5:00 AM: This is, says Brandon Graham, the right way to ramp up. He played 10 snaps in the win at Green Bay, and then another eight on defense and two on special teams on Sunday night to help the Eagles defeat Detroit. More snaps are coming. And Graham is ready for the call.
“I feel good. I feel like it’s a weekly thing and it’s getting better,” he said. “I feel like this is my Training Camp going on and I’m starting to feel like, ‘Game on, for real.’ I feel like this will be a good test for me this week and it’s one game at a time.”
Dallas is the opponent, of course, and the Eagles have all kinds of respect for what the Cowboys are about on offense. They are loaded and have been among the league’s top attacks all season.
“They look good, honestly. The offense, we know, is high powered. I feel like with Dak (Prescott), he’s always a competitor, and every time we play them at their house, it’s always tough,” Graham said. “We’ve just got to go out there, play our game, get after him and stop the run.”
Graham was part of last season’s No. 1-ranked defense and this group has been rising the last several weeks. How good can the Eagles’ defense become?
“Everybody is working together while there is all this talk outside. We just go to work,” Graham said. “The defense is growing, man. That’s how I feel with the defense. What did Coach (Nick) Sirianni say? ‘It’s like perfume. It smells good, but it’s poison. Don’t drink it.’ Don’t buy into what is unfinished. We are an unfinished defense and we’re building to greatness, trying to do some special stuff.” — Dave Spadaro