The Eagles have a Jihaad Campbell problem in the middle of their defense, and the simplest answer may already be on the roster: Jeremiah Trotter Jr.
Campbell has done enough through three games to stay in the lineup. He leads the team with 28 tackles, and he has added three pressures, one tackle for loss, one quarterback hit, one sack and one forced fumble.
Pro Football Focus has him at 67.9 overall, which puts him 27th among 91 eligible NFL linebackers. That’s respectable production.
It’s also not the full story.
The issue is what happens when the ball goes into the air.
Pass coverage has become Campbell’s biggest problem, and the numbers are rough. PFF has him allowing a 140.9 passer rating in coverage.
Eagles On SI’s Jeff Kerr drilled deeper and found that when Campbell is the primary defender, the passer rating allowed sits at 138.9. In those snaps, he has given up 10 completions on 12 targets for 128 yards and a touchdown.
Jihaad Campbell has allowed a 138.9 passer rating as the primary defender in coverage through three games.
10-of-12, 128 yards, TD #Eagles
- Jeff Kerr (@JeffKerrPHL) September 29, 2026
That’s the part the Eagles can’t ignore. Campbell has not played so poorly that he should be benched outright, but the coverage issues are serious enough that Vic Fangio may need to change how he uses him. Nakobe Dean helped in this area last season, even while functioning more as a blitzing linebacker in Fangio’s system.
That opens the door for Trotter.
So far, the role change Eagles fans expected from Trotter has not happened. In three games, he has just four tackles, none coming in the 27-7 loss to the Chicago Bears in Week 3.
He has played 84% of the special teams snaps this season, but only six defensive snaps all year. Six.
That’s a hard number to square with the kind of summer Trotter had. He put together a strong training camp and preseason, yet he still hasn’t earned a real look on defense. He may not have the experience Campbell or Zack Baun has, but the Eagles have reached the point where he deserves a chance.
Trotter’s appeal is straightforward. He has instincts.
He can hit. He can help against the run.
The question is coverage, and whether he can hold up if the workload increases. That is exactly why the Eagles need to find out.
What they’re doing now isn’t solving the Campbell issue, so the best next step may be to let Trotter rotate in more, especially on passing downs.
With the defense struggling, Philadelphia needs to try something different. Giving Trotter more snaps would do two things at once: reward a young linebacker who has earned an opportunity, and maybe give Campbell the nudge he needs to sharpen the part of his game that’s holding this defense back.
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The early usage is the bigger tell for what comes next. Philadelphias defensive coordinator has already indicated Greenard will have a limited role at first as he works back toward full-time duty, which means the Eagles are still in the waiting phase even after the first signs of impact showed up on the stat sheet. For a defense that could use every healthy edge it can get, the next step is seeing how quickly he can turn that brief burst into something more regular. [Read more 🡒]