It Might Take Some Time, But Eagles Assistant Says Jonathan Greenard Is 'What We Thought He’d Be’

PHILADELPHIA — Jonathan Greenard still has no clear timetable for his debut in Midnight Green. Even so, the Eagles’ edge coach is not hedging on what the team has seen since acquiring the veteran pass rusher in a draft-weekend trade.

“He’s what we thought he’d be,” edge coach Jeremiah Washburn said. “And working really hard and staying engaged and been an A-plus in the meeting room and on the field.”

A team captain in Minnesota, the Eagles acquired Greenard, and a 2026 seventh-round pick, from the Vikings for two third-round picks (one in 2026 (safety Jakobe Thomas), and another in 2027), and immediately signed the veteran to a four-year, $100 million contract with $50 million guaranteed.

The 29-year-old was the Eagles’ highest-profile offseason addition, brought in to give the pass rush a significant boost. Greenard had 24.5 sacks across the 2023 and 2024 seasons before recording only three in 12 games in 2025, a campaign cut short by shoulder surgery. His pressure numbers, however, remained significant last season.

What has been disappointing so far is that the 2024 Pro Bowl selection missed spring work while rehabbing from shoulder surgery, then suffered a pec strain in the weight room that wiped out his summer.

General manager Howie Roseman has said Greenard will play “sooner rather than later” and chose to open the veteran on the 53-man roster rather than the physically unable to perform list, which would have cost him a minimum of four games.

Typically a high-volume player from a rep standpoint, Washburn declined to speculate on Greenard’s workload once he is cleared. In theory, Greenard would take over the role of Jaelan Phillips as the team’s top edge rusher both from a performance and workload standpoint.

“We have not even gotten there with that,” Washburn said. “It’s different. We’re starting the season, and guys carve out their roles and identities and play times and things of that nature. Whereas with J.P. (Jaelan Phillips) we caught him at a time that was, what, Week 9? So it was a little different.”

The silver lining of Greenard’s offseason health issues has been extra reps for emerging edge Jalyx Hunt and talented Nolan Smith, along with reserves A.J. Epenesa and Arnold Ebiketie.

“You always want them out there, but yeah, you always try to make a positive out of any situation,” Washburn said of the expanded opportunities. “I mean for the rest of the group, absolutely [it’s a positive]. But you never want [injured players] not to be out there. It's unfortunate.”

Blessed on the Edge

Eagles edge rushing coach Jeremiah Washburn | John McMullen/Eagles On SI

Washburn believes the room will sort itself out the same way it has throughout his tenure in Philadelphia, which dates to 2019.

“We’ve been blessed with a lot of guys that can play, and guys just kind of carve out their roles as we go, and we figure that [out] week-to-week,” Washburn said. “But, man, I’ve been here since ’19, and we’ve just been blessed with depth and different guys that can play. So it’ll look a lot similar to what we’ve done in the past.”

That depth is why the Eagles can afford patience with Greenard, who is still expected to be the featured rusher when his injury cloud finally clears.

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