Eagles’ Reed Blankenship picks off Aaron Rodgers, making the improbable play that his father foretold

Reed Blankenship was sitting up against his hotel room’s bed frame on Saturday evening when the Eagles undrafted rookie’s phone rang. On the other line was his father, Troy.

The Blankenship father-son duo often share meaningful exchanges the night before gamedays. According to Blankenship, the topic of their conversations typically centers around some type of motivational message from his father.

On this particular evening, Troy offered a lofty prediction for Blankenship.

“Hey son,” his father said. “You’re going to pick off Aaron Rodgers.”

Blankenship, 23, didn’t know exactly how to respond. He initially told his father the odds of him accomplishing such a feat were “slim to none.”

Throughout his rookie season, Blankenship had been relegated to mainly a special teams role. Last week at Indianapolis, Blankenship finally made his debut on defense, appearing in an extremely limited spot as the team’s extra safety in dime packages.

“My parents know the deal,” Blankenship said. “I’ve been on special teams all season. I’m just the little guy on the team.”

That same little guy wound up being a major contributor during the Eagles’ 40-33 victory over the Packers on Sunday night at Lincoln Financial Field.

With less than four minutes remaining in the first quarter, starting safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson crumpled to the field after he attempted to deliver a hit on the ballcarrier. Gardner-Johnson, the NFL’s interception leader, required several minutes before he gingerly retreated to the home sideline. He then was immediately carted off the field; Gardner-Johnson was diagnosed with a rib injury and he didn’t return to the game.

Insert Blankenship, the hard-hitting safety from small-town Athens, Ala.

On the Packers’ ensuing drive, Blankenship was deployed as the team’s deep safety in place of Gardner-Johnson. With the Packers facing second-and-4 from the Eagles’ 28-yard line, Blankenship stepped up from his spot in the deep, middle part of the field and jumped in front of intended receiver Tyler Davis. From Rodgers’ perspective inside the pocket, it might’ve appeared like he had an open window to Davis. However, Blankenship kept his eyes on the reigning league MVP the entire way, and he hauled in his first career interception off the future Hall of Famer.

Blankenship admitted he owes Troy an apology for second-guessing his father’s bold prediction.

“It was an emotional rollercoaster,” Blankenship said. “I can’t wait to keep going. It’s one of those things that’s rare to happen. You always have a chip on the shoulder. My job’s not done. This is just the beginning.”

The extent of Gardner-Johnson’s injury likely won’t be known until later in the week, when the Eagles release their first injury report leading into next Sunday’s game versus the Titans. If Gardner-Johnson requires additional time out, it’s clear Blankenship is the next man up. The 23-year-old safety has surpassed former fourth-round draft pick K’Von Wallace and veteran Andre Chachere on the depth chart.

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Blankenship was a five-year starter at Middle Tennessee State, where he finished with a whopping 419 tackles. Throughout the summer, he emerged as a training camp darling for his outings that featured a handful of bone-crushing and technically-sound hits. During the preseason finale, Blankenship lifted Dolphins running back Salvon Ahmed off the grass before driving him back into the ground. Blankenship was one of four undrafted rookies to make the team’s initial 53-man roster.

“It’s a credit to how he approaches the game,” fellow safety Marcus Epps said. “There can be challenges coming into a game in that spot, but Reed is always in the right spot in practice reps. We have all the faith and trust in him. His preparation came to fruition on the field.

“He’s showed that he’s a helluva tackler. He’s a physical player. He plays really hard.”

Blankenship, who also finished with a team-high six tackles, shined for a majority of Sunday’s game, but there were also several teaching moments.

He was penalized for unnecessary roughness after he attempted cleanup duty with Darius Slay on a tackle on wide receiver Christian Watson. Blankenship appeared to lead with his helmet, which caused a nearby official to toss his yellow flag. Immediately after, Blankenship motioned “my bad” to his teammates inside the huddle.

During the fourth quarter, Watson lined up against Epps and he took a slant route 63 yards for a touchdown. Lining Epps up against the speedy Watson might’ve been more of a schematic flaw under coordinator Jonathan Gannon, but Blankenship still took a poor angle at making a potential tackle while he served as the defense’s last man.

“We knew the Packers were going to give us their best shot,” Blankenship said. “I can’t wait to dive into the film. You have to work out the nerves out a little bit. I haven’t played a defensive snap in forever but once I made my first hit, it felt like, I’m back. Back playing the game of football. I just love football. I felt like a kid out there.”

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While he addressed a horde of reporters postgame in front of his locker stall, Blankenship was constantly being hyped up by multiple teammates. Slay interrupted Blankenship’s availability by chanting “Reed! Reed! Reed!” That was followed by a raucous across the room from wide receiver Zach Pascal, who shouted out several expletives while encouraging Blankenship to remind everybody where he’s from.

Unfortunately for Blankenship, neither Troy, nor his mother, Sandra, were able to attend the Week 12 contest in Philadelphia. Troy was feeling a bit under the weather — and considering Blankenship is playing on an undrafted rookie’s salary with only $55,000 in guaranteed money, he said his parents choose the most logical games to attend that fit within the family’s budget.

Blankenship is hopeful his parents will be able to attend the remaining six regular-season games. But first things first, he owes his father, Troy, another phone call.

“It’s one of those moments I’ll remember forever,” Blankenship said.