Nolan Smith, Nakobe Dean among the youngsters Brandon Graham is helping ‘fast-forward’ in development

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Going into his 15th and final season with the Eagles, Brandon Graham noticed a common trait among the team’s up-and-coming players, including fellow pass rusher Nolan Smith.

Throughout camp, Smith and others have been playing with chips on their shoulders, which Graham said Tuesday is helping them avoid getting too comfortable with their development. Graham acquired that chip early on in his career when he struggled to live up to his draft pedigree as the 13th overall pick in the 2010 draft out of Michigan. He sought to prove the doubters who labeled him a bust wrong.

Graham can empathize with Smith, the 30th overall pick in the 2023 draft out of Georgia who is looking to carve out a more prominent role in his sophomore season after a relatively quiet start to his NFL career. The 36-year-old said he knows exactly where those chips among his younger counterparts originate.

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“From y’all,” Graham said of the media, after the joint practice with the New England Patriots. “Yeah. Everything y’all say. Yeah. Keep it going. Because you’ve got a job ... My job is to burst y’all bubble.

“Y’all got a job to do, and that’s how I look at it. No personal feelings. But I’ve grown [from] that. They’ve got to grow [from] that. So I try to help them fast-forward to it, because ain’t nothing gonna change until you change it. That’s my message to them boys.”

The defense appeared to carry that mentality into the joint practice and competed as if it had something to prove. Under the guidance of new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, the group had a largely successful outing against the Patriots’ top two offenses, making plays on the ball and producing key stops.

One of the splashiest plays of the day came from Nakobe Dean and Zack Baun, two of the inside linebackers contending for starting roles come Week 1. On the last play of an 11-on-11 drill in the red zone involving the top two units, Dean broke up a Jacoby Brissett pass intended for Austin Hooper in the end zone. The ball popped up and landed in Baun’s hands, sending the defense off the field.

While the linebackers continued to rotate throughout practice, Dean and Devin White took the first reps with the starting defense. That grouping marked a departure from the typical White-Baun pairing that Fangio previously rolled with to start 11-on-11 drills with the first-team defense.

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As Dean looks to prove that he’s capable of handling a starting workload after dealing with multiple injuries last season, Graham is encouraging him to stay motivated.

“Just know that even when you do make good plays, the work is not done until you’re holding that trophy,” Graham said of his advice to Dean. “You’ve got to put in the work that you started with during the offseason. You’ve got to stay consistent.

“And just block out the noise, because I know how hard it is sometimes being young to block out the noise. But it’s like if you can’t, … use it as motivation. Can’t nothing change until you do what you’ve got to do out here.”

The linebackers at the top of the depth chart weren’t the only ones who flashed their talents. Jeremiah Trotter Jr. built on the momentum he generated in his strong preseason performance against the Baltimore Ravens, picking off Brissett over the middle of the field on a pass intended for K.J. Osborn. In a short period of time, Trotter has impressed Graham with his play and his commitment to improving.

“This boy comes to work,” Graham said. “You can already tell just from what he does during the offseason with his dad [Jeremiah Trotter Sr., Eagles Hall of Fame linebacker]. But I know for him, I was happy to see him get an interception. Happy to see everything’s starting to slow down a little bit.”

The pass rushers were disruptive throughout the practice, too, as they piled up would-be sacks and contributed in the run game. Bryce Huff, the Eagles’ biggest defensive free-agent signing of the offseason, sacked Brissett and also had a pair of tackles on running back Antonio Gibson for minimal gains. Huff will look to keep making strides in the run game as he works toward an every-down role with the Eagles this season.

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Smith also broke into the backfield and sacked Drake Maye in the final move-the-ball period of the day for the second-team offense. As long as the 23-year-old outside linebacker and his unestablished Eagles teammates play with chips on their shoulders, Graham said they will continue to grow.

“All I can care about for them is keeping that chip, because you should never be satisfied,” Graham said. “Because even when you get to the success, stay with it. Because somebody is coming for your job. I always think about that while serving the guys. But you’ve always got to have that mindset of you can’t get comfortable.”

The Eagles play in their second preseason game against the New England Patriots. Join Eagles beat reporters Olivia Reiner and EJ Smith as they dissect the hottest storylines surrounding the team on Gameday Central, live from Gillette Stadium.