PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Eagles fans are extraordinarily frustrated with their 3-6-1 football team, to the point where some are ready to see drastic changes to varying levels of degree.
Defensive end Brandon Graham is well aware of the makeup of this town. He's one of the longest-tenured athletes in Philadelphia, now in his 11th season with the franchise. Although he knows the fan base is unhappy right now, he's maintaining the positive and upbeat mentality that's carried with him over the past decade, from possible first-round bust to Super Bowl hero.
"We gonna get this thing right because we winners here at the Philadelphia Eagles organization, and we always figure out. And I just know that when we play at our best, it's just because we block out the noise and we just get to work," he said on "The Brandon Graham Show," which airs weekly on WIP Sportsradio during the Eagles season.
Graham — affectionately known as "BG" — insisted he sees the potential in this team, which many outside observers would beg to differ. But that's part of the noise, Graham said, which is best neutralized when the result on the field is better than three wins in 10 games.
The Eagles haven't been this bad since Andy Reid's final season in 2012, when they were 3-7 before finishing 4-12. That was good for the last place in the NFC East. This year, six wins may be enough to win this historically bad division.
"There's fight all in us, man," Graham said. "I'm telling you, when we get this thing rolling — oh man! I'm telling you, people gonna eat the words that they talking right now."
Those word-eaters will likely come as a result of the Eagles winning enough of the next four games — which are currently against winning teams — before the final two matches against the 3-7 Cowboys and the Washington Football Team.
First up: the 7-3 Seattle Seahawks, quarterbacked by Russell Wilson — who has never lost to the Eagles.
"I haven't beat 'em since I've been in the league," Graham added.
Oh yeah — there's that, too. Not only has Wilson had tons of success against the Eagles, the Seahawks generally have too, winning eight of the last nine meetings dating back to 2005, including six in a row.
The last time the Eagles beat Seattle was in 2008 when Graham was in college playing for Michigan.
The Eagles are long overdue to defeat the team that knocked them out in the playoffs last season. Not only did they bump the Eagles in a wild card round at Lincoln Financial Field, but former Seahawk Jadeveon Clowney gave Carson Wentz a concussion with a controversial hit.
Since that hit, for whatever reason, Wentz has been on the decline. He went from leading his team into the playoffs with four straight victories, closing the 2019 regular season, to arguably the worst quarterback in the NFL by November 2020 — with 14 interceptions across 10 games.
Head coach Doug Pederson decided not to bench Wentz for rookie second-round pick Jalen Hurts, so Graham's postgame comments following their loss to Cleveland caught some attention.
When asked about whether benching Wentz sends the wrong message to the team, Graham said, "I'm confident in whatever coach (Pederson) want to do and whatever they figure out on the offensive side. That ain't got nothing to do with us, other than we got to keep on keeping it tight on defense. I know that coach gonna make the right choice regardless of what happens, and I know it means something to Carson. I know it means something to a lot of guys, and whatever it takes to get a dub, we gonna do. And so, whatever coach leans on doing, we gonna support him and we gonna support our teammates regardless."
Monday night on his radio show, Graham — who admitted he didn't even know what Pederson had said prior to him — clarified.
"That was a tricky question anyway because if I say I'm with my quarterback, then they gonna say, 'Well, Brandon Graham's with his quarterback, and Doug's not.' I just was like, I trust whatever the organization does because I'm rooting for Carson. Of course, I have conversations with Carson all the time, let him know man, 'We gonna make everybody eat them words on what they saying and all that. Forget that. We with you.'
"What I was saying last night was just coach (Pederson) and (general manager) Howie (Roseman) and those guys — they make the decisions. I'm here to motivate and do everything. If that's what they feel they have to do, I can't do nothing but support the guy that they put in.
"But I believe in Carson. I know that he's shown what he can do. … I never was against Carson or nothing like that."
