The Philadelphia Eagles moved up five spots to select Utah defensive back Eric Rowe with the 47th overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft.
Rowe was competing for a staring job in the Eagles secondary, but a poor preseason resulted in a spot on the bench. He made his first appearance on defensive in a Week 3 against the New York Jets after Chris Maragos left the game with a knee injury. Rowe made a huge impact in his first game, intercepting Ryan Fitzpatrick in the second half to help secure an Eagles 24-17 victory.
In the next game, Rowe played in majority of the Eagles defensive snaps in Week 4 against the Washington Redskins. He was called for a pass-interference in that game, which helped the Redskins score a touchdown.
After that game, Rowe's playing time began to decrease. He played just 14 defensive snaps in Week 5 against the New Orleans Saints.
Rowe has been active on the Eagles roster for games as a special teams player, but hasn't played on defensive since that game against New Orleans.
"Yeah, it's frustrating," Rowe said via Reuben Frank of CSN Philly. "I'm sure I'm not the only going through it, but that's just how it is. We've got some really good guys ahead of me, guys who've been in the league a long time, so I just have to be patient, keep pushing, keep competing and keep getting better so when the time does come, I'm ready to go out there and play at a high level."
As Eagles defensive coordinator Bill Davis alluded to during a press conference this week, Rowe's patience over the past six weeks may finally pay off this week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
"He's doing well in practice," Davis said. "He continues to grow and learn the scheme. I think we're bringing him along at the right pace. In the second half of the season, I think think you'll see him play more and more."
Maragos, the man who has been playing ahead of Rowe, allowed a 36-yard reception to running back Lamar Miller in the opening drive of the Eagles 20-19 loss to the Miami Dolphins last week.
Rowe was caught off guard when he heard that Davis was going to give him more snaps in the final seven games of the regular season, but he is ready to make the best of the opportunity.
"I'm ready if they ask me to take on more of a load," Rowe said, "I'm ready. I'm always prepared. Always study the gameplan just in case."
Although he hasn't spent much time on the field, Rowe says that he has learned at lot in recent weeks by simply observing the game from the sidelines.
"There are a lot more tools I feel like I can use now that I feel like I didn't understand earlier in the year and in the preseason," he said. "So I feel like I've gotten a lot better even though I haven't been playing."
Michael Malia is a contributing intern for Eagledelphia. Follow him on Facebook (Michael Malia) or Twitter @Michael_Malia.
