A.J. Epenesa couldn’t help himself.
Asked Tuesday about the offseason drama he endured when the Browns signed him to a one-year deal worth up to $5 million before balking at the deal weeks later (reportedly due to a failed physical), the Eagles edge rusher first took a diplomatic approach, before taking a shot at Cleveland.
“It was a weird situation,” Epenesa said after Day 5 of Eagles training camp. “I don’t necessarily want to go back and talk on that in just a weird sense.
“I’ll just leave that in the past and just be happy that I’m not a Brown and that I’m an Eagle.”
The 27-year-old certainly looks like he’ll fit right in with the loaded edge rusher group. Epenesa, formerly of the Bills, recorded multiple would-be sacks the first week of camp and even nabbed an interception on a pass intended for wide receiver Danny Gray on Day 2.
He looks sharp. But the fact remains that the Browns backed out of signing him because of health concerns. So, is he healthy? Epenesa, who played in 16 games last season but suffered a concussion in November as well as battling pectoral, foot, and neck injuries, didn’t hesitate when the question was asked.
“Oh, very healthy,” Epenesa said. “Feeling good and happy to be here.”
Epenesa hopes to be a key cog in an edge group that features Jonathan Greenard — who’s nursing a pectoral injury — Jalyx Hunt, Nolan Smith and Arnold Ebiketie. The Eagles lost Jaelan Phillips to the Carolina Panthers in free agency, so improving the depth of the group was one of general manager Howie Roseman’s top priorities this offseason. The trade for Greenard and the signing of Epenesa on June 10 signified that.
Epenesa was mostly a rotational piece on Buffalo’s defensive line, starting just 19 games in six seasons, but he made the most of his role. His best season came in 2022, when he logged a career-best 6½ sacks, 10 quarterback hits, 14 quarterback pressures and 16 tackles.
So, what drew him to the Eagles — whose defense is powered by a loaded defensive front — over another team where he could win a starting job?
“I wanted to go to a place that could help make me better,” Epenesa said. “A place that’s going to win games and a place that has competition. I don’t want to go to a place and just be handed everything.
“I love having this around me. These guys are making me better. They’re incredible athletes. They’ve all been in the system for two, three-plus years. So all of that knowledge that they have is leaking into me. Whether they know it or not, I’m watching.”
Epenesa’s coaches are taking notice of this sponge-like attitude. Epenesa rarely dropped back in coverage in Buffalo, but he’s quickly added that skill to adapt to Vic Fangio’s scheme. Fangio seldom goes out of his way to praise players, but he did so to Epenesa last Thursday.
“I told A.J. this, and I said it in front of the whole team, too,” Fangio said. “For a guy that’s being asked to do a few things that he’s never done before, I thought he did a nice job. It was very encouraging.”
Epenesa winding up in Philadelphia is a positive outcome to a bizarre situation. Now, the veteran edge rusher said, he wants wins to come with it.
“[The Eagles] are always competitive every year,” Epenesa said. “That’s one of the key things, I think, when you’re trying to find a team. That’s something you’re looking for. And these guys, they messaged, they hit me up, they wanted me.
I want to be on a team that competes and wants to win. And it worked out.”