On Wednesday, Moro Ojomo was asked to explain what changed for him, why he wasn’t playing much on the rookie seventh-round defense but was playing so much and so well a year later. He talked about learning Jordan Davis And jalen carterI am listening Brandon Grahamand we work non-stop with player development assistants Matt Leo and Patrick McDowell.

Ojomo, 23, talked about everyone but himself.

“It takes a lot for a machine to be well oiled or well organized,” Ojomo said. “You think of big ships. I really think it’s not me but everyone around me.

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Calling it that is probably a bit of an exaggeration. eagles The defense, especially the defensive line, is a machine and certainly not well oiled. But in their last three games after coming off the bye week, the Eagles rank first in the NFL in a number of defensive categories, including points allowed per game (9.7), yards (214) and first down (14). They also have an NFL-high 14 sacks during this three-game stretch. Ojomo remains the only Eagles pass rusher to play at least 80 snaps this season and not count as a sack, but he consistently gets into the backfield and wreaks havoc.

According to Pro Football Focus, edge rusher Josh Sweat leads the Eagles with 25 pressures, while Carter is behind him with 23 pressures. Ojomo tied Bryce Huff for third with 10 pressures. He also ranks third in the Eagles’ standings with nine rushing yards. And over the last four games, Ojomo has been playing 26 snaps per game; That’s an increase over the 16 snaps per game the Eagles played in their first three contests. Not counting the 37 snaps he played in Week 18 of last season, Ojomo played just 31 total snaps in his first seven NFL games as a rookie.

“I always tell people that I’m improving from year to year, and that’s one of my keys,” the 6-foot-1, 292-pound Ojomo said. “I want to get better from year to year and see where the cards are.”

Right now the cards suggest the Eagles may have managed to steal a seventh-round pick from Texas; In a way, this conclusion fits with everything Ojomo has going for it.

He was born in Nigeria and came to the United States in 2009, when Ojomo was in third grade. His family settled in Southern California before moving to Texas. In Lagos, Nigeria, children started school at a younger age than in the United States, so Ojomo eventually became a 16-year-old high school senior He was a late-blooming college candidate.

He was still 16 when he enrolled at Texas and redshirted in 2018. When 2022 rolled around, Ojomo was a fifth-year senior setting career highs in tackles and sacks. He had one more year of eligibility remaining thanks to the extra COVID-19 year, but after graduating he opted for the NFL draft, and his underdog role followed him there as a late pick.

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Ojomo, who has a degree in finance and hopes to one day pursue a master’s degree, admitted that he likes the underdog tag.

“It might be a little uncomfortable, but I think pressure creates diamonds,” he said. “I just work, work hard and really try to get better all the time. For everyone out there, I think you can do whatever you want and put your mind to, and that’s just my mindset.

Graham noticed this year’s improvement.

“It really hurts me to do this the right way,” the senior forward runner said. “That’s all you want to see. He’s getting better every day, taking his role seriously and making sure he’s having fun while doing it.”

Fun permeates. Eagles lost their master announcer Fletcher Cox Retiring in the offseason. The oldest player among inside linebackers is 25-year-old Milton Williams. Ojomo said no one has attempted the impossible task of replacing Cox as sole leader, and they have all learned from each other.

“We all try to do what one man in the room does for us, and I think that helps us,” he said. “I think we’ve got a really great group of players who are talented in different ways and can look at the game from different perspectives. So you can step aside and say, ‘Hey, how did you hit this guy? How is he doing? How is he doing this?’

Ojomo said he closely watched how Davis, the player who coincidentally lost time against Ojomo, worked on opposing offensive linemen. Ojomo said Davis is good at knowing when the offensive lineman wants to take a hit and how to move, and in turn, Ojomo now has a better understanding of what his opponents are trying to accomplish.

Ojomo called new defensive line coach Clint Hurtt, his former defensive coordinator, “a genius.”

“I think there was something really cool going on in that room,” Ojomo said.

Ojomo used the metaphor of a ship at the beginning of the speech and later used the aphorism that tides raise all ships. He gets some of this perspective from his parents, who are pastors. Ojomo said his father, Ololade, always reminded him that he should “never have a better yesterday.” “My father makes me believe that this world is under my feet.” His mother, Bimbo, also “loves and supports me,” he said.

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He said this love was liberating. Ojomo said he approaches life with a “test yourself” mentality.

“I know at the end of the day the people who love me are going to love me, and that should give me the most freedom in the world to try a new move or just keep working and not worry about the things I can do that I can’t control,” he said.

Ojomo attributed the rising tide and the ship incident to the Eagles’ defense. Yes, the pass rushers are coming home in that stretch, but the secondary was strong in coverage and the corners tackled well, helping the defense. Ojomo explained that when everything hums at the same time, perfect harmony occurs.

“That’s how you win in life,” he said. “You need people around you.”