Robert QuinnHe entered a new locker room on Thursday afternoon, his sixth visit to the locker room in his 12-year NFL career. He was welcomed by Brandon GrahamHe is his new teammate, a likely pass rush partner and someone who has spent 13+ years in the same locker.
There’s a part of Quinn that can be accustomed to this type of transition after the Philadelphia Eagles He surrendered a fourth round pickThree-time Pro Bowler for the 32-year old. It was the third time he’s been traded. The Drafted him RamsHe was part of a 2011 relocation from St. Louis and Los Angeles. In addition, he signed a $70m free-agent agreement with the Bears2020. For someone who suggested that no one likes change, he’s been involved in much of it.
He confessed that he’s not good with names, but he’s trying his best. He doesn’t want to refer to teammates by jersey numbers, and there are many new players to meet. But he won’t have a hard time remembering Graham.
“To have the O.G. of the team walk up to me,” Quinn said, “makes me feel appreciated.”
Graham introduced Quinn more than just an established player greeting a rookie. Quinn is a valued member of his team because he understands the significance of the trade for the Eagles.
Quinn is among seven active players that have at least 100 bags. With 18.5, Quinn led the NFC in total sacks. Graham joins him now. Haason ReddickAnd Josh SweatOn the edge. Reddick will likely be paired with Sweat, with Graham and Quinn expected be in the next group. It’s a luxury for a team to substitute a pair of edge rushers with 164 career sacks combined.
“He bolsters us up even more to where people got to pick and choose who’s the hot guy, who’s not the hot guy,” Graham said. “You can’t just key in on one guy. So I’m definitely excited to have him.”
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Eagles increase pass rush; acquire Robert Quinn from Bears. Grading the trade
The Eagles are the NFL’s only undefeated team and have held leads of at least 14 points in every game this season. The Eagles will be leading in the fourth quarter and the opposing offenses will have to pass the ball. There are many reasons why a contender would want to acquire Quinn, but for a team that’s preparing to play from ahead, productive — and fresh — pass rushers become paramount.
This is what makes it so advantageous for pass rushers.
“I haven’t had many of them,” Quinn said, “so I guess I’m about to find out.”
Quinn has accomplished much in his career, but he hasn’t been part of many winning teams. He’s only been in two postseason games. His teams have won just 42.6 percent of the games he’s played.
There’s a part of Quinn that is so regimented — learn the playbook, meet the teammates, the coaches, the support staff — that it becomes unnecessary to think beyond that day’s tasks. But it’s impossible to join an undefeated team around Halloween and be oblivious to the opportunity ahead.
“They created this record before I got here,” Quinn said. “I just want to come in and do my part, and that starts with learning the playbook.”
Quinn said he was “shocked” by the trade and has told Eagles players he’s still trying to get a grasp of what happened. He didn’t play along with a suggestion that he was unhappy in Chicago, replying with the affection he holds for his teammates. He’s also been involved in coaching changes, so he knew the situation he was in with the Bears.
Quinn has earned a respectable reputation as a teammate and Bears linebacker Roquan SmithHe was overcome with emotion when he found out about the trade. Quinn said the reaction was an example of how he can “take a teammate and turn him into a brother.”
Bears star LB Roquan Smith was emotional when he heard that Robert Quinn had been traded💔
🎥: @BrendanSugruepic.twitter.com/CiPPrZtPuC
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) October 26, 2022
For veterans who have played in Philadelphia long enough to share the locker room with Chris Long, they’ve heard him gush about his former teammate in St. Louis. Quinn is a friend of many on the coaching staff. It was a pleasure to watch him work. Reddick, a well-known double-digit sack manufacturer in the NFL, said he’s eager to learn from Quinn.
Milton Williams, who was 12 when Quinn entered the league, said he’s been watching Quinn rush quarterbacks for almost as long as he’s been watching football.
Quinn is quiet even though he’s been quiet in 2022. However, his track record indicates that he should help Philadelphia. After finishing 31st last year, the Eagles rank 10th in NFL with 17 sacks. They have 10 second-half tackles, but only one has been recorded in the last two games.
Since Derek Barnett’s season-ending injury in Week 1, the Eagles have used a combination of Patrick JohnsonTarron and Tarron as depth edge rushers. It’s fair to consider Quinn a major upgrade. While there are many nuances and terminology to each defense that can take some time to master, Quinn may have a more straightforward path to contributing than players at different positions.
“Because sometimes it’s black and white depending on the scheme, if you can go to the quarterback, the coach is going to put you in position every time,” Graham said. “That’s the easiest thing you can do. … Every time you come in here, I just want you to go (to the quarterback). Until you learn everything, I just want you to go.”
The adjustment for Quinn might be rushing less than he’s used to. He has never played fewer than half of his team’s defensive snaps, although with Reddick and Sweat playing key roles atop the depth chart for the Eagles, it might be hard to approach his Chicago playing time (68 percent of the defensive snaps through seven games). However, this could also be a way to keep Quinn — and the other pass rushers — fresh.
Take a look at who is in Philly😎#FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/53jngAjAyi
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) October 27, 2022
“It is scary when you can make it to the fourth quarter and you’re still feeling like it’s the first, because the O-lineman has to play the whole game,” Graham said. “That’s advantage us.”
This was the moment that this point was suggested to Lane Johnson, he didn’t dispute it.
“There ain’t a whole lot of good that comes with playing the O-line except the money,” Johnson said. “A lot of times you’re getting (criticized), a lot of times you’re playing all the snaps, the defenders are playing 50 percent, 60 percent of the snaps. They get a sack, they’re f—ing tweeting about it.”
Johnson doesn’t have much experience blocking Quinn. He said the two-time All-Pro often comes from the offense’s left side, but he knows enough about Quinn to realize what makes him special. Johnson emphasized Quinn’s ability to bend the edge. So if the offensive tackle doesn’t get off the ball or lacks a quick lower body, forget blocking Quinn.
“You can’t have enough great pass rushers,” Johnson said. “Him and Sweat on one side, Haason and BG on the other, and the guys in the middle, it’s going to be a tough task to block those guys.”
The Eagles’ remaining schedule includes six games against teams in the top 11 in percentage of sacks allowed. Five quarterbacks have less than two seasons of experience as a starter. There will be many opportunities to gain leads and score sacks.
By acquiring Quinn, the Eagles didn’t push all their chips to the middle of the table — they didn’t touch their six draft picks in the first two rounds in 2023 and 2024, and the salary cap ramifications in the middle — but they made the team with the NFL’s best record even stronger.
Quinn was welcomed into the locker room by players eager to see him, and now he can make an impact on a team that has aspirations to win the Super Bowl.
“They’ve been rocking and rolling before I got here,” Quinn said. “I don’t want to mess anything up. I want to add whatever I can to make this team better.”
(Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)
