"You have to earn your job, and just because you have the job on Day 1 does not mean you'll have the job in Week 16," the Eagles' defensive coordinator said at the end of August. "You have to earn that role and earn that job every week with your performance."

At the time, rookie Victor "Macho" Harris was in the process of taking away the starting free safety position from Quintin Demps, and veteran Omar Gaither, despite an injury, was wrestling the starting middle linebacker job away from Joe Mays.

Now, here we are in Week 9, and everything is different.

The biggest beneficiary appears to be veteran Sean Jones, who signed with the team as a free agent in the off-season, then never really got a chance to be a starter during the preseason. Instead of being bitter, Jones concentrated on getting better.

"I don't think the confidence has ever been lacking," Jones said Monday after making his first start of the season at free safety. "I was new and it's a long season, so I knew my time would be coming in the future. I just wanted to be ready for that time when it came."

Jones finished Sunday's win over the New York Giants with six tackles, including a violent takedown of 264-pound running back Brandon Jacobs for a 1-yard loss in the third quarter.

McDermott said it took Jones some time to get on the field because he needed to learn the Eagles' defensive system.

"He came in as a seasoned veteran player, but he had only been in one system," McDermott said. "If you looked back over the history of this defense, it takes some time . . . to master the defensive scheme because of how expansive it is. Sean is still working in that direction, but I felt like he had a tremendous attitude.

"You're talking about a veteran player who a rookie started in place of the first couple weeks and he kept a positive attitude and approach. From a coach's standpoint, you appreciate that. Then when he got his chances on the field, he made the most of those opportunities. Anytime you make plays when given an opportunity, there's a good chance you're going to be given more opportunities."

Jones said he saw no sense in getting upset when Harris and Demps were given the first shots to start at free safety.

"At the end of the day, I didn't really have control over it," he said. "All I can do is do my job and do it to the best of my ability. Macho is a great athlete and tremendous player, and so is Quintin Demps."

Demps also got a chance to get back on the field against the Giants, and he came up with his first career interception.

"I mentioned to Quintin in the cafeteria at breakfast last week how much we appreciated the way he went about things," McDermott said. "He could have gotten very down and instead he has been a consummate professional."

Harris is expected to return from an ankle injury this week, but he may not be returning to the starting lineup. If not, the good news for the rookie is the competition for the starting job at free safety is still on.

McNabb nominated. Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb is one of the finalists for the FedEx Air NFL Player of the Week award after throwing three touchdowns in his team's win over the Giants. Minnesota's Brett Favre and Dallas' Tony Romo are the other two finalists. Fans can vote at NFL.com/FedEx until noon Friday.