{"id":249400,"date":"2025-07-31T01:17:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T01:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/249400\/"},"modified":"2025-07-31T01:17:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T01:17:12","slug":"jihaad-campbell-progressing-working-with-eagles-first-team-latest-on-olb-s-situations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/249400\/","title":{"rendered":"Jihaad Campbell Progressing, Working With Eagles’ First Team; Latest On OLB, S Situations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Viewed as an upper-crust talent in the first-round mix this year, Jihaad Campbell<\/a> fell to No. 31 largely because of injury concerns. The rookie linebacker missed the Eagles\u2019 offseason program, but his climb toward the expected starting role is underway.<\/p>\n

Although Campbell was not expected to be at full speed yet, PHLY.com\u2019s Zach Berman notes<\/a> is already mixing into first-string work. The Eagles are listing the Alabama product as limited, but the Philly Voice\u2019s Jimmy Kempski indicates<\/a> little about his workload suggests a limited tag is necessary. That certainly represents good news for the Eagles, as Berman points to a Week 1 lineup configuration including Campbell alongside Zack Baun<\/a> at linebacker.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>[RELATED: Assessing Eagles\u2019 2025 Offseason Work]<\/a><\/p>\n

Campbell having dealt with trouble involving both shoulders, undergoing surgery on one in March, scared some teams during the pre-draft process. But he avoided the active\/NFI list to open Eagles camp. A dynamic player who only slid to linebacker (from the edge) due to the Crimson Tide being deeper there during his college career, Campbell has already come up as a player with an edge-rushing future<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For now, the Eagles have their top prospect stationed at off-ball linebacker. Campbell is competing with Jeremiah Trotter Jr.<\/a>\u00a0for the job alongside Baun, Kempski adds. While noting the second-generation Eagles LB has started off camp well, Campbell being ready to roll would seemingly make this a non-competition. Campbell\u2019s rookie contract aligns with Baun\u2019s $17MM-per-year deal, giving the Eagles good balance once they have the rookie up to speed.<\/p>\n

Shifting to the edge, the Eagles have two experienced options as apparent insurance policies behind hopeful starter<\/a> Jalyx Hunt<\/a>. Josh Sweat<\/a>\u2018s free agency defection and Brandon Graham<\/a>\u2018s retirement leave the Eagles with OLB questions, and they took fliers on supplementary rushers Azeez Ojulari<\/a> and Josh Uche<\/a>. Thus far, the two vets are working almost exclusively with the second team, the Philly Voice\u2019s Geoff Mosher adds<\/a>, while Hunt plays opposite locked-in starter Nolan Smith<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Padded work in practice, along with the defending Super Bowl champs\u2019 preseason games, could change this equation. For now, though, the Eagles are not mixing their low-cost FAs into first-string work much \u2014 to the point Kempski indicates Ojulari has not shown much early in camp. The four-year Giants contributor drew extensive trade interest before last year\u2019s deadline but only fetched a one-year, $3MM Eagles deal in free agency. Uche is on a one-year, $1.92MM pact. A 2024 third-rounder, Hunt played 241 defensive snaps as a rookie; he tallied 1.5 sacks and three QB hits before matching each total during Philadelphia\u2019s playoff slate.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>As expected, Sydney Brown<\/a> represents second-round pick Andrew Mukuba<\/a>\u2018s primary competition at safety<\/a>. The two split reps early, per 94WIP.com\u2019s Eliot Shorr-Parks<\/a>. Mukuba, who goes just 186 pounds, has missed early-camp time with a shoulder injury. The Eagles could also limit their non-Reed Blankenship<\/a> safety\u2019s usage by giving Cooper DeJean<\/a> safety time in base sets, which was an offseason talking point<\/a>. Brown lost his job to C.J. Gardner-Johnson<\/a> last year, as the 2023 second-round pick was rehabbing an ACL tear sustained late in his rookie season. With Gardner-Johnson traded to Houston, Brown has another chance to start. Two years remain on Brown\u2019s rookie contract.<\/p>\n

Rounding out late-July Eagles matters, Jordan Davis<\/a> said (via the Philadelphia Inquirer\u2019s Jeff McLane<\/a>) he has dropped 26 pounds to weigh in at 330. The imposing D-tackle is now extension-eligible, but the 2022 first-rounder\u2019s part-time usage (down to 37% in 2024) connected him to the bottom rung on the option ladder. Davis is now tied to a fully guaranteed $12.94MM in 2026<\/a>; the substantial weight loss could help him stay on the field more en route as an extension case builds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Viewed as an upper-crust talent in the first-round mix this year, Jihaad Campbell fell to No. 31 largely…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":249401,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2068],"tags":[913,10035,25,7,10167,16150,911,479,14454,6,242,109,2476,9717],"class_list":{"0":"post-249400","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia-eagles","8":"tag-andrew-mukuba","9":"tag-azeez-ojulari","10":"tag-eagles","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-jalyx-hunt","13":"tag-jeremiah-trotter-jr","14":"tag-jihaad-campbell","15":"tag-jordan-davis","16":"tag-josh-uche","17":"tag-nfl","18":"tag-philadelphia","19":"tag-philadelphia-eagles","20":"tag-philadelphiaeagles","21":"tag-sydney-brown"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114945212015660809","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249400","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=249400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}