Eagles' Terrell Edmunds: Forgotten Man on Philly's Defense?
PHILADELPHIA - If you rewind back to the start of training camp for the Philadelphia Eagles, the safety position was one of the biggest question marks on a very talented roster.
The goal was to replace two starters: the playmaking C.J. Gardner-Johnson and the steady, durable Marcus Epps.
Fast forward back to mid-August and things have settled down quite nicely with most of the optimism centering on the rapidly-developing Reed Blankenship and a third-round missile of a rookie in Sydney Brown.
Meanwhile, fourth-year player K’Von Wallace has opened the eyes of new defensive coordinator Sean Desai with his physicality, something that continued in joint practices with Cleveland this week when Browns owner Jimmy Haslam implored his overmatched offense to “get his a#$,” and the smooth Justin Evans has impressed with his coverage skills.
Free-agent pickup Terrell Edmunds, 26, is almost the forgotten man here because he’s been as advertised after five seasons in Pittsburgh, a steady, calming presence with impressive versatility.
Blankenship is clearly the best safety on the roster and looks like a budding star after intercepting Deshaun Watson three times over two joint practices with the Browns.
Edmunds, Wallace, Evans, and Brown have all gotten some first-team reps opposite Blankenship and that list is also the order of those first-team reps from most to least.
"I don't think it affects you,” Edmunds said of the uncertainty when talking with SI.com’s Eagles Today. “I think because we all play together. We all try to play as one unit regardless of who's in the game.”
In Edmunds’ mind the more players you’re comfortable playing with, the better.
“At the end of the day, you never know who's gonna be in the game at any given time because everything happens. You never know like the whole roller coaster of a season so we just prepare for anything and we just go out there and play hard,” he said
Everyone knows Brown is the ultimate end game opposite Blankenship and the rookie's opportunities have been growing after a nine-tackle performance in the preseason-opening loss to Baltimore.
The question is whether Brown can be disciplined enough to handle a Vic Fangio-style defense that is designed to limit explosive plays and demands top-tier communication on the back end.
Whatever happens, the only safety other than Blankenship that you can rest assured will have a role in Week 1 at New England is Edmunds because of the veteran’s ability to toggle back and forth from safety to linebacker.
Desai will be utilizing the big nickel and that package includes Edmunds’ role as a pseudo-linebacker. The only question is will the 2018 first-round pick be sliding down from safety with either Wallace or Brown rotating in or will Edmunds be the one subbing in directly.
“Just something that we [take] pride in, something we work on, something we talk about, something we meet about,” Edmunds said of the three-safety look. “So whenever you get thrown into, whatever position they put you in, just go out there and play as fast as you can play, as hard as you can and put everything on the line for your teammates."
From there, let the chips fall where they may.
“All we talk about is being the best defensive secondary in the league and that's our whole mindset and how we are trying to approach practice,” Edmunds said. “Whoever is on the field just go out there and make plays."
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-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Football 24/7 and a daily contributor to ESPN South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
