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After starting 1-4 through the first five games of the 2011 season, the Philadelphia Eagles finally got on track and won their last four games to finish 8-8 on a positive note last season. Nnmadi Asomugha understands the expectations in Philadelphia and certainly wasn’t happy with the way things played out last season. Asomugha made big headlines last year when he surprised many and elected to sign with the Eagles. It was a move that most NFL experts never saw coming. No.24 feels more comfortable in Juan Castillo’s defense this season and looks to anchor a secondary that should be much improved this season.
Nnmadi Asomugha joined WIP in Philadelphia with Anthony & Glen to discuss moving forward from his first year with the Philadelphia Eagles, the Eagles secondary getting a full understanding of Juan Castillo defense now that they have a full offseason, not regretting his decision to sign with the Eagles and the culture difference between playing in Oakland and playing in Philadelphia.
Are you pumped up to get back at this year after the way things went last season?
“Oh yeah. Absolutely. I’m excited to get back on the field and just show how much we’ve grown over the past year and keep moving forward.”
Do you sense a difference this year in the secondary where everyone will be playing together as compared to last year where it didn’t seem that way?
“Yeah. Absolutely. After playing in a system for a year and having to learn it in games as oppose to practice. You learn a lot faster. Pretty much the first half of the season where we were still in the learning mode of it because that was our eight weeks to get down. I think that compared to where we are right now it’s much more comfortable for myself, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, and everyone else pretty much back there. Even Juan Castillo is much more comfortable.”
Did you have fun playing last year? Was there ever a point in time where you may have regretted making the decision to play for the Eagles?
“No. No. No. I definitely had fun. There were definitely times where it was tough. It’s not like it’s non-stop fun, but we had some games in there where they were won by a considerable amount. In the NFL that is 10 points or more. We had some of those games. That was the most fun we had all year. We definitely had those great moments. We had the moments of tough times and things, but the fun part of it was never lost.”
We read some quotes where you compared the difference of being 8-8 in Oakland compared to being 8-8 in Philadelphia?
“It’s true. The 8-8 in Oakland? We were perennially the last team in the AFC West. We would win maybe two games a year or four games a year. When we got to 8-8 and it was like wow! There is so much improvement. You’re not excited you didn’t make the playoffs, but you’re excited that we were moving in the right direction. I love how different that is over here because 8-8 is not acceptable. It doesn’t matter where you have come from. 8-8 should always be we are playing below where we should be playing. Out here that is the mentality. 8-8 shouldn’t be anywhere near what we are thinking. That was great.”
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