By Steve Kelly
So, what’s up with rehabbing Eagles cornerback Nolan Carroll?
He isn’t working out this week, but he’s optimistic about his progress rehabbing from a 2015 broken fibula.
Carroll suffered the season-ending injury during a blowout loss to the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving, but says that he is raring to go after the longest injury-induced layoff of his playing career.
“The rehab has been going very well,” Caroll said during an appearance on The Scott Seidenberg Show on NBC Sports Radio. “I think I’m ahead of schedule of where I’m supposed to be now.
“Right now the goal for me and the whole coaching staff and training camp is to come back ready for training camp. I’m going to be doing things during OTAs. I’ll be doing some individual stuff to keep my mind and my body into the football mode and stay in football shape so camp. won’t be a shock to my body.”
The Eagles re-signed Carroll to a one-year deal in March after the 29-year-old tested the free agent waters.
Carroll originally joined the Eagles after signing as a free agent prior to the 2014 season. In two seasons playing under defensive coordinator Bill Davis Jr., Carroll recorded 88 tackles with two interceptions, returning one for a touchdown in 2015.
This season Carroll and the rest of his Eagles teammates will see big changes with new head coach Doug Pederson and defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz bringing new schemes and new philosophies in 2016.
In some ways, the chance to play under Schwartz is a long time coming for Carroll.
“I had an opportunity to meet coach Schwartz during my first free agent visit back in 2014 before I signed with the Eagles,” Carroll said. “I could just tell he was a different cat, he was a different character. He just seemed like he was one of those guys that was no-nonsense but at the same time had fun with the players.
“He could relate to guys. His scheme is simple. A couple years ago I just knew itw was going to be one of those things where the onus and the responsibility is going to be a lot on the corners. I was right about that. He takes pride in his defense. He wants to keep it fast. He wants to keep guys from overthinking. He doesn’t want to confuse us, he wants to confuse the opposition more than anything else by showing a lot of things, but it’s really a simple concept.
“You can tell guys are buying into it. Guys like what he’s doing. They like what he’s bringing to the table with our defense. There are a lot of big things in store for us this year because we feel we’re care of getting it done in the division.”
