A slimmer Jordan Davis is working to be in his ‘best shape.’ Can he fill a bigger role for the Eagles?

Jordan Davis has swapped out his AriZona tea for a low-calorie mango juice.

The Eagles’ defensive tackle has an affinity for the sugary ice teas — “I’m from the South,” he said Thursday — but has been working this offseason to improve his physical condition in preparation for the increased role he’s expected to fill on the team’s defensive front next season.

The 2022 first-round pick said he has taken up hiking on off days to increase his activity level, worked on his diet, and swapped out the 32-ounce tea cans for water and, when he’s got the craving, an organic juice he found at Whole Foods.

“If I have to get that fix for juice, there’s this spot at Whole Foods, they got like a little mango juice that’s 90 calories,” Davis said Thursday. “The whole bottle, it’s like a liter bottle, the whole bottle is probably like 120 calories.”

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The result is Davis reporting for the Eagles’ organized team activities this month noticeably slimmer. The former Georgia standout may be officially listed at 336 pounds on the Eagles’ website, but he played heavier than that in his first two seasons. Davis, who weighed in at 341 pounds at the NFL Scouting Combine in 2022, said he spent last season north of the 350-pound mark and has slimmed down this spring.

Davis also said he’s carrying his weight differently than he did last year, when he made strides from a rookie season in which he struggled with conditioning and played only 26% of the Eagles’ defensive snaps.

“Obviously it looks a lot better than how it did last year,” Davis said. “And I feel a lot better than I did last year. We’re just continuing on, we have a plan here, and we’ll just keep on working.

“But in terms of being in the best shape, I’m getting into the best condition of my life.”

Eagles edge rusher Nolan Smith, who worked alongside Davis at Georgia from 2019-21, said he has noticed Davis going through conditioning drills that require players to navigate a “box” of cones through backpedaling, shuffling, or sprinting with more ease than before.

“If you can’t tell, that boy look good,” Smith said. “He’s looking slim, he’s running around, he’s doing box drills like it’s nothing. Box drills, really, I told him it’s like a linebacker drill. … I couldn’t be more proud of him, because it’s not an easy drill.”

It’s not uncommon for players to echo the “best condition of my life” sentiment during OTAs, but Davis’ progress will be important to watch throughout the summer. New defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s scheme typically features a nose tackle capable of plugging multiple gaps to help compensate for a light box, a job Davis should be well-suited for if he can stay on the field.

Even dating back to his college career, Davis’ conditioning was a focal point for him as he was primarily used on early downs as a run-stuffer on a talented Georgia defense. He had a similar role with the Eagles as a rookie and saw a slight uptick in pass-rushing opportunities and playing time last season, playing 44.6% of the team’s defensive snaps behind Fletcher Cox at 58.9% and fellow Bulldogs product Jalen Carter at 48.5%.

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With Cox now retired and leaving the Eagles with a defensive-tackle group that skews much younger, Davis knows it’s up to him to step into an expanded role in his third season.

“I’ll be able to answer the call,” Davis said. “I know what’s required of me, I know Vic is leaning on me, I know the D-line is leaning on us, so I’ll definitely be able to handle that. That’s what I’m working for. Nobody is coming to save us now, so we have to put the load on our backs.”

That load includes filling the leadership void left behind by Cox, who played 12 seasons with the Eagles before retiring earlier this offseason. No one player in the position room has taken the reins from Cox, but Davis has taken the lead for a group of defensive linemen who stay after practice for extra reps. He and his position mates call themselves “The Breakfast Club.”

The irony of the name for a group of players who stay late, featuring a player trying to slim down, isn’t lost on Davis, but the group’s numbers are apparently growing beyond just him and Carter as practices wear on.

“We stay out there 15 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes after,” Davis said. “We call it the Breakfast Club, but we’re really late. We’re just spending time working on our craft … little details and little nuances. It started out as just two, now it’s like three, four, five [players.] So, in terms of leadership, there’s not really a set leader, but we’re trying to lead by example and pull everybody along. We always have this saying, ‘I can’t climb if my brother’s falling,’ so if everybody else is getting better, we’re getting better.”