Nolan Smith is back, and a new-look Eagles pass rush has ‘a bunch of hungry guys’

The last time Nolan Smith played against the Green Bay Packers, Eagles coach Nick Sirianni awarded him the game ball.

The Eagles eliminated Green Bay from the wild-card round of the playoffs in January, and Smith had the best game of his young NFL career. He tallied eight tackles and had his first multisack outing as a pro. He made an impact on the Packers’ first offensive play of the game, too, with a play that didn’t show up in the box score.

Smith stood strong against pulling left guard Elgton Jenkins to help stop a run play at the line of scrimmage and knocked Jenkins from the game. Smith’s hit set the tone for a physical day to come.

The Eagles have missed Smith’s presence for the last five games. The physical edge rusher’s third season was briefly halted after he suffered a triceps injury in a Week 3 win over the Los Angeles Rams. The injury was an aggravation of a triceps tear Smith suffered in February’s Super Bowl that required surgery.

The latest injury didn’t require surgery, and the Eagles this week opened Smith’s 21-day practice window. He is slated to come off injured reserve and play Monday night in Green Bay for the first time since Sept. 21.

Smith said he spent the past five weeks watching film and diving deeper into his playbook. But this week is a lot different.

“It feels good,” Smith said. “I’m happy to be back at practice, happy to be back at work with my guys.”

Smith returned to practice with a new-look pass rushing corps. He’s back at the top of the depth chart but with a new running mate in Jaelan Phillips, a trade-deadline acquisition from Miami. There are faces Smith saw before he got hurt — Jalyx Hunt and Joshua Uche — and another new but familiar addition, too, in Brandon Graham.

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“I think we added great additions to the room,” Smith said. “We got OG back, and then we got JP. It’s been good, man, and we’re a bunch of hungry guys ready to go work and go eat.”

It’s a unit that looks a lot deeper and more talented than it did just three weeks ago, and a big reason the Eagles should be in position to make another postseason run. Arguably their biggest question mark has turned into, at least on paper, a position of strength. But Smith playing like the Smith from the second half of last season will be a big part of that. He racked up four sacks during the postseason run, which added on to 6½ regular-season sacks.

Before the injury this season, Smith did not have a sack but registered eight pressures and six run stops during the first three games.

It remains to be seen what kind of workload Smith, and even Phillips, will have right away. Vic Fangio doesn’t typically run a very deep pass rushing rotation, but the Eagles are likely to have five players available Monday: Smith, Phillips, Hunt, Uche, and Graham. That’s without mentioning the handful of snaps rookie linebacker Jihaad Campbell will take from the edge.

“We don’t see it as 1s and 2s,” Smith said. “We see it as a Group Alpha and a Group Delta. We’re all going in like [Navy] Seals, and we’re all going in to do a job.”

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Green Bay has been among the league’s best in protecting the quarterback. The Packers have surrendered just 11 sacks this season. Only Seattle, with nine, has fewer sacks allowed. But Jordan Love has been pressured. While the Packers are tied for second in fewest sacks allowed, they are 12th in quarterback pressure rate allowed (31.6%). The key will be for the Eagles to turn those pressure opportunities into negative plays — especially on third down, where Green Bay’s conversion rate of 49% is second in the league.

“Their offensive line is amazing,” Smith said. “They’ve been working good together. They run the ball well, and we got to stop the run. Simple things and win the line of scrimmage up front. But they’re good up front, too.”

Jenkins, the left guard last season, now plays center. Chances are he’ll notice what side Smith is on if and when he’s asked to pull.

“I was a small kid all my life,” Smith said. I take that play kind of [personally]. They go in that week and circle you, and they try to find a fish up front. That’s all, really, what it was about.”

Eagles center Cam Jurgens remained sidelined at practice Friday with a knee injury. Cornerback Adoree’ Jackson, who was limited Thursday because of a concussion, missed practice Friday because of a personal matter.

Moro Ojomo (concussion) was upgraded to a full participant after being limited Thursday.