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How Campbell and Trotter are navigating new LB rotation
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- How Campbell and Trotter are navigating new LB rotation
How Campbell and Trotter are navigating new LB rotation originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
When the Eagles' defense takes the field against the Panthers on Sunday, we're going to see something new: A linebacker rotation.
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Both Jihaad Campbell and Jeremiah Trotter Jr. are going to play.
For Campbell, this mean's he's no longer a full-time starter. For Trotter, this means he's no longer a full-time backup. Both will get snaps next to Zack Baun in the Eagles defense.
"Trot's a good player," Campbell said. "He's been playing great ball too. Gonna get an opportunity to go out there and play. Just like I said, our whole room is ready for preparation and ready for domination. So we're good."
Campbell is still just 22 years old and was a first-round pick last year. He was the Eagles' starter early last season before Nakobe Dean returned from injury and he was the full-time starter this year until Trotter did enough a couple weeks ago to earn some more playing time. In five games, Campbell has 42 tackles, a sack, a TFL, a forced fumble and a QB hit.
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Trotter had to start in place of Baun against the Rams and performed very well. He led the team with 15 tackles and did enough that the Eagles wanted to see more of him. Now in Year 3, this is a big opportunity for the 23-year-old former fifth-round pick to prove he's a starting-caliber player in the NFL. He's excited about that.
"I definitely think that hard work definitely pays off and I'm starting to see the fruits of that labor," Trotter said. "I just thank God that he's allowing it to come to fruition and I'm just really excited to go out there and do my part on the defense and just go out there and help the team anyway I can in my role.
When asked this week if he thinks this rotation could hurt Campbell's progress, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said no. But it's fair to wonder if it will because Campbell said on Wednesday that he has seen growth in himself already this year.
But it also seems clear that Trotter is deserving of playing time, so he's getting it.
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The good news for the Eagles is that Campbell and Trotter are friends. You might wonder if this would end up being a strange situation now that they're in a rotation, but both claim it isn't.
"Nah, it ain't a weird situation at all," Campbell said. "I think it's a great bond. Whatever people think or whatever the case may be, it's not that. At the end of the day, football is all about competition. So I think our room, we all understand our goals and what we want to accomplish. That's just to go out there and dominate."
Trotter feels the same way.
Even though it seemed pretty obvious that Campbell was going to be the starter at the beginning of the season, they did compete all training camp.
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"We've been pushing each other back and forth, just sharing knowledge, making each other better," Trotter said. "And I feel like that's what makes great teams, is when you've got competition and you're out there just pushing one another, just learning from one another. We have a really talented 'backer room and a really talented group in general. We've got a lot of depth on this team."
We don't know a ton about the mechanics of this rotation but Fangio said it won't be dictated by situation; it'll be on a series-by-series basis. And when Campbell's on the field, Trotter will need to be locked in, and vice versa.
This rotation was actually supposed to begin in London on Sunday but Trotter got in a fight on the opening kickoff and was tossed from the game. Trotter was surprised he was ejected but said he needs to control his emotions better in that situation. Not only did the Eagles miss him against the Jaguars, but he missed his first opportunity to play more on defense.
"I'm the type of person I feel like everything happens for a reason," Trotter said. "I can't harp on it. I've got to just move on, get back to work. Our guys went out there and fought on the defensive side and the offensive side. I was just in the locker room watching the game and cheering them on from the sidelines. I was just happy to see them out there fighting."
Trotter will get to join them this weekend.
