It's All About Team For Big Man In Middle Of Eagles' Defense

PHILADELPHIA – Jordan Davis is being seen and heard from more than in the past after Eagles’ practices this season, presumably because he doesn’t have to spend as much time in lengthy recovery sessions and time on the treadmill.

As his body weight shrinks, his personality grows. It’s always been there for the Eagles’ man-child defensive tackle, but it’s just being seen- and heard - more.

“You have to make this thing fun because at the end of the day, this is a grind, this is an experience, this is the NFL,” he said. “It’s so cutthroat that you could be here today and gone tomorrow. But the time that we spend together is so important to me because I wouldn’t know what else to do.

“This is all I’ve got. These people are all I’ve got … That’s why I go so hard with a connection to the team because that’s how I feel. I wouldn’t have that juice, that drive, if it wasn’t for my teammates.”

So, Davis likes to go around the locker room with a camera and a small microphone interviewing teammates, cracking jokes, and laughing. He has a little clothespin that he likes to attach to unsuspecting players’ clothing as well as to members of the media. He’s having fun, and it shows.

And that juice, that drive, his new-look body that has gone down a couple of sizes to 350ish to 330? Well, it’s all coming together for him to have the best season of his four-year career. He even brings cookies to his teammates every Saturday, but refuses to eat any, so he keeps his weight off.

Jordan Davis Enters Eagles History Books

On Wednesday, he was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his game against the Lions on Sunday night. In Week 3, he was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week to become the first player in Eagles history to receive both awards in the same season.

When informed of that, Davis joked that maybe he could get the NFC Offensive Player of the Week sometime this year (Nick Sirianni, are you listening?) When informed he went down in team history, Davis got excited.

“First Eagle ever?!?” he said. “No, really, like the first Eagle ever? In history? That’s crazy. Damn. That’s pretty cool. But that’s the only gloating I’ll do for myself.”

Indeed, when asked initially about just the defensive player award, he talked about the team.

“I said after practice, after we brought it up, I said, ‘This award is not just for me,’” he said. “It’s an individual accolade, but at the end of the day, it wouldn’t mean as much without those guys that I played with. Not only what we do on the field, but it’s the juice that they have, the energy. And the time that we spend together.

“That brings me joy every day, to come in here and have the spirit that I have. If everybody is like, moping around, it wouldn’t be fun for me. And those guys make it fun for me. I enjoy playing with this team. I enjoy playing with these guys. And I enjoy playing this game because they bring so much juice, and they’re just good people.”

Davis said losing the weight had more to do with his teammates than with potentially having more zeros added to his next contract.

“They’re good humans,” he said. “They just bring me joy. Individual accolades come and go, but I want to make sure the real recognition goes to the team because I wouldn’t be at my greatest, I wouldn’t be at my (most) successful, and I wouldn’t be at my peak without the team.

“The biggest reason why I wanted to change my body and change the way that I play is because of the team. I want to be the best player that I can be for the team. So it’s not just for me. It’s for everybody.”

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