Landon Dickerson and Cam Jurgens went into Super Bowl LIX needing surgery. Dickerson for a knee. Jurgens for a back. The two Eagles offensive linemen played despite the injuries. They toughed it out.
Then there’s Nolan Smith. The Eagles' edge rusher entered the Super Bowl as healthy as a player can be after already playing 19 games – 16 in the regular season and three more in the playoffs.
In the second quarter, he tore his left triceps, basically rendering him a one-arm player against Patrick Mahomes and his cache of weapons.
“My mom always told me, adversity builds you,” said Smith. “It builds your character. You ask God to build your character. He's gonna give you adversity in your life so you can be that person.”
Even with one arm, Smith still did his part to overwhelm the Kansas City Chiefs with the rest of his teammates, making life miserable for Mahomes.
When Milton Williams forced a fumble from the KC quarterback late in the Eagles’ blowout win, Smith watched helplessly as the ball bounced tantalizingly around him.
“I couldn't even reach between my leg to grab that football,” said Smith. “I had to kick it back to Milt...That put a smile on my face to be an unselfish person...We all in this together.”
Talk about tough. He had surgery after the Super Bowl and was doing drills during OTAs with a brace on his left arm. It will be just more than six months after surgery when training camp opens.
Brandon Graham suffered a torn triceps in late November. He came back for the Super Bowl after just over two months of rehab and tore it again. So, the Eagles will be cautious with Smith, especially since there are plenty of question marks surrounding the depth on the edge.
“The rehab's great,” said Smith. “I'm in a great spot and still using my arms. Still pressing. Hopefully I'll be striking next week. Everything falling in line. You know, everything happened for a reason. If I wasn't in the Super Bowl, I wouldn't have torn my triceps. I take that as a blessing.”
A torn triceps for a Super Bowl ring? Yeah, that’s a good tradeoff.
“Everyone is excited for the rings and all of that; I've been turning the page, especially after the parade,” said Smith. “I got back to doing what I was doing because I know I had to rehab and gotta be stronger. I said last year, 'I gotta be bulletproof,' and that's what I'm going through every year. Build my armor going into this year.”
