Robert Quinn Arrives as Final Piece of Eagles' Pass-Rushing Puzzle

The veteran edge rusher wants to fit it and not mess things up

PHILADELPHIA - Surprise.

It wasn't a party for Robert Quinn but the veteran edge rusher got the gift of magically transforming from 2-5 to 6-0 by moving from the Chicago Bears to the Eagles overnight.

Philadelphia acquired the sackmaster for a 2023 fourth-round pick in advance of the NFL's trade deadline Wednesday and by Thursday, Quinn had passed his physical and started meeting his new teammates before quickly being integrated into an afternoon practice.

The thought of 102 career sacks being added to a core edge group that has been the third-best in the NFL, according to ESPN's pass-rush win metric, is scarier than anything else you'll see this Halloween season.

Wearing No. 98, Quinn arrived in the locker room and was greeted by team leader and fellow edge player, Brandon Graham, himself an aging player at 34 who is having a rebirth in 2022 with the help of a pitch count laid out by defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon and position coach Jeremiah Washburn.

In Chicago, Quinn was playing significant snaps and was double-teamed more than any other pass rusher in the NFL as the only proven option the Bears had. That more than anything helps explain the crater-like dip of 18.5 sacks to one in seven games this season.  

With the Eagles, Quinn is expected to slot in behind Haason Reddick and Josh Sweat, alongside Graham as the second wave on the edge. He's rarely going to see double teams and the opportunity for Gannon to put four elite pass rushers on the field in obvious passing situations is an intoxicating thought.

For now, though, Quinn is trying to get his feet on the ground in a new situation.

“I’m still trying to grasp fully what happened and the transition,” he said following Thursday's practice. “Besides that, I’m happy. It’s a new place. As I’ve told everyone, I want to come in and do my part.

"They’ve been rocking and rolling before I got here, so I don’t want to mess anything up and add whatever I can to help make this team better and pretty much stay out of the way.”

Quinn was not expected to be traded and had grown close to many of his teammates in Chicago, something evidenced by Roquan Smith's emotional reaction to the deal.

“I love my guys [in Chicago],” said Quinn, who referred to Smith, the Bears' star Mike linebacker as a little brother. “It wasn’t my first coaching change, so I kind of knew what was going to go on. 

"To be honest, I didn’t expect a trade, but I knew how the building would shift around a little bit.”

Quinn spent most of his first practice watching the other edge rushers in the short portion open to the media but the veteran did join in for a few drills.

“I’ll just do whatever [the coaches] ask,” he said. “... I just want to do my part to help contribute and keep helping this team do what they’ve been doing this year, and that’s winning. So, whatever my contribution may be from what they have, I’m just trying to do that to the best of my ability.”

Helping Quinn in that goal in Gannon's scheme, which is very similar to the one the veteran flourished in with Chicago in 2021 before morphing into a new system under Matt Eberflus.

Quinn, though, acknowledged that the terminology could be an issue.

"The terminology is a lot different," Quinn told SI Eagles Today. "All defenses are kinda similar anyway but it's terminology and that will be my challenge if anything, just learning the terminology to perfection."

Helping that along will be Gannon, who was with the St. Louis Rams in a scouting role when Quinn was drafted, and even more so, defensive backs coach and Gannon's right-hand man, Dennard Wilson, who was very close to Quinn while both were with the Rams.

"Dennard was my guy," Quinn remembered. "... So I knew him, knew Gannon a little bit but I used to talk to Dennard all the time so that helps with the transition."

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-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen