Parris Campbell turned the Eagles down.
After the veteran receiver was released at final cuts following training camp, the Eagles offered him a spot on their practice squad. And the 27-year-old wasn’t interested.
Campbell was once a second-round pick, a starting receiver in the NFL, a productive player. So the thought of being stuck on a practice squad just wasn’t too appealing.
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“I think my pride got in the way of things,” Campbell said to NBC Sports Philadelphia this week.
But a couple hours after Campbell turned down the Eagles’ offer, he got a phone call from head coach Nick Sirianni. Campbell and Sirianni go way back. In fact, Sirianni was the offensive coordinator in Indianapolis when the Colts selected Campbell with the No. 59 overall pick out of Ohio State back in 2019.
In this moment, that relationship mattered.
“Nick, obviously he’s in a different role from when he drafted me, but he’s always been a guy that cares about the players,” Campbell said. “And he’s always kept it real and kept it honest with the players. And that’s one thing he did with me. He supports me, he believes in me. If he didn’t, I wouldn’t be back. Having him as some support, it helped because he’s a familiar face. Having an honest conversation, I know he’s always being a hundred.”
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Campbell eventually decided to join the Eagles’ practice squad and now he’s glad he did. Because after sitting out Week 1, Campbell has been elevated for each of the last two games — against the Falcons and the Saints.
“It was fun just being out there on the field, doing what I love to do,” Campbell said. “It was a blessing to be out there and I thank God for putting me in that situation. But it was fun.”
And now with both A.J. Brown (hamstring) and DeVonta Smith (concussion) unlikely to play in Week 4 against the Buccaneers, the Eagles will be relying on Campbell once again.
Over the last two weeks, Campbell has played 51 offensive snaps and against the Saints got in the stat sheet with 2 catches for 13 yards to help the Eagles pull off an improbable 15-12 win in New Orleans. They might need him even more in Tampa.
These days, Campbell is happy he was able to get over the initial shock of getting cut.
But it wasn’t easy.
“I think as players, how much work we put into this, that creates some pride,” Campbell said. “I think my pride got in the way of things. And then the injury that I had in the middle of camp was a reason. But that’s things that I can’t control. It was just a culmination of both of those things. It was things that I couldn’t control, so that was the hardest thing for me, just knowing that I didn’t have any control over it. But, like I said, pride was in the way too.”
Campbell began the summer as the Eagles’ clear-cut favorite to be the No. 3 receiver behind Brown and Smith. And if he didn’t suffer a groin injury on Day 7 of training camp, maybe it would have ended up that way. Maybe Campbell would have separated himself from the group enough that Howie Roseman wouldn’t have made the trade for Jahan Dotson.
And then maybe Campbell wouldn’t have been released.
But all that did happen and it made Campbell the odd man out when it came time to finalize the 53-man roster. That’s a tough pill to swallow.
Even when he arrived back to the NovaCare Complex, Campbell said it still took some time to get used to his role as a practice squad player. But on Wednesday he explained what helped him get over the disappointment.
“Shoot, my faith,” Campbell said. “My trust in Him and the plan he got for me. And my family — my wife, my mother, just talking to them and talking to God. It was crazy because I almost didn’t come back. I closed the door and thought it was over. And then the opportunity came back around in the matter of hours.”
Opportunity is knocking for Campbell once again entering Week 4. Campbell has just one elevation left this season and the Eagles are going to need him against the Bucs.
After spending all summer working with Jalen Hurts, it’s clear the Eagles’ quarterback will be willing to trust Campbell in game action.
“I just think his professionalism when he comes into work, his will to learn, how invested he is, you can see that clearly,” Hurts said. “As I said, those times we’ve had to build that chemistry, you know who your guys are but you never know when your opportunity or your number’s going to be called. I just think guys have done a great job of stepping up and have a ton of trust in all of those guys.”
As a practice squad player, there was a learning curve at first for Campbell. He had to attend scout team meetings and he wasn’t involved in the offensive game plan heading into those early games.
Campbell said that after he landed on the practice squad, he had a long conversation with his wife about his career. He realized that he has seen it all in the NFL. He’s been a high draft pick and a starter, he’s been injured, he went through getting benched last season and this year he’s on a practice squad — at least for now.
And he’s at peace with it.
“Who knows what's for later down the road,” Campbell said “It is what it is. Now, I’m here, I’m locked in and I’m focused. And now I gotta go get ready to play a game.”
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