Andrew Sendejo, longtime Viking, might be able to help the Eagles prepare, Mike Groh suggests

Eagles safety Andrew Sendejo played for Minnesota from 2011 through 2018, including, yes, every Eagles fan’s favorite Sendejo moment, when LeGarrette Blount dragged him into the end zone on an 11-yard touchdown run during the Eagles’ 38-7 banishment of the Vikings in the NFC championship game.

This week Sendejo faces his old team, when the Eagles travel to U.S. Bank Stadium, site of their Super Bowl LII triumph. Player-facing-former-team stuff happens a lot in the NFL, and there is always discussion of what the player can tell his new coaches and teammates about what they can expect. Usually, this gets downplayed. On Tuesday, Eagles offensive coordinator Mike Groh seemed to lean the other way, at least a little, Groh maybe wanting to plant a little something for Vikings coach Mike Zimmer to worry about.

Asked if he’ll use Sendejo as a resource, Groh said: “No, we wouldn’t ask him anything,” and grinned broadly.

Seriously, dude, we have stories to write here.

“He was there a long time. He knows the calls,” Groh said. “He’s in our system now defensively, so it’s not as fresh to him, but there are some things here and there that he might remember.”

Cornerback Craig James made his first NFL start Sunday against the Jets and played 57 of 59 snaps. It was hard to tell exactly how well he played, given the Jets’ ineptitude, but Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz said he made strides.

“Had a tough start. Missed a tackle against Le’Veon Bell, which -- I don’t know, I mean, Le’Veon Bell is a tough matchup out there -- but missed a tackle, got a [defensive holding penalty], and you could tell that they were going to try to test him as much as they could, but he settled down after that,” Schwartz said.

"I think we talked in here a lot about that with corners, how you’re always on display and you can’t let a couple bad plays affect you. Well, he lived that on Sunday. He didn’t let a couple bad plays shake his confidence. He was there the rest of the time.

“I think he had a really nice coverage on [Jets wide receiver Jamison] Crowder. Limiting Crowder’s touches in this game was big for us. ... Tackled well in the run game. All things you want to see from a young player. I thought that was a big step from him.”

When the Eagles practice Wednesday, we might get a better idea of whether Doug Pederson’s optimism about Sidney Jones (hamstring) being able to really play this week is warranted. Jones was active but didn’t play against the Jets. No other corner help seems forthcoming; Avonte Maddox was still wearing a neck brace Tuesday.