Scandrick back to bolster wounded secondary
PHILADELPHIA >> The way Orlando Scandrick remembers it, the Eagles wanted to bring him back in the second week of this season but “a bit of miscommunication” on both sides scuttled the plan.
Subsequently, the Eagles added Craig James, who last Thursday made one of the biggest defensive plays of the night to seal a 34-27 victory over the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.
Scandrick, like all of us, watched James tip the ball into the end zone to Eagles linebacker Nigel Bradham, who ended the drama with an interception of Aaron Rodgers. Scandrick also did the math. With Avonte Maddox (neck) and Sidney Jones (hamstring) joining Ronald Darby (hamstring) on the sideline, Scandrick didn’t think twice when the Eagles asked him to return just a few weeks after telling him why he no longer was in their plans after training camp.
“I spoke to Howie Roseman around Friday,” Scandrick said. “He told me they wanted me back and I was missing it, so I decided to go back.”
Small world, this fraternity of pro football players.
For a while there, Scandrick, 32, was contented being around his children and fiancé in the heart of Los Angeles. He kept working with a personal trainer, just in case.
Scandrick never was far from football, not with the NFL Ticket and a bunch of friends on speed dial, the list including among
others DeSean Jackson, Rasul Douglas and Jonathan Cyprien with the Eagles.
“I flip back and forth between games, kind of watch the best games of the week,” Scandrick said after the Eagles’ walkthrough Monday. “Obviously, I watched these guys here because I spent all training camp with them and I built a bond with some of them. Everybody knows the type of friendship me and DeSean have. We spoke regularly. I spoke to Rasul regularly. I spoke to Cyprien regularly.
“I mean I’m a realist here. This is 11 years for me. Nothing lasts forever. And I know that I’ve played way more years than I have ahead of me. I just want to make the most of this opportunity. I want to leave it all out there and I want to do whatever I can to help this team win.”
The Eagles need all the help they can get in the back end when they oppose the winless New York Jets Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field. Laugh all you want about quarterback Sam Darnold (mono) being iffy to make his first appearance of the season. It is kind of amusing that Luke Falk, who replaced the injured Trevor Siemian, basically was a Nate Sudfeldfallback type of starter for Joe Douglas’ Jets.
The grim reality for the Eagles is their most reliable cornerback, Maddox, reportedly will miss at least a week or two with a neck injury while Jones and Darby nurse hamstring issues.
By default, Rasul Douglas will be one starter, Scandrick and James the others unless defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz rolls with safety Malcolm Jenkins at nickel or schemes in another safety or linebacker.
“TBD, that’s where we are,” Schwartz replied when asked about the depth chart at cornerback. “It is to be determined. But we’ve got a long time until Sunday.”
Jenkins said players have been cross-training at different positions in case there are more injuries and in-game change is necessary. Though Jenkins says it’s been a while since he spent extended time outside at corner, he’s lined up there. Safety Rodney McLeod has played nickel.
Which brings us back to Scandrick, who has played all of the cornerback positions. Schwartz didn’t have much to say about him, but it was enough to reveal the desperate state of affairs in the secondary.
“He knows our system, that’s one of the reasons we brought him back,” Schwartz said. “That’s one of the reasons we had him in training camp. So, we’d expect him to be up to speed. If he’s called upon, there’s not going to be any startup time for him.”
If Scandrick isn’t called upon, it will be a story. James has played two NFL snaps. That’s been marinating in Scandrick since he saw the kid make that big play last Thursday.
Truth be told, this second chance with the Eagles is an opportunity for Scandrick to prove he still has tread on his tires after nine seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, who drafted him in the fifth round, and a year with the Kansas City Chiefs. His release at the end of Eagles training camp was a shock.
“Was I surprised? Yes,” Scandrick said. “Did I know the situation and the reason? Yes. Did I understand it? Yes. Was Howie Roseman very, very, very honest with me? Yes. So, at the same time when I was a little surprised and a little upset about how things went down, I totally understood it.”