New Eagle Orlando Scandrick would rather be known as DeSean Jackson’s pal, not ‘that Cowboys guy’
Scandrick doesn't seem to remember much from a decade of playing against the Eagles for Dallas, but he remembers his childhood friend.
The Accuweather RealFeel heat index stood at 104 degrees as a dozen or so reporters surrounded Orlando Scandrick, at the end of Scandrick’s first Eagles practice Monday.
Here was a guy who’d spent 10 years in the Dallas Cowboys organization, and now he was walking off the NovaCare field carrying a midnight green helmet with silver wings. The only other player to have logged that much time wearing the hated blue star was offensive lineman Rayfield Wright. He was around during the 1980 offseason, but retired before the season began.
So many questions! How strange did this feel? What were Scandrick’s best memories from Eagles-Cowboys games? What were his worst memories? How many Eagles quarterbacks might he recall, from a Dallas run that began when Scandrick was a fifth-round rookie corner in 2008 and continued through 2017? How about a list of top 10 items thrown at the Dallas bus over the years as it pulled into Lincoln Financial Field?
“I don’t remember,” Scandrick said to the thrown-items question.
Switching sides from Dallas to Philly was “the furtherest thing from my mind. I’m just happy to be here,” Scandrick said, as around him, hopes for a really snappy, different training camp story angle wilted faster than starched shirtsleeves in the soupy haze. “I’m just looking forward to the future and competing and doing whatever it takes to make and contribute to the team.”
Reporters should have known Scandrick, 32, would see the rivalry questions coming. Last year, after leaving the Cowboys, he signed with the Redskins, who might be an even bigger traditional NFC East rival of Dallas'. Washington released him before the season, and he ended up playing for Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs. Scandrick compiled a decent 69.8 coverage grade last year from Pro Football Focus, but the Chiefs moved on.
There is another decent Scandrick story angle, though. He is a close friend of Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson, a friendship that has endured through more than a decade of NFL duels, including a much-viewed video clip of Scandrick pantomiming how he had Jackson’s number, after knocking away a third-down pass in a 2014 game, when Jackson played for Washington.
“Great friends since childhood,” said Scandrick, who played for Los Alamitos High, a rival of Jackson’s Long Beach Poly. “When this was coming down, we kinda talked about it and I kinda stressed that I would like to play with him. We’ve never gotten a chance to play together and we’ve known each other since we were 7-8 years old. I’m really looking forward to that.”
In youth football, Jackson “was just a little bit smaller, but he was the same competitor, extremely fast, extremely talented,” Scandrick recalled.
They’ve faced off “so many times. I don’t know, they kind of run together,” Scandrick said. He said he always wanted to win the matchup, while pulling for Jackson in games against other teams. “Now, full time I can cheer for his success, when I’m not competing with him on the practice field."
Jackson said he, too, remembers those early encounters.
“The majority of the times, my teams always beat his teams,” Jackson said. “Aside from a couple times we met in Dallas, they got us a couple of times … He kind of knows what I know and I know what he does, so it’s good to have him on my side.”
How does someone so closely identified with Dallas win over Philly fans?
“Do everything you can to change that perception of you being a Cowboy,” Jackson said. “Just put the hard work in. I think the city of Philadelphia loves when the guys on the teams are putting hard work in, on the field and off the field. As long as he does that, he’ll be fine.”
When Scandrick was invited in to work out, after Eagles corner Cre’Von LeBlanc suffered a foot sprain on the first day of camp, Scandrick called Jackson to see if Jackson thought the trip would be worthwhile. Jackson said he told Scandrick: “It’ll be a good opportunity for you to come play on this defense. I feel like our defense flies around.”
It’s unclear how Scandrick fits in here. The Eagles entered camp with at least six corners the coaches really like, but Ronald Darby (knee) hasn’t been a full practice participant yet and Jalen Mills (foot) might or might not be practicing by the start of the season. Then there is LeBlanc, who is “week-to-week,” Eagles coach Doug Pederson said Monday.
Scandrick worked in the slot Monday and did not look lost. He hasn’t played in Jim Schwartz’s defense, but after 11 NFL seasons, he isn’t going to encounter anything here he has never seen before.
“There’s only so many coverages in football. Football is football,” Scandrick said.
Tight end Zach Ertz, who has tangled with Scandrick a few times over the years, pointed out a big reason why Scandrick might be of value -- he has played in 140 NFL games and started 76. Darby is the most experienced returning Eagles corner, with 46 games and 45 starts.
“You play ‘em twice a year. You develop a little bit of a relationship with those guys … It’s more of a hate relationship than a love relationship,” Ertz said. “He’s been a successful player in the league, he’s got experience at being a successful corner. The thing about that room is, we’ve got a lot of young guys. Just having a guy at the cornerback position, in particular, who has played a lot of football, I feel like he can really help those guys. And I think he’s coming in with the right mind-set, taking more of a leadership role.”
Defensive end Brandon Graham, an Eagle since he was drafted in the first round in 2010, noted that he has “been playing against Scandrick a long time, been talking a lot of stuff to him for a long time.”
But none of that matters in 2019.
“If he can help us win, I mean, come on,” Graham said. “Bring him in.”