Brandon Graham played hurt in the Super Bowl, and he's been paying the price ever since.
"I never won a championship," he said. "To be able to be on this team that we had, there's no way I'm not going to be a part of it. So I did all I could.
"If I didn't feel good, I wouldn't have done it. Sometimes the medicine helps it, too. Sometimes it doesn't. But you just have to be smart."
Graham is beginning his ninth season with the Eagles on the sideline after undergoing offseason ankle surgery.
He not only played in the Super Bowl with the injury - and a hamstring injury - he also made one of the most historic defensive plays in Super Bowl history when he strip-sacked Tom Brady in the final minutes of the Eagles' 41-33 win.
It came at a price. But missing a few weeks of training camp is a small price to pay for winning a championship.
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Graham initially got hurt in the win over the Raiders at the Linc that clinched the No. 1 seed for the Eagles.
"Christmas," he said. "Christmas Day against the Raiders. Helmet hit it. Jalen [Mills]. Jalen got me. You know how DBs go down at Marshawn [Lynch's] legs? He just smashed into me.
"I knew right away."
Graham sat out the meaningless season-ending game against the Cowboys and the bye week gave him three weeks between games.
"With the adrenaline going, I wasn't going to think about it," he said. "Sometimes you've just got to push through it, especially when you're trying to win [a Super Bowl]."
Graham had surgery in May - he concedes now he probably should have taken care of it earlier - but hopes to play in the third preseason game Aug. 23 in Cleveland and expects to be ready for opening day Sept. 6 vs. the Falcons.
"I'm running and doing stuff like that," he said after watching practice Thursday at the NovaCare Complex.
"Just being smart about it. Just making sure I'm ready for Game 1. I'm confident. I'm always confident. Make sure I work one day at a time, because that's the goal. Game No. 1."
Graham, Chris Maragos and Alshon Jeffery all began the season on the PUP reserve list, which only means they're inactive while rehabbing injuries suffered last year (see story).
To play against the Browns, Graham would presumably have to be back at practice by the second week of August.
So he has some time to play with.
"[Would like] to be able to play the third one and see where I'm at and get out there and get into some sort of football shape," he said. "Offseason shape is offseason shape, but there's nothing like playing football.
"Being in football shape, you've got to play football. I like where I am."
