Davis Dumps the Fat: Eagles DT Goes Sub‑335 to Become Pass-Rush Monster—Camp Heats Up!

PHILADELPHIA – He’s listed on the roster at 336 pounds. That’s a little off. Jordan Davis said on Thursday that he checked into training camp on Tuesday at 330 pounds, a tilt of the scale that he hasn’t seen since his sophomore year at the University of Georgia.

It’s a weight that will allow him to be more than just an anchor in the run game, a stuffer of the ground attack. He will have opportunities to rush the passer.

“I don’t want to be a player that comes off the field every second and long, every third down,” said Davis. “I want to be able to make those plays and show the people what I’m capable of because being a run stopper, a one-trick pony, an anchor, that’s cool and all, but I want to be able to do more. I want to be a dual threat. I don’t wanna be a one-trick pony.”

Doing more with more snaps is the plan this season for the first-round pick from 2022, and the weight loss should help in the pass-rush realm.

“It allows my body to be more fluid, allows me to move a little faster, my get-off is a little faster, staying low,” he said. “Being in a position where your back doesn’t hurt too much because of all that extra weight. It's about being in tune with my body. I definitely feel more comfortable at this weight with pass rush than in the past.”

Davis gave us a glimpse late last year when he began shedding some weight and had two sacks in the playoffs. So, the Eagles sent him into the offseason telling him they wanted to use him more, but to do that, he needed to come to camp between 330 and 339 pounds.

“I’m feeling great, I’m feeling good,” he said. “It’s not even about the weight. As long as I stay in the 30s, I just want to be conditioned. I want to be out there. So, as long as it takes, I’ll stay in the 30s.”

He said he lost 26 pounds this offseason. Before he sat down for his press conference inside the media tent just off the team’s practice fields at NovaCare Complex, he asked the assembled media, “Should I take my shirt off so you can see?” So, he did.

“I’m glad y’all see the progress,” he said. “Obviously, Rome isn’t built in a day. This has been a long time coming, not just for football but for life.”

Davis axed the extra sugars from his diet. He cut out juice., because, he realized, “You can’t drink your calories. I’m starting to understand that and how detrimental that is.”

Davis may be an NFL star, but he is no different than any of us who reach a certain age when we realize losing weight and getting into shape isn’t as easy as when we were younger. Davis is 25, and that is when it clicked for him.

“I can’t just go out and run a couple miles and the weight sheds off me,” he said. “It takes more effort to get in that mode.”

The weight loss, he said, hasn’t robbed him of his strength, but has given him more energy, more focus, and the sun, which has been shining the first two days of camp with increasing humidity, doesn’t sap him as quickly as it did in previous summers.

“It’s one thing to jog around, run around, do a bike, in the offseason to kind of stay in shape, but it’s another thing to play football with that weight,” he said.

His technique has improved, too.

“At the lighter weight, you can’t just (BS) around, and be like I’m 350, they ain’t gonna move me,” he said, “but it’s just kind of like, I gotta be a little bit more technical, I gotta get down, I gotta make sure I stay down, my arms are locked down, my palms are facing the right way.”