell or Dean will be the starter in 2025. And based on Campbell\u2019s return to individual drills, he appears closer to a return.<\/p>\n

Of course, there could come a time this season where all three of the Eagles\u2019 top linebackers are healthy. When that happens, the Eagles will have an interesting decision to make. And maybe that\u2019s when they\u2019ll really start to utilize Campbell\u2019s versatility.<\/p>\n

Baun this week was able to put that versatility into context.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s sounds like a great thing, being a utility knife kind of guy, like a do-it-all kind of guy,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it\u2019s a blessing and a curse because it comes with responsibility and the knowledge that comes with that. As much as he can handle and put on his plate, I\u2019m sure Vic\u2019s going to push that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Eagles set expectations for Jihaad Campbell’s summer originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia Eagles first-round pick Jihaad Campbell…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126496,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2068],"tags":[25,7,16150,911,30503,477,6,5351,23339,242,109,2476,425,7960,1517],"class_list":{"0":"post-126495","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia-eagles","8":"tag-eagles","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-jeremiah-trotter-jr","11":"tag-jihaad-campbell","12":"tag-linebacker-drills","13":"tag-nakobe-dean","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-nick-sirianni","16":"tag-novacare-complex","17":"tag-philadelphia","18":"tag-philadelphia-eagles","19":"tag-philadelphiaeagles","20":"tag-the-eagles","21":"tag-vic-fangio","22":"tag-zack-baun"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114675823861644925","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}