Jason Wolf

The News Journal

PHILADELPHIA – Eagles safety Earl Wolff felt like he was just beginning to hit his stride when a hyperextended right knee effectively ended his rookie season.

Wolff, drafted out of N.C. State in the fifth round in 2013, started six games after supplanting the injured Patrick Chung and recorded 45 tackles and one interception before injuring himself on Nov. 10 in Week 10 against the Green Bay Packers.

"I couldn't move like I wanted to move," Wolff said. "When I can't go 100 percent, I can't play my game. I was getting more and more comfortable every game, it felt like everything was just coming to me. My whole life, I've been playing football since third grade, never missed a game, ever missed a game in my life. I battled through injuries, during seasons, playing with them, but when it came to this I just couldn't do it."

The Eagles signed former New Orleans Saints safety Malcolm Jenkins during the offseason and retained Nate Allen on a one-year deal. Both are atop the Eagles' depth chart, but Wolff is trying to challenge Allen for a starting role as his second season begins with organized team activities at the Nova Care Complex. It's the lone starting defensive position seemingly up for grabs entering the season.

"Nate's the first guy up. And Earl is in running with the second group right now," Eagles coach Chip Kelly said. "And both have done a great job in the offseason program. We're excited to see those guys play it out."

"I think it's developing to be something nice," Eagles cornerback Cary Williams said. "You can't really tell out here right now, because we don't have pads on and things like that, there's not many bodies flying around, you can't be real physical, but as far as being technical with footwork, hand placement, all those little things can help improve a person, so I think those guys have been doing a tremendous job with that, so it's going to be a great battle."

Wolff said he's completely healthy, but knows he needs to work on the mental aspects of his game.

Experience matters in that regard.

And being thrust into the starting lineup last season was invaluable.

"Last year, we called a play and I had to think about things," Wolff said. "Now I'm just reacting to everything. I feel great. I basically can't wait to see what I'm going to do this year."

The 5-foot-11, 209-pound Wolff earned first-team all-ACC honors as a senior in college. But he was lost at times during his first season in the pros.

"[Kelly] told me last year, 'Earl, you need to watch a lot of motion tape,'" Wolff said, "because sometimes a motion occurred and I kind of second guessed and I wouldn't call something, which, usually when I call something it's for the corners and the linebackers, so if I mess that up I'm messing up everybody's job. But now, it just comes to me. I don't even have to think about the motion. When the motion occurs, I know what to call, so I'm able to play faster, and when you play faster you react more.

"I feel like every game I got more and more confident," Wolff said. "And when you go out on that field, it's all about confidence. If you notice, if you go back and look at the film, the first couple games [last season] I'm not even moving. They called a play and I'm just there. I'm just sitting there until the ball snaps. As you notice, I started moving around a lot more and started disguising things more, and I feel like that came with confidence and that came with experience."

Jenkins, in just a short time with the Eagles, was able to provided tremendous insight into Wolff's abilities and development.

"The one thing about Earl is he's really athletic. He's a young, talented player," Jenkins said. "He just doesn't have a lot of experience of how to dissect the game and slow the game down. The biggest thing for him is being able to open up his vision, see multiple things in a zone to be able to read the offense pre-snap, and get an anticipation of what they're going to do. Those types of things, he hasn't been exposed to in order to move his game forward. He's really made it this far off of raw talent. The next part is to really teach him football and the concept that every offense uses, to how to see them, study and take notes. It's those things that he's learning now.

"It's really now teaching him … how to look at a quarterback and know where he's going to throw the ball," he said, "or look at a formation and know where the ball is going, what an offense is trying to do, who they're trying to isolate. That just puts you one step closer to the football."

Chung was released by the Eagles in March.

Allen (6-1, 205), who is listed two inches taller than Wolff, is entering his fifth season with the team. He recorded 59 tackles, an interception, forced fumble and sack while starting all 16 games last season, when the Eagles ranked dead last in the NFL in passing defense.

"Nate's a good player, I'm a good player, I respect him to the utmost, we're pretty good friends, but … my goal is of course to get on the field and play," Wolff said.

The coaches haven't specifically told Wolff and Allen they're in competition for a starting job opposite Jenkins, but the players know where they stand.

"May the best man win," Wolff said.

Contact Jason Wolf at jwolf@delawareonline.com?.