How Eagles’ Isaiah Rodgers came back better than ever after 512 days of layoff – NBC Sports Philadelphia

He didn’t have a team. He didn’t have a coach. He had no teammates.

But he could pretend.

So during his 512 days away from football – from the end of the 2022 season with the Colts until the start of OTAs last week with the Eagles – he spent his days away from the game in Tampa doing exactly that. he would do if he was still with a team.

“I just kept my schedule like I was still playing,” Isaiah Rodgers said. “On Sunday I used it as a game day, so I was doing cardio and things like that. I took Tuesday off as if I was still playing. So I kind of stuck to the NFL schedule and just kept working and preparing for those moments.

Rodgers spoke to Philadelphia media Thursday for the first time since signing with the Eagles in August, shortly after being suspended for a year for violating the NFL’s gambling policy and being released by the Colts.

You never want to get caught up in a few spring practices without pads, but it’s pretty shocking how good Rodgers has looked so far. He made plays in both practices, sure, but it was really the lack of rust that was so glaring.

Until these training sessions, he had not been on a football field since December 26, 2022. It is now May 31, 2024.

“I think it’s a state of mind,” he said. “You know, I was imagining, every time I was training, I was imagining the AJ Browns and the DeVonta Smiths in front of me, so I think I kind of locked myself in during my workout and just knowing that when I come back , there will be I will be excellent receivers in front of me.

Whatever he did, it worked.

It’s way too early to start breaking down the depth chart – a depth chart that clearly won’t include James Bradberry – but Rodgers came in and earned first-team reps from the jump and while it’s with Darius Slay sat out in practice Thursday. , it says a lot that he gained the trust of the coaches so quickly after such a long absence.

“Seeing him out there, he doesn’t really lack rhythm,” said Eagles receiver Paris Campbell, Rodgers’ teammate with the Colts from 2020 to 2022. “You can tell he’s stayed in shape. This shows. He’s a skillful, intelligent, instinctive player, he has all the athletic ability in the world and I think he’s a great addition to the team.

It would be easy for Rodgers to be bitter about missing a year — and a year’s pay — for something that isn’t even a crime and didn’t hurt anyone.

But he ignored the apparent hypocrisy of the NFL suspending a player for making bets, when the gaming industry has truly become the backbone of the NFL’s marketing and advertising world.

“Rules are rules, and they exist for a reason,” he said. “So you break them, you suffer the consequences.”

Rodgers, the Colts’ sixth-round pick in 2020, played in 45 games with 10 starts and three interceptions in three seasons in Indy before being released immediately after his suspension was announced.

It was the first time in his life that he didn’t attend football.

What was the hardest thing to deal with?

“I would just say being away from the locker room,” he said. “This feeling of brotherhood and the simple understanding that I made a mistake and that I have served my time. And just being back with a great team and a great culture of guys and finally getting that locker room environment back in my heart, it feels really good.

Rodgers has the personality type to find the positive in every negative, and he did just that while speaking with the media on Thursday.

“It brought me closer to my loved ones,” he said. “It brought me closer to the game. It made me not take this game for granted and just made me understand that the league doesn’t need anyone.

Assuming Bradberry is gone, Rodgers is in the mix with Kelee Ringo, Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean to start opposite Darius Slay.

And Rodgers says he’s a better player now than before, after having to sit out the 2023 season.

“I would say I’m faster,” he said. “I think that’s the only thing I can say. I worked on my speed (during the offseason). I worked on my hands. I think just playing with the ball is something that I’ve definitely played a role in throughout this offseason, just increasing my speed.

Interestingly, Rodgers said the Eagles were the only team to contact him after the Colts released him in late June of last year.

And even though he wasn’t allowed into the NovaCare complex and couldn’t talk to his coaches, knowing he was an Eagle helped. Even if he wasn’t yet.

“Just knowing that this was a team that wanted me despite all the suspension, just knowing that I had a place where I would continue to work there in the offseason?” he said. “(It motivated me) to come back and become a better player.”

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