Speaking to John Clark at an event to honor Dick Vermeil on Wednesday evening, Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio revealed some unexpected injury news about Jihaad Campbell.
You can watch the full NBC Sports Philadelphia interview for yourself but here’s the relevant exchange as it relates to Philadelphia’s 2025 first-round pick (hat tip to @DibonaNFL):
CLARK: As far as Nakobe Dean and Jaelan Phillips against the run, how ready is Jihaad Campbell for that spot now in Nakobe’s spot?
FANGIO: Well, he’s got to be ready. And we’ve got to do a good job of getting him ready. You know, he is dealing with a shoulder injury. He’s going to miss probably most of the offseason. So, we’re going to have to cram it into him in training camp and hopefully we have enough work to get that done for him.
Yikes.
With the Eagles unsurprisingly losing Dean in free agency, Campbell is slated to take his place in the starting lineup moving forward. It would be ideal for Campbell, who just turned 22 years old last month, to have a full offseason to help prepare him to be a full-time starter. But apparently that won’t be the case.
Now, it should be noted that Fangio has been wrong about Campbell’s recovery timeline before. Speaking during an early June 2025 press conference, the Eagles’ defensive coordinator said Campbell wouldn’t participate in training camp “until sometime in August.” But Campbell basically turned out to be ready from the team’s first practice on July 23.
But that situation doesn’t necessarily mean Fangio is also wrong here. And if we’re parsing his answer, which we are, I wonder if by “most of the offseason” he means the Eagles’ voluntary spring offseason workout program. It wouldn’t be ideal for Campbell to miss that time. But it would at least be good to see him ready by the time starting camp starts in late July, which might be possible. We’ll see.
The exact nature of Campbell’s shoulder injury currently isn’t clear. He was only listed with a shoulder injury when he had a “shoulder/back” injury description leading up to Week 18. He was limited for a Wednesday practice before fully practicing on Thursday and Friday that week. With the Eagles resting starters, Campbell played most of the game in the regular season finale. He was not listed on the injury report ahead of the team’s Wild Card game.
Of course, Campbell has a history of shoulder injuries that likely contributed to him falling further than originally expected in the 2025 NFL Draft.
This Campbell news could help to explain why the Eagles were recently checking in on Patrick Queen’s price tag:
Previously, that report made no real sense. And it’s still quite possible it doesn’t happen. But now it’s at least a little understandable where Philly’s interest was coming from.
Assuming the Eagles don’t acquire Queen or another starting-caliber linebacker, Jeremiah Trotter Jr. stands to benefit from the time that Campbell misses this offseason. Trot Jr. saw a lot of first-team off-ball linebacker reps last year before he ultimately lost the job to Campbell. He didn’t play poorly, however. Just the opposite, really; he’s looked good whenever he’s had the chance to shine … albeit in small sample sizes.
The Eagles will hope that the missed time doesn’t stunt Campbell’s development. Sometimes young players really make a big jump from Year 1 to Year 2 after having the benefit of a full offseason in an NFL team’s workout program. Campbell played a bunch as a rookie but not quite as much as he could’ve since he lost playing time to a superior player in Dean.
Not the end of the world that he could be behind the eight ball entering his sophomore season but it’s not ideal, either.