Philadelphia Eagles LB Nick Morrow Accepting a Role He Never Expected

Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Nick Morrow signed as a free agent not expecting to be released, but he has gradually begun to play himself into the rotation.

PHILADELPHIA – Winning is the ultimate goal, and Nick Morrow made that clear, so there are no complaints.

The Philadelphia Eagles are doing their share of winning, sitting at an NFC-best 6-1 as they prepare to play the Washington Commanders at FedEx Field on Sunday (1 p.m./FOX).

Morrow signed with the Eagles as a free agent after leading the Chicago Bears with a career-high 116 tackles last season, 83 of which were of the solo variety, and expected to be part of a new linebacker corps in Philly after it had lost starters T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White in free agency.

It didn’t quite work out that way.

He was released after training camp, after the Eagles added Zach Cunningham on Aug. 6. A few days after Morrow was let go, the Eagles signed him to the practice squad.

He spent one game there and was elevated after Nakobe Dean suffered a foot injury in the season opener.

“What I expected?” Morrow said when asked by SI.com Eagles Today about his expectations when he first signed. “Ha, they let me go. I got released and put on the practice squad. I didn’t expect that. Nothing’s truly what I expected but that’s part of the league. In college, I had a DC who literally changed the lineup a day before the game. He taught me to expect the unexpected and that’s how I’ve had to approach it my entire career, so I keep doing it.

“Do you always get what you want in this league? Absolutely not, but one thing is constant, if you go out there, you make your plays, play with great effort, good things will happen, and that’s my plan.”

Nick Morrow / USA Today

Right now, Eagles defensive coordinator Sean Desai says that the linebackers are part of a rotation. In last week’s win over the Miami Dolphins, Cunningham played all 49 defensive snaps, with Dean getting 30, and Morrow 19.

Dean had three tackles, Cunningham two, and Morrow one.

For the season, Cunningham leads the team in tackles with 39, Morrow is fourth with 28, and Dean, after missing four games, has 14.

“We want to continue to rotate guys, and we'll continue to do that with Zach also, but he's such a long-ranging guy that's got good speed and can play on the edges of the defense and is really physical versus a blocker," Desai said.

“So, he did a good job in that role, and Nick and Nakobe did a tremendous job in their roles this week, and we'll continue to roll all those guys through because, again, it's about obviously staying healthy for one game, but really getting through this whole season healthy and with continuity.”

Morrow said that he just has to be prepared whenever his number is called.

“It’s one of those things that as a professional you have to go out there and do your job,” he said. “I wouldn’t say it’s defined by, ‘Hey we got this team this week, we have to do this.’ You just have to kind of figure out what you’re going to do and when your name is called go make a play. That’s what it’s become, and I have to find a way to embrace that and find a way to make my plays within it.”

Maybe Morrow will have a larger role against Washington since he has faced Commanders offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy nearly a dozen times, from when Morrow played in the AFC West for four years with the Raiders and Bieniemy was the offensive coordinator with the Kansas City Chiefs.

“Every time we played Kansas City, it was a different offense, they gave us a different thing, different formations, different plays,” he said.

“So, you really have to be locked in on your keys and your reads. They’ll give us some different stuff, but we’ll give them some different stuff. We’ll play the chess match, and we’ll see who wins the game.”