On Sunday, in the Eagles’ loss to the 49ers, Philadelphia lost the heart and soul of their defense and the team in defensive end Brandon Graham, who is out for the season after he ruptured his Achilles tendon.
Before this injury, the 33-year-old Graham had missed only one regular-season game in the last five seasons with the Eagles.
Now, it’s next man up for the Eagles, and fortunately for them, Philadelphia has decent depth on the defensive line. They have Josh Sweat, Ryan Kerrigan, and Tarron Jackson, who will have to step up in Graham’s absence. However, replacing a Pro Bowl defensive end is never easy.
On Wednesday, Eagles defense coordinator Jonathan Gannon discussed the loss of Graham.
“Yeah, I talked to our guys yesterday about the void that has taken place with [DE] Brandon [Graham],” Gannon said. And, obviously, not being able to play with us the rest of this year.
“You know, from a leadership and a character, and an attitude standpoint, I think collectively we have to – everyone has to, you know, try to fill that void collectively because not one guy is going to be able to do that. We do feel good with the leaders that we still have within the defense, really good about the leaders that we have.
“And from the standpoint of him, the roles that he was playing, you know, other guys are going to have to step in and fill where he was playing at, and we feel good about the guys that are going to do that.”
Tough break for the Eagles, and hopefully for Graham, he can make a full recovery.
