PHILADELPHIA -- Three games into the NFL season, Brandon Graham doesn't look like a 36-year-old pass rusher on the field. The gray hairs nearly fill his beard and some sit on his chest, the only sign of Graham showing his age.
When Graham lines up on the defensive line, he's one of the best pass rushers on the Eagles. Graham has a pressure rate of 17.5% through three games, the highest rate of his 15-year career. In two of the past three seasons, that pressure rate has been over 17%.
The productive start makes Graham think if walking away after Year 15 is actually the right decision.
"I was feeling good already. Just you start to see the writing on the wall sometimes," Graham said. "Now I'm back in the mix for real. I knew I was playing good still. But playing in the game, that's when you really know."
Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio won't buy into the "farewell tour" Graham discussed prior to the season starting. Fangio is seeing a productive player, no matter how old Graham is.
"He's playing good. I don't see him being tired. Just that he's playing at that age is good," Fangio said. "It's rare. So I don't know why we can't expect more rare.
"As training camp wore on, I started telling him, 'You're not on a tour, and you're going to play.' And he's played good."
Graham has played 51.63% of the snaps this season, trailing only Josh Sweat among the Eagles pass rushers (62.5%). Last season, Graham only played 33.99% of the snaps and had a 13.7% pressure rate. He only ended up with three sacks, which is why the whole "farewell tour" started.
Plenty of athletes have pushed back retirement. Why not Graham?
"Let's get through this one first," Graham said. "I'm gonna be part of whatever they doing next year. As a player, who knows. For me, I just wanna stay ready in any way I can.
"Being in shape, I may come back another year based on how I'm feeling after this year."
That final season is still in Graham's mind. He's getting pressure on the quarterback, a result of the work he's putting among the goals he wants to accomplish.
"I just knew, for me, my biggest thing this year is I wanna go out the same way I came in," Graham said. "Strong and helping the team and whatever that look like. It ain't no farewell tour. I know I go hard in practice and I try to get the guys to get going.
"I'm seeing it. I been there. You gotta grind every day, and it's a continuous grind. You gotta believe in the dream and I think I'm starting to rub off in a good way. I think they wanna play me a lot more."
