Eagles first-round LB Jihaad Campbell sidelined for rookie minicamp

Jihaad Campbell spent most of his first Eagles practice watching from the sideline.

The first-round linebacker was held back with a shoulder injury as the team began the first session of a two-day rookie minicamp on Friday, instead spectating his fellow rookies and the collection of tryout players in attendance.

Wearing No. 30, the former Alabama standout went through stretches with the team without a helmet before going off to the side during the portion of practice open to the media. Campbell suffered a shoulder injury late in the Crimson Tide’s season and required surgery to reportedly repair a “slight tear” in his labrum two months ago. When asked last week about his potential availability for training camp, Campbell was noncommittal about his recovery timeline.

“I‘m just taking that day by day right now,” Campbell said. “Just really in progress with that.”

Medical concerns played a meaningful part in why Campbell slid to the Eagles at end of the first round. The former Timber Creek star dealt with knee injuries earlier in his career but still appeared in 35 games over three seasons for Alabama and earned second-team All-American honors last year.

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Still, Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said last week the team didn’t view any of his past injuries as reason for worry long-term.

“We do not have any long-term concerns with his health,” Roseman said. “We look at the draft as a long-term opportunity for our team. We have a lot of confidence this guy’s going to be here and play at a really high level for a long time.”

The Eagles have had some recent success drafting players who entered the league with an injury history. Over the past five offseasons, that list includes Landon Dickerson, Cooper DeJean, and Nolan Smith, who each missed part of the predraft process because of prolonged recovery timelines. The team also took Nakobe Dean after the projected first-round pick fell into the third round because of health concerns.

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Dickerson and DeJean also missed at least part of their first training camp with injuries before slotting into the starting lineup as rookies during the regular season. When asked about Campbell’s likelihood of being ready for training camp last week, Roseman also wouldn’t offer much outside of the fact the team did extensive work on 21-year-old’s medical at the NFL scouting combine.

“We’ll get all into that when we bring him in here,” Roseman said. “Obviously, our guys had an opportunity to see him at the combine and the rechecks, and we’re very excited about what he’s going to bring to the team from our perspective. All that stuff will be sorted out. But again, we’re looking at this, this wasn’t a need pick. This was, for us, a player we had tremendous passion about, and somebody that when we started the process and continued through the process was very high on our boards.”

Outside of Campbell, none of the Eagles draft picks or undrafted rookies appeared to be held back during the early portion of practice.