Brandon Graham gets brutally honest about Eagles' 2023 disastrous season
Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham wasn't asked about last season, but he clearly had something he wanted to get off his chest during his media availability on Wednesday. When asked what the offseason has been like without longtime locker room leaders Jason Kelce and Fletcher Cox, Graham gave a shout out to Jalen Carter […]
Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham wasn't asked about last season, but he clearly had something he wanted to get off his chest during his media availability on Wednesday.
When asked what the offseason has been like without longtime locker room leaders Jason Kelce and Fletcher Cox, Graham gave a shout out to Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis.
He also mentioned the addition of new defensive line coach Clint Hurtt.
“They’ve got a good coach in Clint, and I really think that last year, that’s what we didn’t have," Graham said.
But he didn't stop there.
“I really think that last year, we didn't have all the right coaches in the right position, I would say,” Graham said. “You can just see the guys (now) truly believing in what we’ve got going on, and I'm excited for the young guys that just came in and new rookies coming in because they’re really going to get a good shot and good taste of what it what it really is to be in the NFL."
After the Eagles dropped the 2023 season, they chose Nick Sirianni as their head coach but shook up their offensive and defensive staff. The brought in longtime defense guru Vic Fangio along with quarterback guru Kellen Moore to replace Matt Patricia, Sean Desai and Brian Johnson.
These changes, according to Graham, have already been pivitol.
"You just noticed little stuff last year, certain stuff we weren’t on the same page about. Just here and there, it will pop up, but it popped up in a big way that last game [playoff loss in Tampa]," Graham said. "And it was just like, anything I learned, you always want to make sure that we just have the proper communication, so there's a real big communication going on right now within the locker room, on the field, in the classrooms."
Watching the Eagles fall apart after a 10-1 start last fall was tough, but Graham had a lot of faith in general manager Howie Roseman to get things back on track this offseason.
Graham said there is zero lack of communication and everyone has been consistently on the same page.
"He's the wizard, I’d say,” Graham said of Roseman. “Trying to figure it out, where we went wrong, being honest, having those hard conversations and not scared to make certain moves to make sure that when you got a good team like we did and good players, sometimes it doesn't always reflect that because of us not being on the same page sometimes. That's the difference in professional sports. All it takes is one person to mess up on an assignment and then it costs us the game, stuff like that.
“… I think he did a good job of just bringing the guys in, really bringing some real good coaches. And yeah, I'm excited to see where we go."
Graham is set to enter his 15th and final season playing in the NFL before he calls it quits — maybe that's why he didn't mind calling out last year's coaching staff.
