PHILADELPHIA -- First career start in the NFL. First career game ball.
Jeremiah Trotter Jr. stood at his locker with a phone in his hand, talking to his father on the other end after his first career start in the league went as well is it could go. Trotter's father, four-time Pro Bowler and Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Famer Jeremiah Trotter Sr., thought so too.
"He was telling me good game, reflecting on it, doing a little bit of coaching," Trotter Jr. said. "But he was telling me good game and that he was proud of me."
Trotter finished with 11 tackles in Sunday's win over the New York Giants, second on the team behind Oren Burks. He also was targeted five times in coverage, allowing four catches for 21 yards (79.2 passer rating allowed in coverage).
Trotter and Oren Burks both had outstanding performances on Sunday. Burks finished with a game-high 17 tackles and had two tackles for a loss. He allowed just 30 yards in coverage on eight targets.
What made Burks' job easy was playing with Trotter, who he has been practicing with on the second team all season. Now that Trotter was able to play the majority of snaps in a game, Burks wasn't surprised with Trotter's performance.
"I've been impressed with him as a rookie, just how he handles himself as a pro," Burks said. "He's always in his book, he knows his assignments. He's just on top of things.
"Even asking questions to me, Zack [Baun], and Nakobe [Dean], just staying on top of making sure he knows all the details of the defense. I see a long career for him."
The Eagles took Trotter in the fifth round of this year's draft, knowing he was more of a developmental piece in his rookie season than a regular starter. Thanks to how well Zack Baun and Nakobe Dean played, the Eagles never had to consider giving Trotter meaningful snaps.
Trotter put in the work with linebackers coach Bobby King and assistant linebackers coach Ronell Williams in preparation for this start. What he learned this season from King significantly helped on Sunday.
"I would say the biggest thing is block destruction," Trotter said. "That's something he really emphasizes at the linebacker position, and I feel as a linebacker corps we really hone in on that, and we made that our character and our personality is to make sure, if anything, we got off our blocks."
When Trotter got his chance, he took advantage of it.
"I think he's done an unbelievable job transforming his body, getting in great shape," Sirianni said. "He's obviously a very instinctive player -- the reason we drafted him in the first place...Fun to watch him fly around and make plays today."
