PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Robert Quinn had a couple of things on his mind his first day with the Philadelphia Eagles.
A three-time Pro Bowl defensive end, Quinn said he wanted to learn the playbook as soon as he can, especially with the undefeated Eagles set to play Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The second thing: Don't screw up.
“I want to come in here and do my part,” Quinn said Thursday. “They've been rocking and rolling before I got here. I don't want to mess anything up. Just try and add anything I can to help make this team better.”
The Eagles picked up Quinn from the Chicago Bears for a 2023 fourth-round pick on Wednesday. Quinn goes from a rebuilding franchise to a Super Bowl contender.
“I didn't expect the trade,” Quinn said.
The 32-year-old Quinn is off to a slow start with just one sack and three quarterback hits after opting not participate in offseason workouts. But he broke Hall of Famer Richard Dent’s franchise record with 18 1/2 sacks last year in a resurgent season.
With Quinn, an Eagles defensive line that already has Haason Reddick, Josh Sweat, Javon Hargrave, Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham and Jordan Davis becomes that much more daunting. He replaces defensive end Derek Barnett, who tore an ACL in the opener at Detroit.
The Eagles are holding opponents to 297.8 yards per game, which is fourth in the NFL.
They’re fifth against the pass at 188 yards and rank second in interceptions with nine. When it comes to sacks, they’re tied for 10th with 17.
And that’s an area where Quinn could help.
He has 102 sacks over 12 seasons with the Rams, Miami, Dallas and Chicago. Quinn was an All-Pro with St. Louis in 2013 when he had a career-high 19 sacks and made his second straight Pro Bowl the following year. He went from 11 1/2 sacks with Dallas in 2019 to just two for Chicago in 2020.
“Whatever my contributions may be for what they have, I'll do that to the best of my ability,” he said.
Quinn bounced back in a huge way last year and seemed a likely candidate to be traded in the offseason considering the Bears were essentially starting over. They hired Ryan Poles and coach Matt Eberflus to replace the fired Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy after missing the playoffs for the ninth time in 11 years.
Quinn was greeted warmly by his new teammates in the locker room. He said he's not good with names, but expected to catch up in a hurry with the new faces.
“I've been running around this building trying to get things in order,” he said.
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