Brandon Graham Ready for Whatever Role Awaits Him This Season

About to enter his 13th season at age 34 and coming off an Achilles tear, the veteran DE says he still has a lot to prove

PHILADELPHIA – The big boy. That’s how Brandon Graham refers to a lot of players, but in the case of Jordan Davis, he really means it, so it should be capitalized at least – Big Boy.

“That’s a Big Boy for real,” said Graham on Wednesday. “That’s another Jordan Mailata on the defensive side. I just can’t wait to see him. I can’t wait to pick his brain and see what he knows. From Georgia watching him, you see it, OK, this boy’s explosive, this boy can run. Now it’s making sure he can do that at a high level.”

Davis is the Eagles’ 6-6, 345-pound defensive tackle, last week’s first-round selection.

He is part of a reconstructed Eagles defense that went heavy on linebackers in both free agency, adding Haason Reddick and Kyzir White, and the draft, bringing in Nakobe Dean and Kyron Johnson.

Where does Graham fit?

Well, that is still to be determined. He said he feels great after rupturing his Achilles in the home opener last year against the 49ers.

Not once did he give any thought to calling it a career after the most serious injury of his career, though microfracture surgery on his knee after tearing an ACL on Dec. 12, 2011, was also a challenge to overcome.

“I know I love this game because when it got taken away from me all I could think about was that day when I come back to be the comeback player of the year,” said Graham about the Achilles tear. 

“That’s where I’m at. That’s my mindset. I want to come in just as I felt coming in, I want to be the same way going out, and I want to go out on my terms and hopefully we get us another ring and I have something to think about.”

So far, so good in the recovery.

“I feel like the Achilles’ never happened because of how I’m running and I’m doing everything I’m normally doing,” he said. “I even feel in shape, it’s just more so when you start doing football stuff, you’ll really know, but right now I’m doing weight training, running, oh yeah, man, I’m cutting, I’m doing stuff, there’s no restrictions right now.”

Still, Graham is a realist.

Even though he said at one point during the offseason he would like to play 15 years, he knows that he no longer has youth on his side, and, with one year left on his contract, he no longer has that working for him, either.

“I’m just going to show that I can still play, and I can help this team win, but I’m 34 and I still got a lot to prove because I didn’t play last year, but I know my role can change and I’m cool with that,” he said.

About to enter his 13th season, Graham is all too familiar with the business side of the game.

He got a reminder of that when Fletcher Cox was released for a 48-hour period before a contract was negotiated to bring him back on a one-year deal.

Graham and Cox have been together since Cox arrived in 2012 in the first round, two years after Graham was also taken in the first round. The two have dressing stalls side by side in the practice locker room.

Certainly, a new role could be awaiting Cox this year as well, though he wasn’t made available to talk with the media on Wednesday.

“I thought it was more so money stuff, but I was nervous at first,” said Graham, about Cox’s short-term release. “I ain’t going to lie. Me and Fletch have been together for a long time. 

"If anything, I love that we all got another year together and I’m just going to keep cherishing the moments that we keep on adding another year. Hopefully, we go out there, ball out and we can do it all again, run it back after we do what we’re supposed to do this year.”

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Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.