Reid Speaks

Posted: January 31st, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 43 Comments »

Andy finally spoke up today.  He had put off his his first offseason PC as long as possible.  As it turns out, I’m glad he did.

Andy wasn’t Andy.  He was some other guy.  Lurie mentioned at his PC that he thought Andy could do a better job of dealing with the media.  I’m guessing Andy got the message.  This isn’t likely to change postgame PCs, but today was actually worthwhile.

Andy told us that he did make a job offer to Steve Spagnuolo.  Andy didn’t get into titles and specifics, but said that Spags would have been fine working with Juan Castillo and Jim Washburn.  Frankly, I was shocked for Andy to admit he offered a job to Spags.  That’s not the Eagles MO.  They just don’t give out information.

Beyond that, Reid didn’t say anything dramatic or all that surprising.  It was just good to see him taking questions and making an honest effort to answer them.  Well, most of them at least.  He did gloss over a couple of topics that weren’t so simple.     

Andy said that that there is going to be a strong group of free agents and the Eagles would be aggressive there and in the draft.  I don’t think you should expect a ton of moves, but the team will target a couple of key guys and go after them.

Reid said that he and Howie were working through offseason plans.  They’re trying to figure out which players to target and also what to do about Eagles players who are free agents.  Andy was somewhat frank about DeSean, saying that he could have handled some things better, but that he did do things the right way at the end of the season.

One interesting nugget was that Andy mentioned the need for better production from the return game.  Normally this is something he would gloss over casually, but that comment makes you think they’ll address RS a bit more aggressively.  Last summer they brought in Johnnie Lee Higgins to battle for a roster spot, knowing that DeSean and Chad Hall were already in place.

Reid didn’t say a whole lot about Castillo and the defense that I found all that enlightening.  He did mention that one of the reasons you bring in an assistant like Todd Bowles is so that you can benefit from his background/experience by having Castillo bounce ideas off him.  And he mentioned that Juan is smart enough to value having a resource like Bowles to use.

Castillo had an informal get-together with the media afterward.  It was painful.  The only good comment he had was when talking about gameplans.  Juan mentioned that under JJ all the assistants would contribute (Rivera, Brasher, Frazier, etc.).  Juan explained that’s the way it is done now as well…a group effort.  I do think too many people imagine one guy sitting in a room trying to come up with some genius plan.  That’s not football.  You get a group of guys working out a plan.  Notice that even JJ’s best defenses came when he had a great set of assistants (2000-02).  After that, the group was more up and down.

Chris McPherson of PE..com asked a great question about player evaluation.  That is an area with Castillo where I’m definitely concerned.  Unfortunately, Castillo didn’t answer it.  Someone then followed up with the topic again and he missed it.  The defense doesn’t need a lot, but finding the right MLB and SAM are important.  Based on Juan’s projections for Chaney, Matthews, and DRC in the slot, you can raise the serious question of his ability to project personnel to roles.

He did get better in this area by the end of the season so it isn’t a lost cause.  Juan learned some lessons.  I’d definitely like him to address the topic, but I’m afraid I’ll have to settle for:

Fast
Physical
Dinner with the Matthews family
Fundamentals
Hard work
22 hours a day
For Coach Reid
For the city of Philadelphia
Fundamentals
Fast
Physical
Super Bowl
Hard work
Family

I hope he does a terrific job with the defense this year, but no matter what, my ears and brain are going to take a pounding every time he gets in front of a microphone.  Isn’t this against the Geneva Convention or something like that?


43 Comments on “Reid Speaks”

  1. 1 Joe Malone said at 11:32 PM on January 31st, 2012:

    It really makes me wonder what the term “agressive” means about free agency. I guess all’s I can do is cross my fingers and pray every day that Curtis Lofton some how hits free agency. The eagles have to go after him right?…Right?

  2. 2 Anonymous said at 7:17 AM on February 1st, 2012:

    The Eagles have shown they will be aggressive in FA. Think about last season. We didn’t just add a
    veteran CB, we targeted the BEST corner AND made a trade for a solid, young CB. That’s aggressive.

    I actually like their strategy. They pick specific players and go after them, as opposed to throwing everything at a position and hoping someone sticks. I don’t want to end up with the 3rd of 4th best MLB in FA. That guy’s probably not a good fit or worth it.

  3. 3 Anonymous said at 11:43 PM on January 31st, 2012:

    And they say we don’t need the media! Without reporters and bloggers and others willing to take the bullet for the fans, we’d have to listen to that ourselves.

    Good point re: Castillo and putting personnel in the wrong places. The only encouraging thing is that after 5 or so games, he eventually had the right SAM, MIKE, WILL, FS and SS out there, and maybe it was injuries, but we had the right players in the slot too. Maybe with the benefit of a full offseason to better get to know his personnel, and with Bowles, he’ll make the right decisions from the start this time around.

  4. 4 Scott Buchanan said at 12:26 AM on February 1st, 2012:

    With Vick at QB we arent going anywhere anyway…Maybe a playoff game but thats it

  5. 5 Anonymous said at 8:18 AM on February 1st, 2012:

    Yup

  6. 6 Zachary said at 11:03 AM on February 1st, 2012:

    I hate to admitt it – but I agree.

    I want them to add as much to the offense as possible, to cover up what Vick lacks, in my mind it’s our only hope.

  7. 7 Eric Weaver said at 7:17 AM on February 1st, 2012:

    http://audio.weei.com/device/mobile/a/51417774/rodney-harrison-throws-asante-samuel-under-the-bus-for-legendary-david-tyree-catch.htm?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

  8. 8 Anonymous said at 7:35 AM on February 1st, 2012:

    I think the very act of being an Eagles fan violates the Geneva Convention.

  9. 9 Anonymous said at 11:31 AM on February 1st, 2012:

    It certainly goes against common sense. 🙂

  10. 10 Christopher Miller said at 8:58 AM on February 1st, 2012:

    I think most of us would be happier if there were less JC and MM press conferences and more Wash and Mudd press conferences.

  11. 11 Anonymous said at 11:30 AM on February 1st, 2012:

    Yes.

  12. 12 Alex Karklins said at 1:07 PM on February 1st, 2012:

    Put them up there together and I imagine it would be some Jack Lemmon/Walter Matthau type magic.

  13. 13 Anonymous said at 9:33 AM on February 1st, 2012:

    It was funny/painful watching Reid acknowledge the offer to Spags but then try to gloss over the issue of titles. Does he want us to believe it was just some kind of generalized, murky offer to come back and see what he and Juan could cook up together?? You can see why he doesn’t want to reveal anything. Once you reveal a little, then you have to reveal a little more, and he’s clearly not comfortable with any of it.

  14. 14 Anonymous said at 9:49 AM on February 1st, 2012:

    I hope “agressive” translates into Curtis Lofton, Jason Jones and Stevie Johnson.

  15. 15 Septhinox said at 11:18 AM on February 1st, 2012:

    Tommy, would you rather have Stevie Johnson, Vincent Jackson or Desean?

  16. 16 Anonymous said at 11:25 AM on February 1st, 2012:

    I’m working through stuff like that. Will be doing some FA study soon. Still in draft mode for now. Probably switch up a bit this weekend.

  17. 17 Septhinox said at 12:11 PM on February 1st, 2012:

    Thanks. Will be looking forward to it!!

  18. 18 Sjampen said at 11:37 AM on February 1st, 2012:

    To me thats a nobrainer. DeSean doesn’t seem to understand that he is not a 10 mil a year guy, so he is gone. Vincent is old, so i want Stevie Johnson. The guy is fast and almost as good as DeSean to stretch the field, but is much better on short routes, over the middle and in the Red Zone. He is just 25 like DeSean, and i see his only problem is that he drops balls, although not as many as DeSean.

    When DeSean was red-hot i loved him as a player, but we haven’t seen that DeSean in a long time. I lost a lot for DeSean as a person, and he just doesn’t seem like the guy i would pay that much. I don’t know how Stevie Johnson have been acting, but i haven’t heard anything.

  19. 19 Anonymous said at 1:13 PM on February 1st, 2012:

    Buffalo fans love the guy. He is great in the community and well liked in the locker room.

  20. 20 Anonymous said at 12:21 PM on February 1st, 2012:

    I would take Stevie, Desean – Small, injury prone, and pretty one dimentional Vincent Jackson, 29 Y/O – injury prone Stevie – Will drop the occational ball, but the best corner in the league (Revis) struggles against him, he is big (6’2) and fast, plays with a chip on his shoulder and age (25)isnt an issue. Plus he arguably has the best TD celebrations in the league.

  21. 21 Zachary said at 1:27 PM on February 1st, 2012:

    Like JR – I think I’d go Stevie Johnson at the moment. He’s got a good size speexd combo. I don’t trust DeSean to have great speed forever, not that I’d be disappointed in his return.

    Count me out on VJACK. I don’t love his speed. I’ve watched some of his games, and while he’s got amazing speed for a man of his size, I don’t think he gets the seperation I think someone would need to play WR for Vick. Rivers and Vick are worlds apart in terms of accuracy.

  22. 22 Jeppe Elmelund van Ee said at 11:22 AM on February 1st, 2012:

    Tommy,

    How would Trent Edwards fit in our scheme? Would you be satisfied if he is the backup in 2012?

  23. 23 Anonymous said at 11:30 AM on February 1st, 2012:

    Very mixed feelings. Liked him coming out of college. Did some good things in the NFL. Took a big hit vs ARZ a few years back and that really affected him. Became very inconsistent after that. Didn’t help that he had so-so coaching, sloppy blocking, and less than ideal weapons. Plus, Dick Jauron’s playbook was incredibly simplistic. QBs need some scheme help.

    Could be a good reclamation project. Could be a waste of time. Not sure.

  24. 24 Anonymous said at 12:22 PM on February 1st, 2012:

    Couldnt be any worse that VY….

  25. 25 Jeppe Elmelund van Ee said at 12:43 PM on February 1st, 2012:

    What does it say about the Eagles faith in Kafka? I mean, I would expect Kafka to be just as good, if not better than Edwards after 3 years learning our system…

  26. 26 Eric Weaver said at 12:55 PM on February 1st, 2012:

    If Kolb is released, I don’t see how Andy wouldn’t embrace him.

  27. 27 Anonymous said at 11:13 PM on February 1st, 2012:

    That would be awesome; but would Kolb want to be a backup? And wouldn’t Arizona, after giving up DRC and a 2, want to give it another shot with ol’ KK?

    I understand you don’t throw good money after bad, and they won more with Skelton in there, but if they believed in him enough to give him a $63.5 million deal, they likely believe he can still lead them.

  28. 28 Eric Weaver said at 11:34 PM on February 1st, 2012:

    Sorry, that was under the assumption they signed Peyton Manning. Also assuming he’s released.

  29. 29 Anonymous said at 11:24 AM on February 1st, 2012:

    Did anyone chart the amount of times Andy said “listen” yesterday. I think most people stopped listening years ago. I am more or less okay with how the DC situation has played out, and I hope that some stability, as well as the rare move of bringing in some fresh blood to the staff, will move the defense int he right direction.

    Tommy, do you have any idea what the hierarchy is with this defense. Who is THE main guy the makes this ship run. Does it all come down to Washburn and the wide-9, and that is why we ended up with Juan in the first place? It’s basically been acknowledged that Juan wasn’t our first choice DC, so is the Washburn affect really that big of any issue? On the same topic, Peter King mentioned that he heard Spags was reluctant to work with Washburn, so I just really wonder on how many other teams the D Line coach pretty much dictates everything that happens with the rest of the D. It just seems ass-backward to me. I honestly don’t know the answer, but what has the wide-9 ever won anything, besides maybe a few sack titles? Also with all those sacks, you’d think our D Lineman might get a little better at perfecting the art of the strip sack…

    I wanted to let this process play out, but in the end I am still so confused with whose really running the show on D. I guess when we brought in Washburn we had to commit to him and his scheme, but by bringing him in do you think we realized that our options for DC would be so limited? Is it more a personnel issue that coaches would be hesitant about? If you have any more insight, not necesarilly on why we didn’t fire Juan, but just how the show is run on the defensive side of the ball I’d love to hear it.

    /Rant over

  30. 30 ike said at 12:22 PM on February 1st, 2012:

    I’m beginning to think that on November 19, 1978, the Eagles franchise used up every bit of its good fortune to win a game with a true miracle.

    Someone asked a few posts back why the ball never seemed to bounce the Eagles’ way in the post-season. I think 11/19/78 is the answer . . . all the karma’s used up.

  31. 31 Steve H said at 1:00 PM on February 1st, 2012:

    I might be in the minority here but I was never bothered by Reids ho hum press conferences. I felt like if he thought it was in the teams best interest to play his cards close to his chest then that was ok with me, PC’s were never a point of interest for me anyhow.

  32. 32 Anonymous said at 1:39 PM on February 1st, 2012:

    i agree. who cares. what happened is the philly media hates that AR is like this because it makes their job more difficult. so what they do is say stuff like “when AR doesnt give us better PC’s he is disrespecting the fans”. thats the dumbest thing i ever heard

  33. 33 Steve H said at 2:29 PM on February 1st, 2012:

    Yeah I never really followed that either. I would think the fans would want him to do whats in the best interest of the team, but I think we’re in the minority on this one.

  34. 34 Anonymous said at 5:01 PM on February 1st, 2012:

    exactly.

    not to mention certain media just use everything against them. banner probably curses the day he said “the def of insanity”. or if reid says “there were some positive things we can take out of the game even tho we lost”, they say, “reid doesnt care if he wins”.

    its just so corny and people need to learn how to back their team. i would do exactly what he does, give them nothing. a wise man once told me AR is just like the honey badger, he is bad a$$

  35. 35 Anonymous said at 11:26 PM on February 1st, 2012:

    I don’t think you’re in the minority on it at all, at least if people thought rationally about it.

    People who hate Reid for other reasons like to use his press conference demeanor or the feeling that he’s “arrogant” to bash him. Works fine for Belichick, and if Reid had Belichick’s Super Bowl success, Philly fans would give him a pass too.

  36. 36 Anonymous said at 1:36 PM on February 1st, 2012:

    dude i dont know what it is but when i hear Juan speak i feel like he has no clue what he is doing. i know that its just the way he sounds to me.

    i remember when it was first announced he would be the guy. i hated it and then cuz i trust in reid i thought maybe its genius. then i heard him talk to the media and i almost threw up, he sounded terrible.

  37. 37 Mac said at 2:45 PM on February 1st, 2012:

    Maybe he can just start answering questions in a different language like Hebrew or Gaelic or something…

  38. 38 Anonymous said at 4:57 PM on February 1st, 2012:

    as long as its a language that i dont understand

  39. 39 Zachary said at 2:45 PM on February 1st, 2012:

    Tommy,

    You mentioned a replacement for Schmidt – and suggestion LeRon McCalin – from what I remember about his time in Baltimore – is they didn’t think he was much of a threat in the passing game and not a great blocker….but I ntocied Jason Snelling is a UFA as well, he seems more the Weaver mold to me….thoughts on Snelling?

  40. 40 ike said at 3:49 PM on February 1st, 2012:

    Jason Snelling takes snaps at half back for the Falcons (single-back set). He’s very good as a receiver out of the backfield. Pretty solid on blitz pickup. And a capable lead blocker. Though he’s better runner than blocker (IMO).

    There are games (I live in ATL) where Snelling, given the chance, has really sparkled.

    He’d be a great addition . . . at the right price . . . to play the occasional lead back and single back to relieve McCoy.

    The Eagles really don’t appear to need a power back anymore, though. No one in the NFL seems as good as McCoy in short yardage.

    But it’d be nice to have a skilled, big back who can catch and block to relieve McCoy.

    I think Snelling’s too expensive just to do that. And the Falcons would be foolish to let him go. Michael Turner’s added a lot of wear and tear in the last 3 years. Snelling’s really a key guy for them. And could do more.

  41. 41 Anonymous said at 11:41 PM on February 1st, 2012:

    I like Snelling too, and good point, Atlanta should try to keep him. Turner played 5 or 6 bit-part seasons in San Diego too, he can’t have too much tread left on the tires.

  42. 42 Anonymous said at 11:26 PM on February 1st, 2012:

    i was happy to hear that he felt support when he was out in public. the guy has done so much for the team. i hope it was true. speaks about the true nature of the fans.

  43. 43 Craig said at 11:58 PM on February 1st, 2012:

    Tommy,

    Earlier in the day, Channing Crowder mentioned his return to the NFL. I don’t know much about him as a player honestly, other than the fact that he was known as the loquacious trash talker who never stopped running his mouth. I’ve tried lurking around a few Phins’ blogs to get info on him, but all I read are bitter things. Now personally, I would definitely rather have Hawthorne or Kuechly (since I believe Lofton and Tulloch are out of reach), but it wouldn’t hurt to at least ask about Crowder. Do you know anything about him?