Philadelphia native and Eagles RB D'Andre Swift has career game vs. Vikings
PHILADELPHIA – One of the last players to run onto the field during pregame introductions, D'Andre Swift had the proper context added to his name being called.
"From Philadelphia, Number 0," the public address announcer called out "D'Andre Swift."
Philadelphia Eagles fans showered Swift with love and had all night to keep doing that. Swift, acquired on the second day of the 2023 draft from the Detroit Lions, rushed for a career-high 175 yards on 28 carries. Last week, in his Eagles debut, he rushed once for three yards.
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Nothing some (figurative) home cooking can't fix. Swift played his high school ball at local powerhouse St. Joe's and broke a host of the school's rushing records along the way.
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“Everything (Thursday) was amazing," Swift said. "It's a blessing to be back and have the support and the love from the people that I grew up around, went to high school with – a full-circle moment."
For most of the night, Swift needed simply to let the Eagles' offensive line do what they do best and pave the way for him. He averaged 6.3 yards per carry behind them, including a 43-yard dash into the red zone; he scored two plays later to help ice the game.
Swift also had three targets in the passing game, but those plays went for a total of six yards. He said he didn't even realize he set a personal rushing record and needed someone to inform him of the number -- for his own edification, of course.
It was a far cry from hardly being used by head coach Nick Sirianni and first-year offensive coordinator Brian Johnson in Week 1.
“Frustrated? Nah," Swift responded when asked about last week's usage, a 25-20 victory for the Eagles. "We got the win. I wouldn’t say frustrated.
“I didn’t really know what it was going to look like (Thursday), but when we had success early on in the run game, I kind of had a feeling."
Hard not to feel good when you're home – and have the Eagles offensive line blocking for you.