Inside The Cowboys: New DC Brings Familiarity With Eagles' Staff, Proven Track Record

The player that the Cowboys acquired, along with two first-round picks, for Parsons, veteran DT Kenny Clark, is also a big part of the plan.

“Super excited about [Clark]," Eberfllus said. "He’s a real stout in the run game and a really good pass rusher as well inside."

Once Clark gets settled into the system, he and Odighizuwa on the interior figure to be the strength of the defense.

"They both can play on first and second down but also play on the rush downs,” Eberflus said. “You really get a good push in the middle there, and it’s going to be exciting to watch those guys."

The depth at cornerback is a concern but somewhat lessened by former All-Pro Trevon Diggs' ability to return from a knee injury late last season. Diggs was declared a full participant in practice and is expected to play on Thursday night.

However, the absence of Parsons looms large with the pass rush with the next step more of an "it-takes-a-village" approach with veteran Dante Fowler hoping to lead a group of talented young rushers.

"We have a lot of good rushers in the D-line room and certainly we’ll generate [the pass rush] with that and other things," he said.

Mission No. 1 is to somewhat contain All-Pro Saquon Barkley after a historic rushing season. Recently named the No. 1 player in the NFL last season by his peers, Eberflus called Barkley "a generational guy,” while stressing discipline to stop the superstar.

“It's going to be important that everybody plays well in the run game, not just the front seven," Eberflus explained. "The secondary has to do a great job of keeping the cup."

Both sides of the coaching equation downplayed their familiarity with each other.

"He's evolved, and we've evolved, so it's been a while since we've been in the same building every single day," Sirianni said. "I know that he is always going to have those guys playing hard. He is always going to have those guys coming after the football. Those are things that I see on tape in the preseason and things that I know that he'll really focus on. But there are differences with the schemes on both sides of the ball.

" Some of those conversations that we would have a lot of in the offseasons, asking him questions about a team that we might be playing, you don't look too much into that, especially after the time away that we've had from each other."

Similarly, Eberflus called Sirianni and Patullo "very good football minds" but also pointed to the evolution of the schemes since their Indy days.

"I think Flus is a really good coach. He brings a lot of energy to the team, a lot of detail and discipline," Patullo said. "He's had good defenses, and he and I spent a lot of time together in Indianapolis talking ball. He's very knowledgeable, so I think I know the person well, but once again, he does a good job at just using his personnel. So, if you look at his defenses in Chicago throughout the years and even in Indy, and obviously probably now, he's going to tweak it to his personnel. "

"Time will tell during the game what he's relying on with their personnel."

JOHN MCMULLEN'S WEEK 1 PREDICTION - Eagles 28, Cowboys 20