Philadelphia Eagles star cornerback James Bradberry was minding his own business earlier this week when San Francisco 49ers All-Pro wide receiver threw yet another stray in his direction.
Samuel doubled down on his comments from after January’s NFC Championship Game in which he called Bradberry “trash.”
“I don’t regret nothing I said,” Samuel said earlier in the week.
With Philadelphia set to host San Francisco in a rematch of the aforementioned conference title game, Bradberry decided to respond to Samuel’s comments. He took a more diplomatic route than his counterpart.
“Of course, I don’t necessarily like what he said. I wish he would have used a better word to describe my play, but it is what it is. At the end of the day, all I can do is control my work ethic and what I do day to day,” Bradberry said, via Dave Zangaro of NBC Sports Philadelphia.
This is just a continuation of the back-and-forth between Philadelphia and San Francisco since the Eagles defeated their counterparts by the score of 31-7 in January.
That game was defined by 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy going down on their first possession with an elbow injury. While he returned to the game later after backup Josh Johnson went down, Purdy could not throw a forward pass.
He ultimately underwent offseason elbow surgery before returning as good as ever in time for the 2023 season. For many 49ers players, Purdy’s injury was the primary reason they did not advance to the Super Bowl.
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Trash talk continues between Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers
Bradberry might have taken the diplomatic route in response to Samuel. But the same thing can’t be said for fellow Eagles defender Haason Reddick earlier in the week.
“Talk is cheap. They get to come back in the Linc. It was a lot of boo hoos last year, a lot of crying, a lot of what if, a lot of this, a lot of that,” Reddick said. “They get a chance to come back in here, line that s**t up and prove it again.”
Sunday’s game between the Eagles and 49ers is absolutely huge. Philadelphia boasts a 10-1 record on the season and can pretty much eliminate San Francisco from earning home-field advantage in the NFC Playoffs. A win by the 8-3 49ers would make this a major battle heading down the stretch.
Given the magnitude of the game and the bad blood between the two sides, we can expect tempers to flare early and often in this one.
Philly currently finds itself as 2.5-point home favorites. Get your popcorn out. This is going to be something.