‘They know what I can do:’ Devin White surprised to lose starting spot originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
We all thought Devin White would go into the regular season as a starting linebacker because every day but one during training camp he took the first set of reps with the starting defense.
He seemed like a starter because he was a starter.
“Yeah, you could truly say that,” White said at his locker Thursday. “The way the snap count went, the things I did on the field, preseason wise?”
We were wrong.
He was wrong.
White, who won a Super Bowl and made a Pro Bowl with the Buccaneers, signed a one-year, $7.5 million contract with the Eagles to revive his career after getting benched last year in Tampa.
That process hit a roadblock with the news from Vic Fangio Wednesday that Nakobe Dean and Zack Baun will be the Eagles’ starting linebackers moving forward.
White said all the right things Thursday, but it was definitely a blow to the 26-year-old White.
“At the end of the day, it’s not my call,” he said. “I’ll just do what’s asked of me and just stay ready. Whether I go out there the last two minutes of the game or the first play of the game, I’ve just got to be ready and just be able to give this team all I have.
“Because that’s what I came here to do. Just rewrite my story for my career. However that plays out, I don’t control that. I just leave that in God’s hand and I stay ready. I don’t cry, don’t mope around. I just come to work and be a pro about everything.”
White said during the summer that getting benched in Tampa was humbling.
He was asked if this was also humbling but he said it’s different because he said he was selfish the way he handled things in Tampa but feels like he did everything he could at training camp this summer and through the offseason to show what kind of player he is.
“I put my best foot forward, so nothing about what’s going on now is humbling, it’s just just how the cards were dealt, you know?” he said. “I feel like you go back and watch the film and everything, I did some great things and I know I got better this offseason with (linebackers) coach Bobby King and I can look back and look at it and be proud of myself.”
White was inactive in Week 1 with an ankle injury and didn’t make the trip to São Paulo, but he did participate during the early portion of practice that was open to the media on Thursday, when the Eagles returned to work to prepare for their Monday night game against the Falcons at the Linc.
What’s next?
White isn’t going anywhere. There are cap reasons not to cut him and football reasons, too. He’s a backup with a pretty good resume, and the Eagles do not have a great track record keeping linebackers healthy.
Over the last 10 years, the only off-ball linebackers to start 15 games in a season for the Eagles are Jordan Hicks, Nigel Bradham and T.J. Edwards.
“He’s been a great teammate and done everything that’s been required of him,” Nick Sirianni said Thursday. “And I’ve really, really got a lot of respect for him and we’re gonna need him. We’re gonna need him this year. It’s a long football season.
“Obviously, Zack and Nakobe are our linebackers, but Devin’s gonna have to contribute this year if we want to go where we want to go.:
White said he still wants to be an Eagle and has no interest in going anywhere else.
Which isn’t going to happen anyway.
“Right now I’m locked in with this team,” he said. “I came here to do a job. I know everything is in front of me, so I’ve just got to do what I’ve got to do.
“I’ve made a good bond with these guys and we’re in here every day getting better. …. I’m just trying to get better. Whether it’s in the classroom, on the field, individual drills, even in there playing ping pong or something together. And right now, that’s all that matters to me.
“I’m extremely blessed. I know what’s for me is for me. And if I stay true to myself, to the game, it’s going to come. … I just have to keep doing what I’ve been doing all my life and to get myself here to the NFL.
“A lot of things can happen and I don’t ever pray on anybody else going down for my success. I wish everybody to do well, that’s what we’re here to do. ‘Each one teach one.’
“But if my number is called, however it is, I’ve just got to be prepared to go do what I know how to do, what I’ve been doing. Be ready.”
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