In the regular season home final on December 23, 2018, Jordan Hicks started as a linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles by winning 32-30 over the Houston Texans. Since then, Hicks hasn’t been on the pitch at Lincoln Financial Field.
This will change on Monday evening. Hicks, who played for the Arizona Cardinals from 2019-21 before signing the Vikings last March, will be in the starting lineup in Philadelphia.
“I’m very excited,” Hicks said Thursday, a third-round pick for the Eagles in 2018 who played his first four seasons with them. “I am thrilled to see the city, to play in that stadium. I’m sure it will bring back a lot of memories, but I’ll be on the other side and feel what it’s like to be an away team playing there. ”
When asked about his favorite memory of the Eagles, Hicks didn’t hesitate to say it was their 41-33 victory over New England in Super Bowl LII at US Bank Stadium in February 2018.
Hicks didn’t actually play in that game, having been lost for the season due to an ankle injury in October 2017. But he still has memories of that championship run.
“No matter how disappointed I was (for losing the Super Bowl), I was still an important part of that team,” he said.
With that in mind, Hicks said it was a little emotional when Vikings trained at US Bank Stadium on July 29, his first visit there since that Super Bowl.
On Sunday, the home linebacker made his regular season debut for Vikings at US Bank Stadium, and it went well. In a 23-7 win over Green Bay, he landed a record 14 tackles for the team, including forcing a fumble over Aaron Rodgers’ sack in the third quarter which was recovered by defender Dalvin Tomlinson.
“Solid,” Hicks said of his debut. “There are always things to clean. It’s never a perfect game, but I felt comfortable out there. Defensive communication was good with (fellow inside linebacker Eric Kendricks) and the rest of the guys. ”
Minnesota freshman coach Kevin O’Connell appreciated what he saw from Hicks against the Packers. He was one of four key free agents Vikings signed during the off-season to rebuild their defense, the others being edge rusher Za’Darius Smith, nose tackle Harrison Phillips and nickel back Chandon Sullivan.
“I expected him to fly around schematically healthily doing his job, working hand-in-hand with (Kendricks), ” O’Connell said. We ask those guys a lot about our defense, but I really enjoyed the physicality with which he played. Sometimes he showed up at the ball with violence “.
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