Sudden hero James want to turn the corner
PHILADELPHIA >> By Friday, the frequency of his text-message beeps had been reduced to a slow drip.
By Sunday, when he will play meaningful cornerback minutes for the Eagles against the visiting New York Jets, Craig James will have forgotten about them altogether. Long term?
“In five or six years,” he said after practice Friday at the NovaCare Complex, “no one will even remember that it happened.”
That’s how fame goes, around one day, vanished in half a decade. But while James has spent the long week since last Thursday trying to appreciate some sudden and unexpected spotlight, he is to the point where he knows it is professionally dangerous.
Having sprung from the practice squad in Week 2 amid multiple injuries in the Eagles’ secondary, it was the Southern Illinois product who tipped a late Aaron Rodgers pass into the open arms of Nigel Bradham, whose interception sealed a 34-27 victory in Green Bay Thursday.
Though having spent last season on the Vikings’ practice squad, James’ game-changing and possibly seasonsaving effort came on just his third career NFL snap and his first in a defensive set.
Predictably, the nationally televised tip did not escape the attention of his family and friends, plenty of whom he likely never figured he had.
“Yeah, it did,” he said. “But to me, after that day, it was back to normal. And I kind of like being back to normal and not having people hitting up my phone that much. But I did get a lot of texts.”
With Ronald Darby (hamstring) and Avonte Maddox (neck, concussion) officially ruled out of the Jets game and with Sidney Jones (hamstring) having been limited in practice and listed as questionable, James will go from deep backup to regular contributor for a championship-minded defense.
The play he made at the end of the Green Bay game, just moments after replacing the injured Maddox, will give him confidence. But he figures the ensuing week of intense preparation will be even more helpful.
“I’m as ready as I’m ever going to be,” he said. “Those live reps at practice helped me out tremendously. And those live reps are really what counts. You can only learn so much on pen and paper and on video screens. When you get into live reps, when it moves 100 times faster, you get a better grasp of how to do things and when to do it. So I’m ready.”
Having been around the Eagles off and on since Sept. 3, he has had some time to learn the nuances and responsibilities of Jim Schwartz’s defense. That much showed in his brief appearance against the Packers.
“I know the whole playbook,” he said. “It’s just that it takes all the reps to get it down. It’s one thing to learn the playbook on paper. But in the games, everything happens way faster. Some things may happen slightly different, but those live reps really help.”
When it most mattered Thursday, they helped the Eagles win a game, and, quite likely, helped James gain better footing on what had been a stop-andgo career. Eventually, the Eagles expect to be fully staffed again at cornerback. But the Green Bay tip, and the opportunity it will ensure Sunday, has given the 23-year-old a professional boost.
Just the same, he has remained hesitant to dwell on it through a long off week.
“Eventually, people will probably remember that we won,” he said. “But now I have to go out and make a name for myself this week. Then, as the weeks pile up, I can probably say that it was good for my career. But for now, nobody is going to remember that.
“After that play was made, I was happy. I was celebrating with the team in that moment. But this week is a new challenge. They are not the same people. They are not the same team. So people can remember that play. But I am going to have to keep a short memory and prepare for this week.”
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In all of the four games the Eagles have played, their opponents have scored on their first possession. Coincidence? Or problem?
“I don’t know,” Malcolm Jenkins said. “Every team comes in with the first 15 plays that are scripted. It is usually something they have seen on tape. They want to see different looks. I don’t know if there is a rhyme or reason for it.”
Jenkins insists it has not been an in-house conversation piece.
“Not at all,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s about how many points you give up in a game. It doesn’t matter when they score.”
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DeSean Jackson will miss his third consecutive game with an abdominal injury. Doug Pederson continues to insist it is not a major concern.
“Obviously he’s a runner, he’s a sprinter, so we have to be careful,” he said. “But he’s doing everything he can in his power to get back out there. We’ll evaluate him again next week and see where he’s at.”
Pederson stressed that the injury is not worse than the Eagles had originally believed.
With Darby, Maddox and Jackson, Timmy Jernigan (foot) has been declared out for the Jets game.
Jason Peters (knee) was limited in practice Friday will play Sunday, according to Pederson.