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Jason Babin arrived at Lehigh today for Eagles training camp and while he technically can not practice until August 4th, he can speak to the media... so he did! He says that working under Juan Castillo will be a smooth transition because the two already had a good relationship.
"I actually had a really good relationship with Juan when I was here in 2009. I would stay after practice and help out with the O-linemen. I knew my situation was pretty limited come Sunday, so I didn't mind putting the extra work in after practice. Consequently, we developed a good relationship."
And just like we've been speculating all offseason, the presence of Michael Vick influenced his decision to come to Philadelphia. I have no doubt that he is not the only new Eagle to think that way.
"When I knew I was going to enter free agency and be sought after, there were some decisions that my wife and I, with my agent, we sat down and decided what was important to me. Obviously one was to keep playing the way I played last year because if it's not broke, don't fix it. Obviously with [DL coach Jim Washburn] Wash, that was a big incentive. Two, I wanted to go on a team that was not only winning, but had a high-powered offense. From a selfish and D-lineman point of view, if your guys are scoring points and you have [QB Michael] Vick and all the other weapons in the backfield and the wide receivers, you're going to have to score a lot of points. The other team is going to have to throw the ball a lot to catch up, but guess what? We can rush the passer all day and be just like [Colts DEs] [Dwight] Freeney and [Robert] Mathis. That was another big incentive for me."
He also talked about what playing under Jim Washburn is like.
"The thing that I'd like to stress about him the most is that everyone sees he's rough, young, in your face. Honestly, the thing I like the most is he doesn't have a filter. You guys are out there and you see how it is. Sometimes the truth hurts, but it's truth. At the same time, you do what you're supposed to. You bust your butt, go as hard as you can to the best of your ability and make plays, he's going to hug you up like you're his lost son. You get both aspects and a lot of time you don't see that about him."
Finally, what are his thoughts on the kind of talent that the Eagles brought into the secondary?
"Monumental. I don't know if I've ever seen anything like it. I think it's great from a d-line point of view. That's kind of how I look at everything. Those guys in the backfield, we should have all day to rush the quarterback."
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