For a long time now, the Eagles have heard that their upcoming game was a "must win." At 3-6, cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha says that the time to manufacture motivation is long gone.
"That point was when we had our four-game losing streak, that point was against Chicago," said Asomugha. "At this point, you just have to go out and win. The getting mad and all that type of stuff, if you were going to get mad you should have gotten mad then. Now we've just got to out and win, find a way to win.
Back in Week 3, when the Eagles couldn't get a win against the New York Giants, Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz had a breakout game, scoring two long touchdowns. On both plays, Asomugha had a chance to either bring Cruz down short of the goal line or get to the ball first. But that was only Asomugha's third game as an Eagle, and the Pro Bowler says a lot has changed since.
"We were working our way through some stuff because it was early in the season," he said. "From there to now, everybody's much more comfortable with what we're doing. Everybody's pretty confident going into the game."
One change this week defensively will come in the nickel personnel. While Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie has been on the field in nickel situations all season, either as the nickel cornerback himself or playing on the outside while Asomugha slide into the inside role, Joselio Hanson will man the position this week with Rodgers-Cromartie out because of a high ankle sprain. Hanson is an experience nickel cornerback who doesn't play much on the outside, so Asomugha won't be bouncing between positions as much.
"We'll keep it a little more basic with Jose doing the nickel stuff," said Asomugha. "It won't be like we've seen it before where we could do whatever we wanted. We moreso want to keep Jose inside."
Like the rest of his teammates, Asomugha has been asked about the team's inability to close games out in the fourth quarter. The Eagles entered the fourth quarter with a lead in five of their six losses this season, a downfall that falls on both the offense and defense. But Asomugha doesn't believe there's anything magically holding the team back. Rather, he says, it's just a matter of getting the job done.
"There are a couple plays that get us in the fourth quarter and that's hurt us," he said. "Those plays could happen in the first or in the second but they've been coming in the fourth. It's not something that any of us feed into like we're a worse team in the fourth quarter. We're still confident with what we do, we just have to make those plays that come to us in the fourth."
