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Tim McManus
Outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips’ made a major impact in his Philadelphia Eagles debut, helping his new club to a 10-7 road win against the Green Bay Packers.
Phillips paced all Eagles edge players with 52 snaps and racked up seven pressures, six tackles, two quarterback hits and a fumble recovery. His stuff on 4th-and-1 with 1:30 remaining led to a Josh Jacobs fumble that sealed the win.
«This whole week we’ve been telling him we trust him, when we get out there we’re all as one,» defensive tackle Jalen Carter said. «He came out, showed out, he got the fumble, he got some pressures, and he had a hell of a game.»
Phillips was acquired from the Miami Dolphins in exchange for a third-round pick last week in front of the trade deadline. He called it «literally the greatest thing that has happened to me in my whole life, probably.» That feeling of gratitude stayed with him for his trip to Green Bay.
Jordan Love to 176 yards on 20-of-36 passing while sacking him three times and registering eight quarterback hits. The Packers were held scoreless through three quarters for just the third time under Matt LaFleur.
Philadelphia needed a pass-rush boost, particularly on the outside. Coming into the game, the since-retired Za’Darius Smith still led all Eagles edge players with 1.5 sacks. General manager Howie Roseman got aggressive and made the move for Phillips and helped convince Brandon Graham to come out of retirement. The Eagles also got Nolan Smith (triceps) back from injury.
It’s now looking like a formidable group. Smith had a sack and two quarterback hits and Jalyx Hunt (sack, 2 TFL) made some noise to join Phillips, who didn’t take long to acclimate to his new environment.
«We need him,» Graham said, «and I’m happy that he’s on our team.»
