Eagles May Have To Get Creative To Replace Big Z

PHILADELPHIA -- Nick Sirianni mentioned Bill Parcells on Monday, the same day the Hall of Fame coach was on my mind for a different reason.

The Eagles returned from a mini-bye to the news that veteran edge defender Za’Darius Smith, 33, was calling it a career.

The surprise retirement had me reverting to the advice Parcells would give to his assistants who got head coaching jobs.

"There'll be four or five things happening every day that you wish wouldn't happen. If you can't deal with that, you'd better get another job,” Parcells opined.

Already light on the edge with Smith, the Eagles are now perilously thin with only second-year developmental project Jalyx Hunt, veterans Josh Uche and Azeez Ojulari, as well as special teams standout Patrick Johnson, healthy and on the 53-man roster entering Week 7 with a trip to Minnesota on the horizon.

Ogbo Okoronkwao is done for the season with a torn triceps, and Philadelphia’s top player at the position, Nolan Smith, is dealing with his own triceps injury with the idea he might return from injured reserve post-Week 9 bye at Green Bay on Nov. 10.

“I like that position, I like the depth that we have at that position,” Sirianni said on Monday. “[Their snaps will] be distributed a little bit differently. But I have confidence in those guys, in that group that we have going into this next game.”

The trade deadline is Nov. 4, and it’s now almost assured GM Howie Roseman will have to try to add from outside the organization with all eyes on Miami, where the Dolphins could be in selling mode with both Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips, or the moribund New York Jets may be willing to part with 2022 first-round pick Jermaine Johnson.

Outside The Box

Until reinforcements are added, however, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio may have to think outside the box to persevere.

With middle linebacker Nakobe Dean returning from a torn patellar tendon last week, the idea of kick-starting rookie off-ball LB Jihaad Campbell’s natural gifts on the edge may have to be kick-started.

"I think we have versatility, obviously, there, and that we have a really good linebacker room altogether," Sirianni said. “We look at everything that we can do to help our team be as successful as we possibly can.

“I’m not going to, obviously, talk through some of those things. Obviously, I think you guys respect that, with not giving opponents any information or anything like that. But really excited about the room."

If not Campbell, it might have to be All-Pro LB Zack Baun being used more liberally as an outside edge rusher or allowing stud interior defensive lineman Jalen Carter to get more reps outside while Jordan Davis and Moro Ojomo handle the lion’s share of the interior work.

All Fangio would say on Tuesday, when asked by Eagles On SI if Dean’s return to health would make it easier to pull that kind of lever, was “it does.”

“I think you always want more in any position,” Fangio said. “We have guys in the building that could fulfill it.”

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