The Philadelphia Eagles' defense is certainly going through some changes with what all has happened over the last week.
Philly was able to get linebacker Nakobe Dean back after being on IR to start the season and was active in their 34-17 loss to the New York Giants, but did not play. Dean is being eased into the defense and working his way back onto the field.
Another significant change happened with the announcement of Za'Darius Smith's shocking retirement after just five games with the Eagles. Smith had been the team's best and most consistent pass rusher all season, so it's a massive loss for them.
All of this is leading to the role rookie linebacker Jihaad Campbell will play on this defense. In preseason, he was playing around with the edge position, where he was successful in college at Alabama, but he has stayed as an inside linebacker during the regular season. Will that change now?
Nick Sirianni shares more into Campbell's role on defense
While speaking with the media, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni responded to a question about Campbell's role on the defense and whether he would play more edge. Sirianni was not ready to tip his cards away to the public yet.
"I think that we have a lot of versatility there and that we have a really good linebacker room altogether. We look at everything. We look at everything that we can do to help our team be as successful as we possibly can. So again, we'll see. I'm not going to talk through some of those things, obviously. I think you guys respect that with not giving opponents any information or anything like that."
Sirianni added a note about getting Dean back and having him involved in the rotation at linebacker.
"But really excited about the room. Excited to get Nakobe back in there rolling because we know the type of player he is."
Campbell has had a stellar rookie campaign with the Eagles, starting all six games at inside linebacker with Zack Baun. In those games, Campbell has racked up 40 tackles, one quarterback hit, one tackle for loss, two pass deflections, one forced fumble, and one interception.
The reason why Campbell had not been playing edge up to this point was that Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio did not want to rush Campbell and give him too much right off the bat. It would be an easier transition to start at inside linebacker and eventually work his way to edge rusher.
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There's been no complaints about Campbell playing inside, but with Nolan Smith Jr. and Ogbo Okoronkwo on IR with injuries and Smith's retirement, the depth at edge is really thin. Don't be surprised if Campbell starts getting some looks there and helping out at some point this season.