Avery doesn't look the part of a "prototype" defensive end. He's listed at 6-feet, 250 pounds, and while that may be a touch generous, Avery doesn't care.

"Size is not on the stat sheet when you make sacks," he said.

With a seven-man group of defensive ends, the Eagles are taking the chance that going heavy there is eventually going to net out a few pass rushers to bank on moving forward for the rest of this season and even into the years to come. Brandon Graham and Derek Barnett have been effective in these last few games. Vinny Curry helps set a great edge and has done a lot of good work. The hope is that Daeshon Hall, Josh Sweat, Shareef Miller, and now Avery emerge. One of them. Two of them. All of them.

A playoff spot could depend on it.

"I just let him know how we do things," said defensive tackle Fletcher Cox who, like Avery, hails from Mississippi. "I think what was neat, this morning, was when I walked in for breakfast (at the NovaCare Complex) before the team meeting, he came over and asked me how we do things around here, the expectations around here. It kinda shocked me in a good way.

"I told him the way we do things, it's a little bit different here. We're all a family. We're all in it together. That's the kind of guy who wants to fit in. He wants to be part of what we do here."

Anyone who says the Eagles did "nothing" at the NFL's trade deadline, hey, that's not fair. That's not accurate. They had a grade on a player they liked two years ago in the NFL Draft and they kept tabs on him. When a team changes its coaching staff and its scheme, sometimes talent shakes loose from the tree. Avery is that talent in this case, with a bend around the edge that allows him to have leverage in getting to the quarterback.