Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz: It’s too early to panic about injuries

Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz isn’t about to panic. There are many key defensive players who either haven’t taken part in team drills yet while recovering from injury, or have been injured in training camp, but Schwartz says this is not the time to worry.

Sunday night was the Eagles’ ninth training camp practice and a much different one from the previous eight that were held at the NovaCare Complex.

The team performed in its one open practice at Lincoln Financial Field in front of an enthusiastic crowd.

Schwartz’s entire theme during his pre-practice media availability was that it’s so early to make any type of critical judgments on his defense.

The first preseason game is Thursday at the Linc against the Tennessee Titans. The regular-season opener is Sept. 8 against the visiting Washington Redskins.

Several key defensive players who are coming off injury have yet to take part in team drills. Cornerback Jalen Mills is on the on the active/physically unable to perform list as he recovers from a foot injury, and four-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Fletcher Cox (foot), defensive end Derek Barnett (shoulder) linebacker Nigel Bradham (toe), and cornerback Ronald Darby (knee) have yet to join in.

And that doesn’t include linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill, who suffered a knee sprain in Saturday’s practice and is expected to miss multiple weeks, according to the team. It also doesn’t include cornerback Cre’Von LeBlanc, who suffered a foot sprain on the first day of camp and is “multiple weeks” away from returning, say the Eagles.

In light of this, Schwartz was asked when he will start to worry about whether injuries to the defensive players will affect their status for the start of the season.

“I don’t know,” Schwartz said. “I will let you know when it comes; it is not now.”

He then further explained his thinking.

“We're taking a patient approach. Just about all those guys are veteran players that have really proved their worth in the NFL. Just a matter of getting those guys healthy and enough reps that they knock the rust off. They're not new to the system. They're not new to the NFL. They're all coming from a position of experience.”

In that light, Schwartz says it is too early to make any true evaluation of his unit. While many have rightly suggested the meaningless nature of preseason games, Schwartz says, as a coordinator, the games actually serve an important purpose for evaluation.

He used the cornerback position as an example. When asked how the corners were doing in camp, he said he will know more after an actual preseason game.

“When you go live and the pass rush is real, that is when you can see what your corners can do,” he said.

Schwartz explained that in seven-on-seven drills, corners might not look great, but he said the quarterback might have way more time to throw than in actual game conditions.

“The games are when you can really see it,” Schwartz said.

Of course, practice is obviously more important for some players than others. One of them is bruising 6-foot-1, 210-pound safety Johnathan Cyprien, who joined the team on Friday. Cyprien, 29, has 70 career NFL starts but missed last season with an ACL tear.

“We are going to plug him in a lot of different places,” Schwartz said. “We expect a lot from our safeties and need multi-dimensional players and think he is.”

So the evaluations will continue, but for Schwartz, who is now in his fourth year as the Eagles’ defensive coordinator, having a healthy team leading into the opener against the Redskins is the top priority.

During Sunday’s practice defensive end Joe Ostman was carted off practice after suffering an injury in a special teams drill.

So while Schwartz wants his team to get its work in, he also is hoping that the Eagles can get through training camp healthy. Then the true evaluations can take place.