Former Giant Walter Thurmond thriving with the Eagles
Eagles safety Walter Thurmond saw his one season in New York cut short by injury, but he feels his time with the Giants will provide some insight when his former team visits Lincoln Financial Field for Monday's NFC East grudge match between these long-time rivals.
Eagles safety Walter Thurmond saw his one season in New York cut short by injury, but he feels his time with the Giants will provide some insight when his former team visits Lincoln Financial Field for Monday's NFC East grudge match between these long-time rivals.
Thurmond was lost last year in Week 2 with a torn pectoral. He then signed with the Eagles in the offseason, originally with designs of playing cornerback, but has made a smooth transition to safety.
Thurmond's intelligence with the way he has picked up the safety position and played it at a high level, has been one of the defensive bright spots for the 2-3 Eagles. Now in his sixth season, the 28-year-old Thurmond is tied for third in the NFL with three interceptions and is third on the Eagles in tackles for loss with five.
Thurmond says he will draw on his brief time with the Giants and seeing quarterback El Manning operate on a daily basis when he takes the field on Monday night.
"It does help," he said about his stay last year in New York. "Just being able to know what the offense likes to do, how Eli likes to play, I would see him every day in practice."
So he has picked up some of the tendencies of Manning, who this year has thrown 10 touchdown passes and just two interceptions for the 3-2 Giants.
"I am used to his ability to look off a safety, and stuff like," Thurmond said of Manning.
Giants coach Tom Coughlin says that he wished he had more time with Thurmond.
"We missed and lost a very good football player who would have been beneficial for us to have in the secondary," Coughlin said earlier in the week on a conference call. "What I see this year, the conversion to safety, he is all over the place, he is down low, up high, making interceptions in games and playing really well."
Thurmond played his first four seasons in Seattle and was a member of the 2013 Seahawks who won the Super Bowl. He started as a nickel corner in the Seahawks 43-8 pasting of the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII.
What Thurmond has done most is bring stability to the safety position. Paired with veteran Malcolm Jenkins, safety is now considered a true strength for the Eagles. It hadn't been that way in recent seasons. Thurmond became the 14th different safety to start for the Eagles since Brian Dawkins was not retained in 2009.
His play hasn't surprised Chip Kelly, who coached Thurman during his first season as head coach at Oregon in 2009. Kelly says that his offense at Oregon often struggled in practice due to Thurmond's presence in the secondary.
"He was our best defensive player, always around the ball," Kelly said. "What I saw when I coached Walt in 2009 is kind of what we are seeing now and that's the type of football player he is."
Like Thurmond, Jenkins is a converted cornerback and former Super Bowl champion with the New Orleans Saints. Jenkins, who is thriving in his second season with the Eagles, says he and Thurmond bring out the best in each other.
"We compete against each other every day to see who pretty much makes the most plays and we are motivated off each other's style of play," Jenkins said.
Thurmond says the conversion to safety hasn't been difficult for one simple reason.
"I am a football player," he said. "It is one of those things, having a high IQ and paying attention to details as far as my craft is concerned."
Among everything else, his intelligence has stood out to the coaching staff.
"He can roam a little bit and pick what route the quarterback is looking at and what looks like is coming," defensive coordinator Bill Davis said. "That combination has had Walt playing at a pretty high level."
Notes. Eagles running back Ryan Mathews, who is averaging 5.0 yards per carry, had limited participation in Friday's practice due to a groin injury. . . . Wide receiver Nelson Agholor (ankle), linebacker Mychal Kendricks (hamstring), linebacker Kiko Alonso (knee) and defensive end Brandon Bair (groin) did not practice. . . . Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. didn't practice again due to a hamstring injury. Beckham, who has 31 receptions for 426 yards and three touchdowns, is expected to be a game-time decision. . . . Fellow receiver Rueben Randle, who is also hampered by a hamstring injury, was a limited participant in practice for the second day. . . . Eagles receiver Josh Huff, who scored his first NFL receiving touchdown in last week's 39-17 win over New Orleans and punctuated it with a front flip into the end zone, said "There will be no somersaults this week." Then kidding, he added, "Maybe a back flip."
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