Inside Eagles Locker Room: Dallas Goedert Reflects, DeVonta Smith On WR Room

PHILADELPHIA – The Eagles put the finishing touches on the game plan for Sunday’s season opener at home against the Washington Commanders. Here are some interviews from Friday’s locker room session.

IS THIS THE YEAR…That Dallas Goedert plays his final season with the Eagles?

“I got this question last year, possibly the year before that too,” the tight end said laughing. “I just take it day by day, enjoy the people in the locker room, enjoy the process of getting ready and I'm looking forward to another, another year with a new group of people.”

Goedert is entering Year 9 with the Eagles and has no intentions of making it his last. He will be just 32 on Jan. 3, the same day the Eagles play the 49ers in San Jose.

There has been a string of Eagles who retired without playing for another organization: Jason Kelce, Brandon Graham, Fletcher Cox, and Brent Celek. Lane Johnson could be next.

“I've played eight full seasons here,” said Goedert. “I made the playoffs seven times, Super Bowl twice, had a lot of success in the playoffs here, won games. I couldn't have dreamed of a better situation as a kid, playing in big games and big moments, making plays in those moments as well.”

Goedert plans on adding to that list. He scored 11 touchdowns last year, breaking a team record for most TDs scored by a tight end in team history that had been held by Pete Retzlaff since 1965.

Informed that if his record stands as long as Retzlaff’s, he’d be in his 70s or 80s before it’s broken again, Goedert laughed.

“You want the game to keep progressing,” he said. “You want the tight end position to keep getting better and better. If someone else can come and do it and break it, that'll be awesome. Whenever that happens, they'll bring me back up talking about them beating my record, so it’s cool.”

DeVonta Smith Expounds On New Faces In WR Room

DeVonat Smith — Eagles' DeVonta Smith takes the field for Day 2 of training camp on July 30, 2026. | Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

WR CAMARADERIE. It remains to be seen if this latest collection of receivers will be successful on a consistent basis, but in the locker room, it feels like they at least all like each other, and that’s a start.

Without A.J. Brown, the Eagles added four new faces to he group, joining holdovers DeVonta Smith and Darius Cooper.

“It's been fun, man,” said DeVonta Smith. “A lot of guys that's played a lot of football, come from different places. Just the stories that you hear when, when, you know, when they were at other places and things like that. We all just sit here and laugh about just funny stories that we have, and it's fun.”

Case in point: On Thursday, Smith, Hollywood Brown, and Tay Wicks were laughing it up at their lockers together.

If that kind of fun can translate into on-field chemistry, then the Eagles passing game could become a legitimate threat.

ROLE FOR WILLIE. He was one of the best stories from training camp, with so many of his teammates and coaches praising him for his ability to play one of the more demanding positions on a football field – offensive line – at just 5-11.

It appears as if Lampkin will make his pro debut on Sunday playing special teams. An All-American from the University of North Carolina, who entered the league as an undrafted free agent with the Los Angeles Rams last year, Lampkin said he will probably have a blocking role on those units against the Commanders.

“Only thing I've ever done was just field goal, and that was just in, college when somebody got hurt,” Lampkin said laughing. “But like I've never been on field goal, even in college because I was the smallest guy.”

Added ST coordinator Michael Clay: “Everybody's not made the same, but you have different qualities that I'm able to use. Jordan Davis and Jordan Mailata on field goal, that's a pretty good edge to have right there. Vice versa with Willie, a guy that has that type of mobility, but still an offensive lineman, and he's able to put his hands on somebody and drive them, that kind of creates a new running lane and a new idea.”

“Once we have that rapport with Willie, which we have, and he feels confident, you can see that light turn off like, 'Oh, this guy's ready to go,' we're going to use anybody and everybody willing to help out this team [on] special teams.”

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