Jihaad Campbell made it far enough along in his injury rehab to be ready to practice from Day 1 of training camp.
He did it with a starting linebacker job there for the taking, too.
For now, though, the first-round rookie said he'll just take being able to run around on the field again.
But the Eagles? They'll certainly welcome a linebacker situation that just gained a highly skilled and promising option ahead of Week 1.
"I'm just blessed that I'm healthy right now," Campbell told the local media at the NovaCare Complex on Saturday. "I'm really happy to be out here on the field and flying around with our defense, being around the offensive guys, just learning and soaking in a lot of knowledge, as much as I can, so I can apply it every time I get in the field."
The Eagles selected Campbell 31st overall out of Alabama in the NFL Draft back in April, after he slid down the board and they traded up a spot to make sure they could get him.
Health was the general concern surrounding the 21-year-old, as he was looking at a long road back from surgery to repair a torn labrum at the time, but that didn't seem to worry the Eagles.
Vic Fangio's defensive scheme puts a huge emphasis on smart, athletic linebackers who can move laterally. Campbell's tape at Alabama fit that bill, and to the point where the Eagles were even prepared to wait a bit for him to get fully healthy, so that they could have that kind of player for their defensive coordinator to develop.
"We've seen what [Vic] can do with guys with this kind of skill set," general manager Howie Roseman said of Campbell back during the draft. "You just look around the league, the teams that we have to get through to get where we want to go, they have fast, explosive quarterbacks and players in their backfield that we've got to bring down at all levels of our defense.
"We need a tremendous amount of front-seven players to contain those guys, and so it's always been a priority for us. This doesn't deviate from what we believe. We believe in affecting the passing game on offense and defense, and this guy can affect the passing game on defense."
Maybe right from the start now.
Jihaad Campbell is a style of linebacker that fits well within Vic Fangio's defensive scheme.
Zack Baun already has one starting linebacker spot occupied, but next to him on the depth chart ahead of camp was a hole that had no clear answer.
Nakobe Dean was put on the PUP list (Physically Unable to Perform) at camp's start earlier in the week and is expected to be out for quite a while still as he rehabs back from a torn patellar tendon in his knee.
Jeremiah Trotter Jr. figured to be next in line as a 2024 fifth-rounder backed by promise and consistent special teams contributions, but largely because the competition elsewhere looked so thin – 2025 fifth-rounder Smael Mondon is a raw talent, and Ben VanSumeren has been settling in more as a fullback on the other side of the ball.
