This story appears in the Sept. 24–Oct. 1, 2018, issue of Sports Illustrated. For more great storytelling and in-depth analysis, subscribe to the magazine—and get up to 94% off the cover price. Click here for more.
Standing in the middle of a gutted first floor, the smell of fresh paint seeping down from upstairs, the roar of a power sander a few feet away, Brandon Copeland flips open his laptop. "These are my plans for the kitchen," says the 6'3", 263-pound Jets outside linebacker. He taps on the screen to reveal a document with handwritten notes at the top: EAGLES OFFENSE.