/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/59746307/usa_today_10541626.0.jpg)
It’s the little things that make a Super Bowl champion.
For example: signing the player that recovered a muffed punt in the 2017 divisional round of the NFC playoffs that allowed the Atlanta Falcons to take a 10-6 lead in the second quarter of the closest playoff game the Eagles played. This level of in-game scouting and playing the opposition is unprecedented.
In all seriousness, the Eagles added another depth linebacker earlier today in LaRoy Reynolds (27), a five-year pro who has spent time with Jacksonville, Chicago, and Atlanta. To make room for Reynolds in camp, they cut S Dominick Sanders, a UDFA from Georgia.
Reynolds has started 7 games and appeared in 68 across his career, including 9 for the Falcons last season. Predominately a special teamer, he did recover two fumbles across two playoff games for the Falcons in their 2017 postseason bid, and his mostly likely path to the 53-man roster is outplaying veteran Paul Worrilow, another ex-Falcon who was signed earlier in the offseason from Detroit.
Always potentially moving Mychal Kendricks and worried about Jordan Hicks after two season-ending injuries, the Eagles are now rostering 9 notable linebackers. Hicks and Nigel Bradham are locks, but behind them is a teeming mass of question marks: Mychal Kendricks, Nate Gerry, Joe Walker, Paul Worrilow, Corey Nelson, Kamu Grugier-Hill, and now Reynolds. There will be camp battles abound to determine how many—and which—linebackers Philadelphia keeps going into the season.
Fun fact: LaRoy Reynolds once battle-rapped the Miami Dolphins back when he was a Jaguar. It’s not nearly as cringeworthy as you might think:
— charles mcdonald (a guy at the airport) (@FourVerts) May 15, 2018