Eagles May Have Filled "BG Role" With Addition Of Veteran Rusher

PHILADELPHIA – Za’Darius Smith entered the locker room following Friday's practice and said to no one in particular, “Whew, what a week. Geez, Louise.” He peeled off a sweat-soaked Eagles practice T-shirt and plopped down onto the stall at his locker, which is the same locker Brandon Graham occupied for most, if not all, of his 15 years with the Eagles.

Players talk all the time about just renting space. Well, BG owned that space. Smith said he had no idea it was Graham’s, but he said it made sense because the Eagles told him when they signed him the day after the season-opening win over the Dallas Cowboys that they wanted him to play that “BG role.”

“I know when I was coming here, they were telling me a lot about BG,” said Smith. “They want me to play that role kind of with the young guys, being a leader in the room. I’m all about it. I’m up for it.”

Smith held court for five reporters for about 12 highly entertaining minutes on Friday, covering a wide range of topics, including his three children, whom he said goodbye to after the Eagles signed him. Their names and ages are Zadon, 11, Zavion, 4, and Zoey, 2. Smith then showed a tattoo behind his right ear of three Z’s.

He talked about his contract and gave a deeper recount of his past, and how he grew up in the small town of Greenville, Alabama, playing basketball thinking he’d be what he called, “a hooper.”

Those are stories for another time.

What Will Smith's Role Be In KC?

Eagles Za'Darius Smith (No. 52) takes part in his first practice with his new team on Sept. 10. | John McMullen/Eagle on SI

In the here and now, the Eagles are taking it slowly with him. Smith said they are sprinkling in some packages for him, but his role will continue to grow and evolve over the next couple of weeks.

The Eagles tested his conditioning on Thursday. They ran him through a series of 10 gassers from sideline to sideline and had him do 10 reps on a stationary bike for 20-second goes with 10 seconds rest in between.

“Just preparing me for the two-minute situations,” he said. Then jokingly, he said to the questioner about his conditioning, “I want you to try it when you get home.”

General manager Howie Roseman and head coach Nick Sirianni wanted Smith to sign before the opener. They asked him to come Tuesday before the Thursday kickoff.

“Howie got me on the phone, I think it was Monday night (Sept. 1),” recalled Smith. “He was like, ‘Z, you know we wanna get you here.’ I had to go back and forth with my agent because we were still in negotiations with what we wanted to do.

“(Howie) was asking me if I could get here Tuesday morning. I was like, ‘Yeah, I can get there Tuesday morning.’ Then I talked to coach, and he was like, ‘Z, you ready to play, you think you can give us some snaps?’ I was like, ‘hell yeah.’”

Then came another conversation a day later.

“They called me back Tuesday afternoon and told me to just stay home with the fam, that the game plan was already in and they want to see what they can do with the young guys,” he said. “I respect coach for that and Howie for giving me the opportunity to stay home for a couple more days with the family.”

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