PHLY Philadelphia Eagles Podcast - Reed Blankenship on the 49ers matchup & his Eagles future

Episode Date: January 7, 2026

Joining the PHLY Eagles Podcast and presented by Bucci Jewelers, Eagles safety Reed Blankenship discusses the Eagles' regular-season finale, the importance of rest and his early thoughts on the playoff matchup with the San Francisco 49ers. Plus, how does it feel to be entering the playoffs as an impending free agent? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

All right, we are back on the P.H.O. White Eagles podcast, very pleased to be joined. Thanks to the good folks at Bucci Jewelers by Reed Blankenship. Reed, how you doing? I'm great, man. How are you? I'm very well. Before we get to the Niners, let's talk just briefly about the game on Sunday. And I guess starting, how do you explain to somebody on the outside the actual physical benefit of getting a week off? Oh, my gosh.

Like, obviously this season's been, he's been a physical season this whole year. I felt like defensively and offensively, going into the last week of the season, having a week off is a tremendous help. People don't realize how much we can get recovery-wise, like, how much the mental break part of it throughout like this whole week we can get. And, you know, going fresh into a playoff game is big time. Not a lot of teams get to have that And we're fortunate enough To be able to be in this position So is it like

You've got like bruises all over your body that are healing Is it like It's the nagging the little The nagging injuries throughout the year That you're like oh like You continuously go to treatment for You're completely off your legs throughout the week You're completely off the film

You're self-scouting at most Like you're watching a couple teams that, you know, you have a chance to play, but you're not in the needy, greedy part of it. You know, you're not stressing yourself out mentally and physically throughout the week. And it's huge, man. Like, it's huge. And I can say that because obviously it's happened. And, you know, outside looking in, I don't, I understand people's frustrations at times,

but it was the best decision possible for sure. Actually, the thing you say about the mental break is also, I think, probably very underrated because yeah i mean this season is such a grind and you know to to get that little break without like fully going away and still being in it a little bit i mean that that does sound yeah i mean throughout the way like the walkthrough is a very it's all mental you know we have walkthroughs throughout the day throughout the week and you go from that to practice and then recovery and you do it all over again and you know you got to give your body a break a few times so so what did happened on the little moment that they caught on the sideline of it looked like after

Brandon Johnson gets hurt you were were you trying to go in were you seeing if they needed you what happened it was more of if they needed me you know obviously I was ready um throughout the week you're not thinking about going in like that um right like I said it's so it's kind of a week off you're away you take yourself out of who the opponent who the opponent is and stuff obviously we played on what a couple weeks ago so it was still fresh on my mind um but yeah it was It's one of those things, like, all right, like, I got to get my mind in game mode, you know, like I had, like pregame, you know, men Cooper was laughing, this, that, the other, you know, chilling. But it was one of those things I had a lot back in real fast and be ready to go. My guy and Brandon Johnson, I felt so bad for him.

He almost had a pick. I know. Like, that play almost had a pick. Oh, that was brutal. Cool for him playing out of position, but yeah, that was tough to watch. Okay, let's move on from that. Two of the Niners. Now, you say you got to do a little bit of scouting ahead of time, maybe last week.

Did you do some work then on the Niners? And what were your first impressions once this matchup got locked in? Yeah, you know, I watched them a little bit, but I feel like I know them to an extent because he played them. I've played them, what, two years since I've been in the league. And, you know, the Shanahan tree and all that, like you hear about with that offense, you know, they're, I mean, they're really good. They have weapons everywhere. They use motions and whether it's eye candy or they use them to actually run plays off of them. So it's definitely going to be a challenge for us.

But like I said, we kind of know who they are. A lot of us that have played them. And we're excited. All of those moving parts that they have and as heavy play action as they are, I mean, I imagine that that falls mostly on, you know, the linebackers and you. So how much work goes into making sure that you don't have any false steps on. Yeah, I mean, you know, it goes just more beyond of what you're anticipating route-wise. You know, just because I'm in the secondary doesn't mean I'm not there for the run. You know, I got to read run pass.

I got to see what the tackle guard, the uncovered O-Lignment is, what he's doing. And also, like, I mean, linebackers too, like Zach and stuff, we've got to be on the same page for certain things. We got to see things the same way. And, I mean, that goes, that starts, you know, yesterday and today. And definitely starts tomorrow when we put the pads back on and get out on the practice field. Now, last thing from the game itself before we move on a little bit is Jalix. I mean, he's got more. No one's ever left the team in snacks and interceptions before.

Hey, man. I'm kind of jealous of them right now, honestly. I got one pick, man. Give me some. I'm going to free agency. Give me some. Come on. I need that.

No, he's, I mean, he's been bawling. I mean, he's been bawling his tail off this whole season. Just a high motor energy guy, you know. Like, you want him on your team for sure. Is there a guy on the defense who you feel like just in general doesn't get enough credit for how important they are? I mean, there's a lot of guys. I mean, a lot of guys answer the bill when everybody else is getting the credit. but I mean, I mean, Jordan Davis has, I mean, he's been bawling, dude.

And I know he's going to be getting, he's still been getting some credit, but he's legit been, he's been it, man. One thing we've been talking about this week in this matchup in particular, you know, knowing that the Niners want to run the ball, is you guys play those, you know, light boxes more than anybody in the NFL. First and second down, six men in the box. you guys are in that more often than anybody else and yet you've been very good against the run

and to me I feel like the two keys to that are Jordan in the middle being as much of a wrecker as he is and then and then Cooper being like allowing you guys to stay in that and being so close to the line of scrimmage and being as good against the run as he is. Is that fair? No, that's you pretty much hit the

you hit it man that's it. I mean Cooper can play anywhere honestly I mean he can play linebacker too so having that ability I mean, that's huge. All right. Last thing for you is just the playoffs are very romantic, right? Like you spend all year long, you show up in the spring, you put in all this work to get ready for training camp, to then get ready for the regular season, which you know is going to be a grind.

And it's all in service of getting to now. And we know that that's very weighty. It's going to feel different on the field. But for you also, knowing in the back of your mind that any game now could potentially be your last as an eagle, like do you? Yeah, that's sad, man. Do you feel that at all? Like is that you try to keep it out of? Should I not say anything?

Yeah, I guess you should. Yeah, don't say anything because I haven't even thought about that until obviously now. Yeah, it's tough. I mean, I'm saying the emotional part, but like they, Eagles, they took me in and they gave me the opportunity. But yeah, I ain't trying to think about that right now. I don't want to get into the sad part of it. But, yeah, it's, let's not let this be my last time. for sure.

Do you feel like as the week goes on that a playoff week is different than a regular season week? Yeah, I mean, it's win or go home, you know, and obviously a lot of us have been in this situation, and we know what it takes to continue that process, and we got to carry all the other guys that haven't been in this position with us. But yeah, we're just going to, you know, keep doing what we've been doing and not overthink, you know, once you start overthinking things, then I feel like you're going to make more mistakes, so we just need to play our game.

All right, well, we can't wait to see how it turns. out on Sunday. Everybody check out this week's episode of exciting mics. Thank you to read blanket chip. Thank you to Bucci Jewelers for making it happen. Back with more on the PHLY Eagles podcast.