Wednesday’s Practice
Posted: June 6th, 2013 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 41 Comments »The Eagles had Day 2 of their mandatory minicamp on Wednesday. Quick points of interest:
* DL Cedric Thornton didn’t participate in team work. This had nothing to do with Cary Williams’ sconces. Thornton has a quad injury. If there were a depth chart, Thornton would likely still be listed as a starter.
* S Earl Wolff got some reps with the 1’s. This isn’t a huge deal, but is definitely worth noting. I don’t think he’s likely to push for playing time this year, but I would love to be wrong.
* Chip Kelly mentioned in his talk with the media that Shady, Brown and Polk all have similar weights. I think he said Shady was 212 and Brown 218. There was a report the other day that Polk had also lost weight to get quicker/faster. Kelly said this wasn’t by design. I don’t know if anyone on the staff got with guys to give them suggested weights or they all want to be faster to fit the offense. RB is going to be a highly competitive spot this year.
Enough of my yapping. Let’s go see what practice gurus Bama and Kapadia had to say.
Great stuff from both guys.
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Jimmy, being the sneaky, mean person that he is, decided to throw a pop quiz at some Eagles defenders on the Swinging Gate. That is something Kelly did at Oregon on extra point attempt. Jimmy explains what it is and if Eagles players knew what was going on. Interesting read.
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The Eagles made some scouting changes. I’ll cover all that stuff next week when there is no news and we can discuss it properly. No reason for it to get lost in the shuffle.
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Michael Vick mentioned the other day that Chip Kelly showed him how to correctly hold the football. Vick said this is the first time he’s really been coached on that and paid attention. Chip was asked about this and was deferential, saying that he was sure Dan Reeves had taught Vick this back as a rookie. That was Chip’s way of not insulting Vick’s prior coaches. 2 of them, Reeves and Andy Reid, took teams to the Super Bowl and won a lot of games. The key here is that Chip aggressively pushed his coaching on Vick and that Vick had to listen since he is in the middle of a QB competition.
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Vick was on the NFL Network and admitted that he doesn’t know where he stands in the competition. Good. That’s not an anti-Vick comment. I don’t want any of the guys to feel they are closing in on the job. We’re better off if the QBs are uncertain and feel they still have a lot to prove in order to win the job.
Uncertainty can be a good thing.
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I was asked in the previous comments section about why I don’t move to Philly so I can cover practices.
The simple answer is…a job.
If I could get paid to cover the Eagles, I’d gladly move to Philly.
My “media empire” has grown, but IgglesBlitz, ScoutsNotebook, and EaglesBlog don’t make enough money to live on unless I study up on Bear Grylls and head to the woods of Delaware. Or if I could find a place like this around Philly.
You guys are very generous with the PayPal donations and I’m eternally grateful, but that pays for the Senior Bowl trip and covers some costs. Again, it isn’t close to being enough to live off. I’m not a man of fancy tastes, but the bills must get paid. Pudding and PBR aren’t free.
The problem with just moving up there and getting a standard job is that it would be hard to have the ability to take off to go to practice during the spring and summer.
I’m certainly open to suggestions or ideas. If anyone wants to share winning lottery numbers, that would be acceptable as well.
As far as practice notes go, Jimmy and Sheil do a fantastic job. They actually might be better than I would, at least initially. Those guys have been to lots of Eagles practices. I haven’t been to an Eagles practice in years. Practice is much different than a game. You are watching individual groups all go at once. In the team drills, you have 14 to 22 Eagles to watch, all at once. That can be a bit overwhelming. It takes time to get used to watching practice and being able to see things. There is a reason the coaches tape them and then study the action. Even those guys struggle to see everything.
Hopefully one of these days I’ll get to cover the Eagles full time. Until then, we’re lucky to have Jimmy, Sheil and the other beat writers offering the info that they do.
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Tommy, do you think Geathers will actually play a significant role in the birds defense?? Seems like he’s getting decent reps, not just a body as I thought when they got him.
We have to be cautious. Indy traded him for Stanley Havili. That still has me confused. What didn’t they like?
That said, I love his size and potential. Can’t wait to see him with the pads on.
Chip seemed to talk Clifton up rather nicely yesterday..
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J. Peters: “The injury didnt set me back at all. Im out there, and Im going to play just like I have been playing. If not, I’ll just hang the helmet up”
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The confidence level sorrounding Peters has to be the biggest story of the offseason for us. Very excited to get the Bawss Hog back….How good do you have to be as a friggin Olinemen, to be as beloved as that dude is? No one wants to watch a typical lineman, yet I could forget the skill position players and watch Peters all game long. Brilliant Player, special player…cant wait to see how his legacy is remembered….. can anyone say they would take a Jonathon Ogden over JP? The stuff JP can do is just so rare.
For me Jimmy and Sheil do a good job of reporting what’s going on without too much insight. And Tommy being the one that analyses and thinks everything from multiple angles and provides us with more in-depth opinions and ideas.
And obviously we’d all like to see Tommy get paid full time to do what he does so well… we should start a movement on social media to get Tommy hired full time with pe.com…
There just aren’t a lot of paying media gigs these days. Tommy might actually be better off doing his own thing on the side until he’s a “brand” that gets scooped up by CSN or whatever. As he says, the PBR doesn’t pay for itself.
On to your other point, I’ve been very impressed by Sheil’s work this offseason. Jimmy is also very informative. The analysis is hard to do in a mini-camp, which makes Tommy’s work all the more impressive.
Sheil has grown into his job and is doing it well. Jimmy is great. Tommy, well, we all know he’s the best.
Two parter, Tommy. 1) Do you think there’s a certain time when a starting QB should be named? Before training camp? Before the preseason?
2) IF Foles wins the job, do you think it’s likely Vick is gone? Seems like a lot of money for a backup. And if Vick can’t win the job, it might be best to just cut him and finally end his run here.
1. I think the starter must be in place by the 3rd PS game. That’s when the starters play 3 full quarters.
2. Such a tough question. Do you pay Vick $3.5M to be a backup? Counter to that is, do you cut him if you think you have a team that can compete for the playoffs?
Real key to me is how he plays. If he’s good, but Foles is better, you might keep both. If Vick struggles, you cut him.
Indeed, if he plays well but not well enough for the starting gig, we’re still one injury away from needing him… unless he ends up being the 3rd best QB of course…
I think the other significant key to this question would be how well Barkley plays. There’s no question Vick would be an overpayed backup, but in the NFL, you absolutely need a backup QB that can be a spot starter. Giving that responsibility to Barkley can’t be purely based on money, so he’ll have to earn that role before the Eagles could entertain cutting (or trading) Vick.
Sal Pal’s notes from Tues practice were that Barkley’s lack of arm strength is not a myth..”Throws outside the hash’s take forever to get there”. That to me sounds like he needs atleast a year to develope his NFL arm
Its funny how two reporters can watch the same guy throw and come to opposite conclusions right? My take is that Sal Pal is comparing Barkley to Vick and if you do that every fucking QB in the NFL looks like they got a weak arm sans Rodgers and Kaepernick
I am certainly rooting for YOUR TAKE Anders!
I dont think there is any chance a QB gets named before the 3rd preseason game. Foles and Vick will each get to start a preseason game before a starter is named.
We don’t pay anyone to be a backup, Lurie does 😉
Seriously though, if they aren’t going to use the money on anyone else, who cares? Lurie has proven that his first priority is winning, not saving a few million dollars under the cap. We’ve got a great owner. I doubt he is going to demand a player cut, even of a backup, to save money if there aren’t cap issues that make it an issue.
If they do cut him for money, it will be because they want to use that money for extensions and other salary cap magic.
You’re putting too much emphasis on Lurie’s role here. He does not micro-manage his football team, he has given the keys to Howie and Chip. Howie is a cap wizard, so I would not be so quick to balk at the idea of trying to save 3.5 mil. We’re 25 mil under the cap right now for a reason. They may not cut him for pure money reasons, but they will cut him if they do not feel they are getting value for their money.
Lurie decides nothing when it comes to the cap. The cap is all Howie.
I’m firmly in the camp that believes Vick will still be an Eagle in Week 17 of 2013. I don’t think he’ll be starting. I don’t think he’ll be back in 2014.
But there’s no real benefit from a cap perspective of cutting Vick in 2013. All the big money free agents have already been signed. His deal is structured to minimize dead money in 2014+.
I just can’t imagine a scenario where Vick gets outright cut from the team in 2013.
The only scenario where I could see cutting Vick is if Chip decides to go with only 2 QBs on the 53-man roster. Then it makes sense to keep your two long-term options around.
I could see Vick being traded in August, but not so much being cut
The one thing I think was particularly interesting about Wolff playing with the 1’s was that he was playing alongside Chung, so presumably at FS in Allen’s spot. Obviously it is way to early to question Allen and/or Phillips, but I do think it’s interesting that the first time we see Wolff with the 1s is not at SS, where I think most of us believe he is better suited for. It could indicate that they view the two spots relatively similarly.
Wolff says he wants to challenge Boykin for his dunk contest crown lol
To say nothing of the Eagles charity basketball team. Maybe that’s the REAL reason Chip prefers taller players…
It doesn’t seem like Chip Kelly suffers fools, so Dave Spadaro’s job should be open soon. I suggest you apply for that.
touche
I disagree, I think Spuds and Chippah will get along great. Try to ask either of them to provide any insight on the team and watch them dance around the question.
Chippah seemed Irked at Spadaro yesterday…maybe Irked is too strong. But Chippah def did not seem to enjoy Spadaro making a joke about asking depth chart related questions.
He’s a nice guy, but at the end of the day he’s an Eagles employee so it’s good to take everything he says with a grain of salt. He won’t ask or answer any tough questions, and tends to put a positive spin on everything he can. He can only really feed us the info he gets, and that info seems greatly reduced in the new regime.
Dave does a fantastic job. Does he sometimes drink the kool aid? yes, but remember he is hired by the EAGLES, so he cant be to negative.
“hey tommy, you should totally put some ads on your site(s) to make some money! oh wait. i have adblock running. maybe i should turn that o– yep, there they are.”
felt i should post this so you all see me as an idiot. lol
but i will be turning adblock off for your site(s) so hopefully that will get you a few more pennies.
(ps – anyone know if having adblock running prevents ad revenue to the website?)
Yes it does. This site is the only site in which I allow ads. You can set adblock to allow ads on any site you want.
So any site you frequent that you actually care if the owner gets ad revenue, I would disable adblock for it.
Exactly. Sometimes, I click on them at my work computer just for good measure.
reading Sheil’s notes, my first thought was: “wow. I forgot Jamar Chaney was on this team!”
thanks for reminding me … sigh. Atleast Andy Ried rid us of Akeem “Nothing Like” Jordan
Tommy – you already do cover them full time – at least fuller than anyone else…but someday you will get paid a full time wage for it, as deserved. You are the best Eagles writer out there – thanks for all the hard work. If I won the lottery you would be one of my first millon dollar donations…
Thanks for the nice words.
“I’m certainly open to suggestions or ideas.”
Well, she’s single but I don’t know if she’d be willing to move to Philly: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/06/05/powerball-590-million-winner/2392347/
I’m already on the case.
G. Cobb just tweeted: Foles running the option and pitching the ball to Damaris Johnson who came across in backfield on a motion.
…
These next 6 weeks will be torture
sorry for posting this twice. Todays thread was added while i was still updating this so I figured I would copy it onto thursday thread and delete it..Didnt realize that the delete function only deletes the user name. Appologies
maillot de football pas cher…
luckly,i could go via your post. Amazing! Consider all by your self, you will be capable to do excellent….