PHILADELPHIA — Three games into the NFL season, Brandon Graham doesn’t look like a 36-year-old pass rusher on the field anymore. The gray hairs almost fill his beard and some sit on his chest, Graham’s only sign showing his age.
When Graham lines up on the defensive line, he is one of the best pass rushers on the Eagles. Graham has a 17.5% strikeout rate through three games, the highest rate of his 15-year career. In two of the past three seasons, that pressure rate was over 17%.
The productive start has Graham thinking about whether leaving after Year 15 is actually the right decision.
“I already felt good. It’s just that you start to see the writing on the wall sometimes,” Graham said. “Now I’m back in the mix really. I knew I played well still. But playing in the game, that’s when you really know.”
Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio won’t buy into the “farewell tour” that Graham discussed before the start of the season. Fangio sees a productive player no matter how old Graham is.
“He’s playing well. I don’t see him tired. Just that he’s playing at that age is good,” Fangio said. “It’s rare. So I don’t know why we can’t expect more rare.
“As training camp went on, I started telling him, ‘You’re not on tour, and you’re going to play.’ And he played well.”
Graham has played 51.63% of the snaps this season, trailing only Josh Sweat among Eagles pass rushers (62.5%). Last season, Graham only played 33.99% of the snaps and had a 13.7% pressure. He ended up with only three bags, hence the whole “farewell tour” started.
Many athletes have put off retirement. Why not Graham?
“Let’s get through this one first,” Graham said. “I’ll be a part of whatever they do next year. As a player, who knows. For me, I just want to stay ready any way I can.
“Being in shape, I might come back another year based on how I feel after this year.”
That final season is still on Graham’s mind. He gets pressure on the quarterback, a result of the work he puts in between the goals he wants to accomplish.
“I just knew, for me, that my biggest thing this year is that I want to go out the same way I came in,” Graham said. “Strong and helping the team and whatever that looks like. It’s not a farewell tour. I know I’m going hard in practice and I’m trying to get the guys going.
“I see it. I’ve been there. You have to grind every day, and it’s a continuous grind. You have to believe in the dream and I think I’m starting to rub in a good way. I think they want to play me. a lot more. “
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