Andrew Sendejo eager to meet Philly fans as an Eagle, after experiencing them as a Viking

Andrew Sendejo thinks it will be nice to “have the fans cheering for me, as opposed to screaming obscenities at me,” when he debuts as an Eagles safety at Lincoln Financial Field this season.

Sendejo, who spoke to reporters on a conference call Thursday, does not have warm Philadelphia memories. There was that 38-7 Vikings loss in the NFC championship game, after the 2017 season, in which Sendejo was memorably blasted when he got between a much larger LeGarrette Blount and the end zone. Then last season, the Vikings came here and won, but Sendejo suffered a groin injury that ended his season, and ultimately, his eight-year tenure in Minnesota.

Sendejo, who turns 32 in September, signed a one-year free agent contract this week with the Eagles, presumably to take over the third safety role formerly held by Corey Graham. He could end up doing more, depending on how returning starter Rodney McLeod recovers from ACL surgery.

Sendejo said he hasn’t been told anything about what his role might be, but he feels he adds value as a safety and as a special-teamer. He was undrafted out of Rice in 2010 and bounced around through practice squad stints with the Cowboys and Jets before finding a home with the Vikings.

Sendejo has been known as strictly a box safety in recent years. The Eagles prefer versatility there. Sendejo said he feels there are similarities and differences between the Minnesota defensive scheme and the one Jim Schwartz runs here.

“There’s only so much you can do on defense,” Sendejo said. “Every defense is going to have a little bit of things within the calls that are a little different. It’ll be a good challenge to learn a new system and to learn all the verbiage, and to just get in the swing of things here."