Aug 7, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Jihaad Campbell (30) reacts as he walks off the field after a victory against the Cincinnati Bengals at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

Eagles Rookie Already Proving He's Future Star

Originally posted on Philadelphia Eagles on SI
By Patrick McAvoy | Last updated Aug 18, 2025 8:00 AM ET

The Philadelphia Eagles have two preseason games under their belt now and just one more to go until the 2025 National Football League season gets here.

Philadelphia will begin the 2025 season on Sept. 4th against the Dallas Cowboys, but will face off against the New York Jets before that. The final preseason game will be on Friday, Aug. 22nd.

The first two preseason games have given fans the opportunity to get a look at new faces on the roster, including first-round pick Jihaad Campbell. He has played in both of the games so far. In the first game, Campbell had three total tackles. In the second one, Campbell logged four tackles, one sack, one tackle for loss, and one quarterback hits. Through two games, seven tackles and one sack is certainly strong for a rookie. Especially, one who wasn't even expected to be ready until August at one point.

But, he was ready to roll earlier than expected.

After the second preseason game, Campbell opened up about his mindset ahead of the 2025 season.

Eagles rookie turning heads as preseason starts to wind down

"The words that I'm always going to keep saying are just growing and learning," Campbell said. "I think that's the biggest thing. Rookies coming in, of course we don't know it all, but we have standard instinctual things that we do know that can help us on the field to the best of our abilities. I think the biggest thing is really just to get advice from the older guys and understand what's going on, so we can get more acclimated to this NFL life.

"I'm always looking for a building block. Just to stack days, brick on top of brick on top of brick. I think that's the most important thing. I don't think about, 'Dang, if I messed up on this, I'm down on myself now,' because I know I'm better than that and I know all I got to do is just get back to the drawing board, see what I need to improve on, and just keep working at it."

This kid was a top 10 talent in the 2025 NFL Draft and somehow was available for the Eagles at No. 31 after they traded up one spot with the Kansas City Chiefs. He has looked like the real deal so far. Now, there's just one more tuneup to go until his first regular season game in the NFL.

This article first appeared on Philadelphia Eagles on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: