Let’s get it back to the Eagles.

Jordan Howard was introduced as a Bird this afternoon, and he wore a shirt/necklace combination that few people can pull off. Howie Roseman acquired the fourth-year running back from the Bears by sending a late-round draft pick (6th or 5th) in the other direction, filling the biggest offensive roster need without giving up too much in the process.

Bullet points from Howard’s press conference:

  • He was not surprised to be traded and knew that Philadelphia was going to be his destination because his agent notified him of Philly’s interest. It was a relief to him to hear official news that the deal had been completed.
  • The Birds are a “hungry” team, a “hungry” franchise.
  • He spent last night with Alshon Jeffery and said Nate Sudfeld reached out to him.

On the decline in production from his rookie season to his third season:

“My rookie season I had a lot of success but we only won three games. That wasn’t fun at all. But since then, last year was probably the most fun I’ve had since I’ve been in the league.”

So.. he really didn’t answer that question. The Bears changed coaches in that time period and their offense looked different schematically last season, even though Howard still got 250 carries, which took him beyond 1,000 yards his first two seasons. He finished with 935 last year and a yards-per-carry number of 3.7, which was down from 4.1 and 5.2 in his first two years with the team.

More after the jump:

  • He isn’t really sure why he was traded, but he isn’t mad about it and has no hard feelings.
  • The Eagles offense has a lot of options, says the team will be hard to stop. Having multiple receiving threats will prevent teams from loading the box to stop the run.
  • He describes himself as a blue collar player in a blue collar city.
  • Howard doesn’t feel like he needs a certain amount of touches to be effective, doesn’t feel like he needs to be  a volume type of guy to contribute.
  • He said he takes pride in protecting the quarterback.
  • Howard said that Matt Nagy liked to spread the ball around in Chicago, which was a difference from how the team operated before he came to town.
  • He said he struggled catching the ball the first two years in the league, says he worked to improve that last year and mentioned that he didn’t drop the ball.
  • RE: Joe Douglas, he says he doesn’t know him really well, says he’s read about the Douglas connection online, the idea that he was involved in drafting him, which I guess is not true or maybe just partially true
  • He says he performed well as a rookie partly because people weren’t familiar with him and hadn’t game-planned for him. He also had three different quarterbacks and says teams defended the Chicago offense differently as a result.
  • Howard is looking forward to not having to run against the Eagles defensive line this season.
  • He takes pride in being durable and staying on the field.
  • He’ll wear #24, which he wore in Chicago.

Full video here: