One of the most daunting statistics to come out of the Philadelphia Eagles overtime win to the Buffalo Bills last weekend isn't the amount of offense each team put up, but it deals with safety Reed Blankenship. He played in 116 snaps in the victory Sunday, which is the highest count in 11 years.
Blankenship said to the media Wednesday that it is in fact a ton of plays, but he's “up for it” if that what's needed of him. One aspect it shows to him is that the Eagles have the trust in Blankenship to play that much in a single game according to NBC Sports Philadelphia.
“It’s a lot of snaps, but if my name is called upon, whatever it is, however many snaps, I'm up for it,” Blankenship said Wednesday. “I know they trust me as a player and as a person. It doesn't matter what I'm asked to do. I love the game so much, I’m up for anything.”
The last player to play that many snaps according to NBC Sports Philadelphias was Tennessee Titans linebacker Jordan Babineaux who played 118 snaps between defense and special teams. Combining the 116 Blankenship had and the 79 he had in the previous Monday night game vs. the Chiefs, that combines for 205 plays on a short week.
Blankenship and Eagles “going with the flow” of the game
He said to the media Wednesday that the last win was a time where he goes “with the flow” in terms of playing the game. He acknowledged that there was a moment where he had the epiphany that he's been playing for a long time.
“It's just one of those games that you just go with the flow. And, yeah, you start to realize, ‘I feel like I've been out here a lot more than usual.’ But at the end of the day, it's cool,” Blankenship said. “It's going to be like that sometimes. You’ve just got to suck it up and move on and play the game.”
As expected, that type of performance where the Eagles ask so much of a player, it could result in pain and soreness. However, Blankenship has no doubt in his mind that Philadelphia will get him back to 100 percent for the next game.
“Very sore. I can tell I haven't played that amount of snaps since probably high school,” Blankenship said per NBC Sports Philadelphia. “I played close to that in college, but it feels a little bit different. But I know they're going to take care of me. We’ve got the perfect setup for recovery so I think I’ll be fine.”
Blankenship stresses being mentally tough
The second-year player out of Middle Tennessee recorded 11 total tackles, which is his first double-digit tackle game this season since the first week against the New England Patriots. As a whole, Blankenship leads the Eagles in total tackles with 74 with linebacker Zach Cunningham in second with 71.
Besides having the physical properties to play that massive amount of snaps in a game, an underrated trait is to be mentally tough. Blankenship made it a point to say that's significant and that a player has to “keep fighting” like he did last Sunday.
“Absolutely, you've got to be mentally sharp at the end of the game no matter how tired you are,” Blankenship said. “I don't know how you explain it, but for me, personally, you’ve got to fight every snap. You just keep fighting. I've been playing this game for a long time, but you kind of have to find that dark place and get in that mode and stay there. That’s how I get through it.”
The road doesn't get any easier for Blankenship and Philadelphia as they face the San Francisco 49ers this upcoming Sunday. They enter the game with an impressive 10-1 record, which is the best record in the entire NFL.
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