His head is spinning, John Metchie III admits, and that's understandable.

One day he was a Houston Texan and then, boom, he's traded and on his way to Philadelphia. It's the nature of the business, but that doesn't make things any easier when something like a trade comes so suddenly.

Metchie, if you are familiar at all with his story, has faced far greater challenges than being traded late in Training Camp from one conference to the other in the NFL. He was a star player at Alabama before suffering a torn ACL and coming back from that, and then, just a year later, learning that he had leukemia and facing something far more serious than his standing on the depth chart.

He is here to "show up every day," and help a team that is already so strong. Metchie describes himself as a "dynamic" receiver who can "run all routes," so the next step is to learn the offense in very short order, prepare as best he can for the immediate period of time, and maybe get into the preseason finale on Friday night against the New York Jets and see how it goes.

The Eagles acquired Metchie in a trade that became official on Monday afternoon, sending a 2026 fifth-round pick and tight end Harrison Bryant to Houston for a 2026 sixth-round pick and Metchie, a wide receiver who was a second-round draft choice by the Texans in 2022 after a marvelous career at Alabama. First came the knee injury, suffered in the SEC Championship Game of his final collegiate season. Then came the illness.

And then, two seasons in Houston where Metchie worked to find his place in the Texans' offense.

Now, Philadelphia, joining a loaded wide receiver room that includes A.J. Brown, his former Alabama teammate and great friend DeVonta Smith, and Jahan Dotson, who knew Metchie from way back in their high school days.

"Just kind of being present with everything," Metchie said when asked about the perspective he has on the last three years of his life. "Living the dream. Not worrying about a bunch of things you can't control. I think that's probably the biggest one. And understanding the things that you can control, the things you're grateful for. Things like that."

The immediate landing for Metchie is a soft one because the Eagles are a welcoming organization with a professional and loving locker room and someone like Dotson – acquired late last summer by the Eagles in a trade – understands exactly what Metchie is facing: How can you learn the playbook and create chemistry with the quarterback room well enough to function on a week-to-week basis?

"Football is football. That's what it comes down to," Metchie said. "There is a lot of hard work that goes into this. It feels like home (here). The locker room just feels like home. The Alabama guys, the Georgia guys … really everyone. It has a really good feel."

Metchie looks only at the positive after the two health situations: He says he is a stronger person and a better player. His is the perspective that we all need to take – obstacles are there to overcome through hard work and that things cannot be taken for granted and that the most important thing is health "for you and your loved ones. Aside from that, everything else is just a blessing."

How can Metchie contribute to this offense? The only way he knows is to keep looking forward, keep working hard and improve himself as a football player and teammate. Dotson, who spoke before Metchie on Tuesday, talked about how difficult it was for him last season – he has spoken about that multiple times this summer – and the proof is the way Dotson has played in Training Camp after working with quarterback Jalen Hurt in the offseason. He has been outstanding, as improved as any player on the team.

Can Metchie add to the wide receiver room? Time will tell, and the Eagles are going to do everything they can to bring him along and coach him up to play well.

Other than that, there are no promises. You can, as Metchie says, only control what you can control, so for a talented player who has been through so much in his life beyond his play on the field, the focus is on doing all of the little things as an Eagle and taking it step by step by step.