Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Chris Long knows getting back to the mountaintop is no easy feat, but he isn’t buying what former New York Giants head coach Ben McAdoo is selling.

In a recent interview with the New York Post, McAdoo picked his old team, the Giants, to win the division in 2018, in part because he believes the Eagles are going to “have a hard time handling success” coming off their first Super Bowl championship.

“That’s kind of a speculative statement, isn’t it?” said Long during a call on behalf of the Men's Wearhouse Suit Drive. “There’s no science as to who’s going to handle success well or not handle success well. Certainly, no one’s given any indication in our organization that we won’t handle success well. I think it’s a challenge for any team coming off a really great season like we had. That’s why you don’t see a lot of teams repeat. You don’t see a lot of teams back deep in the playoffs. Continuity is one of the hardest things to come by in the NFL.

“Listen, that’s his opinion. We don’t play each other this year, right? At the end of the day, it’s an opinion and he doesn’t have to back that up. I respect his right to have an opinion -- he coached in the NFL -- but I mean, come on, there’s no science to knowing who’s going to handle success well or not.”

As Long mentioned, back-to-back-titles in the NFL are rare, especially of late. Since the turn of the century, only the New England Patriots (2003-04 seasons) have turned the trick.

To give themselves a shot, Long says the Eagles have to distance themselves from the ongoing victory celebration in the City of Brotherly Love.

“Yesterday I watched our fans, rightfully so, shutting down a street to watch the Super Bowl again on the big screen. That’s awesome,” Long said. “But as players we need to separate ourselves from that, and we need to show up and realize we have a target on our back. And the hardest thing is, there’s going to be reminders of how great we were last year all through the summer and even into the fall. They’re going to lower the [championship] banner Week 1. And that is what it is. That has nothing to do with what we do Week 1 or Week 2 or all the way through Week 17. It doesn’t give us a right to play in the postseason. It’s totally irrelevant. But the fans should enjoy it. And we have to separate ourselves from that buzz that’s going on that, deservedly so, the city gets to enjoy.”

Long is helping to raise awareness for the Men’s Wearhouse Suit Drive, which collects gently used men’s and women’s professional attire to help assist unemployed individuals who are trying to get back into the workforce. They are accepting donations through July 31.