It’s all about the ring for Linval Joseph. He wants another one, and he likes the Eagles’ chances.
“Me and my agent were talking about it two weeks ago and was like, hey man, the best, well-rounded team is the Eagles, but you know how football is, a couple guys got hurt and I actually got the call,” said Joseph on Thursday evening after his first practice as an Eagle.
“Got the call, heard them out. Talked to (GM) Howie (Roseman), talked to some of the guys and it was a real opportunity to be a part of this team and play.
“The ultimate goal here is to get another ring here and I want to be a part of that, so I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure we can get that done.”
The Eagles are now in a unique situation in that they have seven former Pro Bowlers on their defensive line after adding Joseph on Wednesday and Ndamukong Suh on Thursday.
In addition to those two, there are Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham, Javon Hargrave, Josh Sweat, and Robert Quinn.
Joseph broke into the league the same year as Graham and Suh, going to the NFL Scouting Combine the same year. Now, they are teammates.
“It’s pretty cool,” he said. “They say the NFL says not for long, but to be here 13 years later and still see some of these guys I came in with, it’s a dream.”
Suh is expected to arrive in Philadelphia on Thursday night and practice on Friday once he passes his physical.
"At this point, they’re going to do everything they can to win and get that Super Bowl ring,” said Joseph. “Suh is a heckuva player. He’s been playing for a long time, and this is more ammunition to the fire.
“Once we can all get together, jell together, learn the playbook, and be on the same page, I feel like, fly Eagles fly, we should be able to get it done.”
Both Joseph and Suh should play when the Eagles face the Colts on Sunday in Indianapolis.
“I don’t know how much I’ll play, but the goal is to be on the field on Sunday,” said Joseph, who added that this Eagles team reminds him of the Giants team he played for when he was a rookie in 2010, a team that won a Super Bowl in the 2011 season.
“This will probably be the second time I’ve had this feeling,” he said. “First time was with the Giants. We had Osi (Umenyiora), we had (Justin) Tuck, we had JPP (Jason Pierre-Paul), Rocky Bernard, Chris Canty, every guy was on their second or third deal and each guy had a lot of success.
“That’s kind of how I feel now, being around a lot of talented guys, first-round picks, and guys who make a lot of plays.”
Joseph said after last season he had his elbow cleaned out and a shoulder repair but has been 100% healthy since summer and has been training to get it stronger and stay in shape for when an opportunity arose.
Of course, being in shape and being in football shape are two entirely different things.
“To be honest, it’s next week I’m worried about more than this week,” he said. “To get in football shape you actually have to play football.
"To actually get out there, get sore, get hit, then feeling the soreness and practicing the next week with it, it will take two or three weeks to be like, I’m glad I’m a warrior again and don’t have to worry about breaking down.”
He is expected to line up at nose tackle in defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon’s five-man fronts, and it's a role Joseph has played well for a long time.
“Osi said it best,” said Joseph when asked about how unselfish one has to be to play nose tackle. “At the end of the day, my job is to pull down the branch and let other guys pick the fruit. Sometimes they drop some fruit on the ground and when they do, you have to be able to pick it up yourself.
“My whole career I’ve been doing that and it did me well. Being an unselfish guy and being a team guy, it got me here. I would love to have another ring and that’s why I’m here to make us better.”
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