Eagles’ Vic Fangio provides a key update on rookie Jihaad Campbell, weighs in on the Bryce Huff trade

After a few months away from the podium, Vic Fangio shed plenty of light on the state of the Eagles defense midway through organized team activities on Tuesday.

The veteran defensive coordinator hit on a number of topics during a pre-practice news conference, including the integration of key offseason additions like Jihaad Campbell, departures like that of Bryce Huff and C.J. Gardner-Johnson, and an evolving role for Cooper DeJean.

Here’s what he had to say:

When the Eagles drafted Campbell 31st overall in April, his versatility to play both as an off-ball linebacker and an edge rusher left it unclear exactly how the team planned to use him.

The former Alabama standout is still recovering from a torn labrum in his shoulder that required surgery earlier this year, meaning he has mostly been a spectator for OTAs, but Fangio said he has placed Campbell in the off-ball linebackers’ meeting room and plans to start him out there.

Fangio didn’t rule out Campbell eventually factoring into the team’s edge-rusher rotation, but he said the inside linebacker position is a better one for the 21-year-old to start with because it requires more of an onboarding process.

Fangio also noted that Campbell’s return timeline will likely stretch a few weeks into training camp.

“Right now he’s working at ILB because there’s a lot more to learn there,” Fangio said. “So that’s where we’ll start him, but he won’t hit the practice field until sometime in August.”

“He’s doing all he can in meetings, we’re doing all we can with him on the field,” Fangio added. “I take him to the side and do an individual drill with him that’s suited to what he can do right now. So he’s working good and trying to pick it up.”

When asked if Campbell could eventually make the shift to playing more as an edge rusher, Fangio said, “potentially.” According to Pro Football Focus, Campbell played 112 snaps on the defensive line last year compared to 637 in the box.

What will Fangio need to see from Campbell to give him a hybrid role similar to one he had in college?

“Getting him out there,” Fangio said.

One day after the Eagles finalized a trade that sent Huff to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for a conditional mid-round pick in next year’s draft, Fangio offered his view on why the 27-year-old had such a disappointing year in his defense.

» READ MORE: Eagles finalize trade to send Bryce Huff to 49ers, will receive a 2026 draft pick in return

Huff had just 2½ sacks in 12 games last year, his first and only season with the Eagles after signing a three-year contract worth up to $51.1 million. Assessing how Huff fell out of favor both as a pass rusher and on early downs, Fangio said the wrist injury Huff suffered midway through the year halted any possible progress the edge rusher was starting to make after a sluggish start to the season.

“When he hurt his hand, he tried to play with it a couple weeks, and it wasn’t going good because he was reluctant to use his hand,” Fangio said. “And then when they operated on it, he had to play with a big cast on his hand, which basically rendered his hand useless, and then rendered his arm useless because you can’t use your hand. That really had an effect on him. We just came out of draft season, the first thing you see when they put a guy’s name up on the board is hand size, arm length, well, he lost all that.”

“But I think he’ll do fine in San Francisco,” Fangio added.

Fangio also addressed the team’s decision to trade safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson to the Houston Texans in exchange for offensive lineman Kenyon Green and draft compensation earlier this offseason. The move left the team without a clear replacement at the starting safety spot opposite Reed Blankenship, but Fangio said he was OK with general manager Howie Roseman’s decision to off-load the safety in an effort to gain more financial flexibility.

“That was a salary cap-type thing,” Fangio said. “Howie made that decision, I was fine with it.”

The decision to trade Gardner-Johnson and release veteran cornerback Darius Slay has opened up an expanded role for Cooper DeJean in the Eagles defense.

Fangio said the plan is to keep DeJean in the slot most of the time, but he acknowledged his intention to deploy him either as an outside corner or a safety when the Eagles line up in their base defense without a nickel cornerback on the field. DeJean has lined up as the second outside cornerback opposite Quinyon Mitchell a handful of times during OTAs in such scenarios and notably worked with the safeties during individual drills on Tuesday.

“I think it will depend on how the rest of the guys develop and where we most need him,” Fangio said. “It will be determined by what’s best for him and what’s best for the team. And probably, what’s best for the team will win out in that decision. But he’s capable of playing corner and capable of playing safety.”

DeJean played outside cornerback at times during his college career at Iowa, which should ease his transition to a hybrid role between the two spots. While filling one of the safety spots may be less familiar for the 22-year-old, Fangio said DeJean is well-suited for the role if needed.

“I think he would play very well at safety,” Fangio said. “I think it suits his skill set and the things that he does well. I think he would do very well there.”

It’s also fair to note, as Fangio did, that the Eagles don’t spend very much time in their base defense. By the defensive coordinator’s estimation, the group lined up without an extra defensive back on just 160 snaps in the regular season and postseason combined.

“We played 21 games last year,” Fangio said. “How many base snaps do you think we played? One-hundred sixty.”

Fangio also said he doesn’t expect Nakobe Dean back in the lineup in the near future.

The fourth-year linebacker is recovering from a torn patellar tendon suffered during the playoffs and could be in jeopardy to miss the start of the season as a result. During the team portions of open practices at OTAs, second-year linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. has taken the majority of the first-team reps alongside Zack Baun.

“Until Nakobe comes back, which won’t be any time soon, we’ve got that to deal with,” Fangio said when asked about positions that require projection at this point in the offseason.