Eagles’ Shaun Bradley on Hurts, defense, expectations

Written By Chuck Bausman on July 16, 2022

Eagles linebacker Shaun Bradley joined the crew on NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football” the other day.

Bradley is in his third year with the Eagles. He was selected in the sixth round of the 2020 draft out of Temple.

He has made one start at linebacker and is considered a valuable special teams player. He leads the Eagles with 19 special teams tackles since 2020.

 Bradley grew up in Mount Holly in South Jersey. He attended Rancocas Valley High. He was an Eagles fan growing up and dreamed of playing for his favorite team.

Topics covered with Bradley by the “Good Morning Football” panel:

  • Jalen Hurts
  • Eagles defense
  • Team expectations
  • Bradley’s personal expectations
  • How Nick Sirianni has made the Eagles better
  • Bradley’s talent as a basketball player

BRADLEY ON HURTS’ LEADERSHIP

Bradley was in the same draft class as starting quarterback Hurts. Bradley has spent innumerable hours on the practice field with Hurts.

“I always said Jalen is really composed,” Bradley said. “As for a quarterback, that’s a big thing.

“When I first met him in our rookie year, he was out there throwing the ball, under pressure, and just completing passes, and making passes and getting better every day. I knew it was in him.

“He just kept getting better and better. The whole team believes in him, he’s a great leader. So we’re excited to see what he’s going to do this year.”

BRADLEY ON THE DEFENSE

Bradley’s defensive squad has added players through the draft and free agency and is expected to show vast improvement from last year.

The new defenders include draft picks Jordan Davis, Nakobe Dean and Kyron Johnson. Free agents James Bradberry, Jaquiski Tartt, Haason Reddick and Kyzir White also joined the Eagles.

This highly anticipated season begins July 26 with the opening of training camp.

“I ain’t gonna lie. Every time I hear it [talk about the Eagles’ defense], I get chills,” Bradley said. “Like right now, I just kinda broke out a little bit, some chills. I’m excited, man.

“Not only do we have a good team but I get to learn from Haas (fellow Temple Owl Haason Reddick] and James [Bradberry]. I know James is a corner but I get to learn and pick his brain a little bit and maybe teach me some things.

“So I’m excited to see how we all get together and bring that energy every day at practice. It’s going to be exciting. I’m pretty hype. You can see my energy just got a little flustered. I can feel it.”

Bradley’s 2022 goal is the same as every NFL player. He wants to win the Super Bowl.

“That’s the first and foremost thing,” he said. “It’s a team sport. We got a great team. We did good things in the offseason.

“I got another year coming up, so the first thing and foremost is I want to win a championship, I want us to win a Super Bowl. 

“I want a ring.

“For me personally, I just want to play to the best of my ability, get on the field a little bit more and do what I can to contribute and any way to help the team win. That’s where I’m at.”

‘VOTE THIS GUY FOR THE PRO BOWL’

Bradley was asked by the GMFB crew about an interaction he had with Sirianni at a news conference last season.

Bradley was behind a mic talking to the media when Sirianni unexpectedly arrived on stage.

“Vote this guy for the Pro Bowl, right here,” Sirianni said while grabbing Bradley’s shoulders. “He leads the NFL in freaking special teams tackles.”

“Shout out, coach. Shout out, coach,” Bradley said, laughing.

“Did you guys plan that?” a reporter asked Bradley.

“Nah,” Bradley said. “Nah I didn’t. That was a surprise for me and you.”

Bradley was asked how Sirianni has improved the Eagles. Sirianni took over a 4-11-1 team last year and as a rookie coach led them to a 9-8 record and a playoff spot.

“He’s a great coach, great dude,” Bradley said. “He comes with the same exact energy. He is the exact same person every single day.

“He just wants to get better and better, as well as us … Honestly he’s a great coach and I really do believe that and I really do believe this year is going to be something special for him. I really do. He’s a great dude.”

Bradley is a basketball fan. His Twitter feed is full of NBA references. He’s something of a basketball player, too, he says.

He was asked: How would you stack up against your Eagles teammates on the basketball court?

“We actually played in a little pickup game a couple weeks back,” Bradley said. “It was all of us at a little gym we played on. We actually have some good players.

“Smitty [DeVonta Smith] is really good. [Tight end] Noah Togiai is probably the best on our team. He played college ball at Oregon State. So, he was killing us. Dallas Goedert …

“I’m not going to lie. I don’t think nobody can beat me one-on-one. I’m going to stand on that.”

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Chuck Bausman

Chuck Bausman is an Eagles writer for Iggles.com. Chuck formerly was the Executive Sports Editor of the Philadelphia Daily News and the Executive Sports Editor of the Courier-Post in South Jersey. He learned how to cuss by watching Philly sports.

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