The Eagles host the New England Patriots this weekend and the #1 thing on any Eagles defenders' mind is stopping Tom Brady. From their comments today, it seems quite clear how they plan to do that. Pressure him early and often.
"Keep pressuring him and not letting him get comfortable." said DT Cullen Jenkins, "He's a heck of a quarterback, and if you give him enough time, he'll find somebody open. He has a lot of weapons to go to, and we have to try and make him feel as uncomfortable as we can."
Trent Cole says he doesn't remember much about Brady from the last time they met, but he's only got one goal regardless of who is playing QB.
"I can't remember that. He didn't really catch my attention [that day]. We don't play him all the time. I do keep my eye on him though, he's a quarterback and I do like to sack quarterbacks so I will keep my eye on him. I think he's a smart QB and he can throw the ball when he wants to throw the ball to his receivers. He's got some great receivers. If you don't get to him, he can be deadly, so that's the key we need to get to him."
However, MLB Jamar Chaney stressed that while pressuring Brady is important, they can't assume that's going to take him off his game.
"I wouldn't say it changes his game, but that's any quarterback. With most QBs, if you're going to hit them every play, you are going to affect them a little bit. You're not going to let them sit back there and throw the ball, and if you let Brady do that, he'll go out there and throw 500-600 yards. Most great quarterbacks like Peyton [Manning] or Brady, if you hit them, it'll affect their game a little bit but it won't take them completely out of the game."