Jihaad Campbell's unique perspective after not playing on defense vs. the Bears

Jihaad Campbell's unique perspective after not playing on defense vs. the Bears originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

We've seen a lot of players get benched for playing poorly.

Jihaad Campbell got benched for playing well.

Campbell was playing as well as any rookie linebacker in the NFL through the Eagles' first 11 games, and Pro Football Focus even has him ranked 10^thoverall out of 86 linebackers who played at least 200 snaps. He's 33^rdin run defense, seventh in tackling and fifth in coverage.

Wow.

The problem? Nakobe.

Campbell averaged 63 snaps per game through the Vikings game, or 93 percent of all Eagles defensive snaps.

Once Dean returned after his long knee rehab, Campbell's snaps began plunging. Down to a career-low 20 against the Lions, then 11 vs. the Cowboys, then a big fat zero in the loss to the Bears.

Vic Fangio just doesn't want to take Dean off the field. And Zack Baun sure isn't leaving the field.

So for now, Campbell is the odd man out.

On Friday, he became the first healthy Eagles rookie 1^st-round pick to play no snaps since Andre Dillard in 2019, the first on defense since Marcus Smith in 2014.

But this wasn't a reflection of Campbell's play. It was a reflection of Dean's.

If you're expecting Campbell to whine and cry about his playing time dwindling and at least for one week disappearing, don't be.

That's not how he's wired.

It ain't really about me," he said at his locker Friday. This is not no basketball team, where I'm looking to score 40 points, and then if I don't score the next 40 points, I'm going to be pissed off. It's not that.

It's all about wanting joy for yourself, of course, and wanting joy for everybody else that's around you. I love watching our guys play. I love watching myself play on tape. That's the best part about it. At the end of the day, it all equals up to having that winning mentality. So that's what we are here for."

Campbell had 53 tackles, an interception, two pass knockdowns, a tackle for loss and a quarterback hit in his first 11 games. With his snaps down drastically, we haven't seen the splash plays in recent games.

For a while, Fangio was able to get Campbell some snaps on the edge, but with the additions of Jaelan Phillips and Brandon Graham and the return of Nolan Smith after a five-game layoff, those have dried up too.

It's more about the team," the Gloucester Township, Camden County, native said. I think I've always been that way. I've always been a team player guy.

At the end of the day, everybody wants something for their individual self. But I think I'm all about one. I'm all about how can we all become the best version of ourselves? How can we all help each other to get better individually? And that's just the goal. That's the goal of this team. To continue climbing the mountain."

Campbell's only snaps Friday were on special teams. He played only four special teams snaps during Dean's layoff but has played 18 the last four games.

Not surprisingly, he's embraced that role, which he hadn't played since sophomore year at Alabama.

It's fun," he said. I feel like people don't really value special teams, but you see all these people out here, they work hard. All the special teams guys, we all work hard to be on teams. We value that as another third thing that matters in the game. Of course, offense and defense matter, but then special teams change the games, too."

The Eagles played 85 defensive snaps Friday, the most they've played in a non-overtime game since 2016.

Probably should have gotten him in there for a few," Fangio said. That'd be my fault there."

But even if Campbell does get into the last five regular-season games, his role will remain diminished as long as Baun and Dean are healthy.

It can't be easy, but he's handling it as well as anybody could.

I feel like everybody got opportunities and the door opens for them," he said. And I think the biggest thing is just having to be ready. I mean, that's what I would say about myself.

Like, I'm not really worried about that. I'm worried about how can I get better in individual periods? How can I get better in team pairs? How can I get better by my coach coaching me or by other players helping me out and just learning and growing.

It's all about whenever the opportunity presents itself, you know that you're prepared enough to the point where you're going to play up to that standard and the expectations."