No longer stuck in cement, Tim Jernigan still adjusting to Eagles' scheme

Share

Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz said there were times this summer where it looked like Tim Jernigan's feet were stuck in cement.

That's not ideal, but it was kind of to be expected. 

"It's a matter of breaking habits, breaking bad habits," Jernigan said. "You've been doing it for so long, it's hard to just up and stop. That's not an excuse. I'm not here to make excuses. It's either you figure it out or next man up. I'm going to figure it out. I'm going to be all right."

See, when the Eagles acquired Jernigan in early April, most of the talk was about how he seemed to be a natural scheme fit in Schwartz's defense. He was excited about it. The team was excited about it. And all that is probably still true. 

But after playing in a passive two-gap system at Florida State and then again in Baltimore, Jernigan has about six years of muscle memory tugging on him to bury his feet and leverage blocks. Schwartz said it became more obvious once the padded practices started. Jernigan knew his assignments, but he reverted to what he had done for his entire adult football career. 

Both Jernigan and Schwartz said the only way to break the bad habits is to get more snaps in the system; change the muscle memory. 

"Naturally, this is a better fit," Jernigan said. "But I've always said that there were plenty of areas for me to improve. I never said I got it all figured out. That's not the case. Even to this day, I'm still figuring it out. And even at the end of the season, I'll still be figuring it out. You're never going to be where I guess people imagined me to be or anything like that. I'm just here to be the best I can be and do everything that I'm coached to do. If it works out, it works out. If I fall short, it is what it is." 

Schwartz said he recently had a conversation about the topic with DT Ndamukong Suh when the Dolphins were in town last week. Suh, who was drafted in 2010 when Schwartz was the head coach in Detroit, played in a two-gap system at Nebraska. Then he entered Schwartz's one-gap system. 

In his rookie season, Schwartz relayed, Suh had trouble with reverting back to old habits and it took him a long time to break it. 

So Schwartz expected something similar to happen with Jernigan, but he's been pleased with the way his new defensive tackle has worked through it. Recently, Jernigan hasn't been playing with his feet in cement. Schwartz even pointed at Vinny Curry's strip-sack against Miami and gave Jernigan credit. 

Schwartz said he really likes the way Jernigan has looked the last couple weeks. 

"I still feel good about the system and the change and everything like that," Jernigan said. "I know everything is going to work out for me. It's just a matter of believing and continuing to work hard. I have no worries at all." 

Contact Us