Suddenly, Avonte Maddox is an important defensive cog for the Eagles, though he played no defensive snaps the first three weeks of the season.
The fourth-round rookie from Pitt is the player the coaching staff keeps reaching for — at first just to back up veteran Corey Graham, who struggled against Tennessee, in Graham's first game as the injury replacement for starting safety Rodney McLeod. Maddox had never played safety, so this was a challenge, but he was up for it. He notched his first NFL interception that day, though he also was in coverage for the overtime touchdown that ended the game.