Back to Practice Talk

I’m done with talking about Riley Cooper for now. He spoke to his teammates. They forgave him, from what we can tell. We’ll need some time to really place this story in context. I don’t feel the need to obsess on every detail. I’d rather discuss actual football. If you don’t want an update on the Cooper situation, here is Sheil Kapadia’s latest piece.

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We have a new source for practice notes today…Eric Galko of Optimum Scouting. He shared this info on Twitter.

Ertz played a lot of “X” WR, as well as inline Y and some slot. Seems to be confident and catching on route-wise quickly. Subtle leader too

Polk had another really nice day. Showed vision through hole, 2nd gear, routes very well.

Formation today: Ertz at X, Celek/Casey in slot. Harbor/Casey at FB/HB. Same side. Loads of read-option and pattern combo options.

How’s Damaris Johnson looking at WR? Not bad in slot, well enough to get quick sep. R.Shepard playing better tho.

(Damion Square) Quickest of NTs at practice off ball. Gave Cs most trouble in run drills.

if you had to name starting qb today, who would be? From today’s practice alone: Vick. Foles missed too many reads/throws.

The no-draft rookie OT Michael Bamiro is raw, especially with hand positioning, but is certainly holding his own.Could be #2 RT soon

do you see Russ shep making an impact this year? Got work at Z today. Caught RZ TD. Next guy up if DJax goes down.

Barkley had few 3 step drop vertical throws flutter. Hasnt been great downfield. But showed touch in RZ, very efficient in curl/flat

Knott hasn’t been anything much in team/7v7 coverage…Sims got work with 1s, solid, but a few wrong steps…Poyer pretty ehh.

Eric certainly had some interesting things to say. He raved about Zach Ertz in another tweet and seems to think Russell Shepard is outplaying Damaris Johnson. Bamiro as the #2 RT ahead of Dennis Kelly?

I can’t vouch for Eric as a good source of Training Camp info. I’ve read some of his draft stuff in the past. This is my first chance to read his TC stuff. At the very least, this is a fresh opinion and definitely worth taking into consideration as we think about which players are going to make the team and how they’ll fit in.

It sounds like Eric may be at camp again tomorrow. Give him a follow to get more info.

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Here is Jimmy Bama’s take on Wednesday. He gave today’s QB edge to Vick. And he’s got some good hitting info.

• The Eagles have practiced in pads already, but they did some legitimate hitting for the first time today. Here’s some video of that. During those drills, Connor Barwin absolutely destroyed Brent Celek. Bearcat on Bearcat crime. Celek needed help getting up, and was holding his shoulder. He had to leave the field for a bit, but returned to practice. Celek is a tough dude.

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Sheil Kapadia posted some really good practice notes.

1:36 – One-on-one blocking drills. My favorite drill at training camp.

Zach Ertz has problems with Chris McCoy. Then it’s Trent Cole’s turn. McGovern doesn’t like what he sees at first and makes Cole go again. The second time around, he absolutely housesJames Casey. A straight bull-rush. I have no idea how Casey is still standing.

Ertz is up again. He has trouble with Everette Brown and unstraps his helmet in frustration. Tight ends coach Ted Williams tries to calm him down.

The rookie gets one final shot and shows improvement, earning a pat on the back from Celek.

Football’s a funny game. The players just spent about six minutes trying to violently knock each other over. Now it’s all fist-pounds and bro-hugs as the drill comes to an end.

One more note: None of the tight ends could handle Cole. We’ll see what the position change means for him in terms of matchups. But he’s gotta love getting a one-on-one shot at tight ends here instead of left tackles.

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Here is Zach Berman’s take on today’s QB play.

And Jeff McLane did say on Twitter that he thought Vick was better today.

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PE.com posted practice notes. Apparently Ernest Hemingway is now writing for them.

• Foles’ best pass of the day sublimely accentuated his feel for timing and accuracy. He lofted a beautiful touch pass over David Sims’ fingertips and in between a converging Mychal Kendricks and Earl Wolff to Jason Avant, who double-caught the ball but managed to tap both feet inbounds at the back of the end zone.

Sublimely accentuated? Who got the dictionary for Christmas?

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Last but not least (that’s what I tell him anyway), Brandon Lee Gowton of BGN.

• Brandon Boykin continues to have an amazing camp. He’s constantly all over the field breaking up passes. Per unofficial Eagles training camp rules, it’s 50 pushups for a defensive player if they break up the pass but don’t intercept it. So you can imagine that Boykin has been doing quite a few pushups. And that’s something to be excited about.

I hate to be critical, but it would help to know if he sublimely accentuated his ball skills by making a particular PBU today.

Hack.

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Riley Cooper Is An Idiot

I’m sure most of you have seen this by now, but in case you haven’t…Riley Cooper had an angry, racist tirade at the Kenny Chesney concert in early June. And it got recorded. Here’s the video.

Oh boy.

Cooper went on Twitter to apologize tonight.

I am so ashamed and disgusted with myself. I want to apologize. I have been offensive. I have apologized to my coach, Jeffrey Lurie, and

— Riley Cooper (@RileyCooper_14) July 31, 2013

Howie roseman and to my teammates. I owe an apology to the fans and to this community. I am so ashamed, but there are no excuses. What I did

— Riley Cooper (@RileyCooper_14) July 31, 2013

Was wrong and I will accept the consequences.

— Riley Cooper (@RileyCooper_14) July 31, 2013

So what have the Eagles done?

They fined Cooper. He had a press conference tonight and said the fine was big, although he wouldn’t get into details. Jeffrey Lurie said “We are shocked and appalled by Riley Cooper’s words.”

Cooper met with the media this evening.

Here is Les Bowen’s reaction to the press conference.

Here is Jeff McLane on the PC.

And here is Geoff Mosher.

Some fans have talked about suspending or even cutting Cooper. He won’t be cut, unless it is performance related. A suspension is possible, but seems unlikely.

Here’s the thing for me. Riley Cooper has been part of the Eagles for the past 3 seasons and this offseason. I think this is the only incident he’s been involved with. To my knowledge, he’s gotten along with his teammates, both white and African-American. If there was a pattern of behavior, I’d say that getting rid of him may make some sense.

Cooper now has to walk into a locker room and look Mike Vick, LeSean McCoy, DeSean Jackson, Jason Avant, Trent Cole and Jason Peters in the eye. They know how he’s treated them (hopefully well). They know what he said. Those guys have to decide if they forgive Cooper or if this is going to be an issue. If it is a problem for them, then the team will need to do something else. If the teammates forgive him and say “Let’s move on”, then life will just move on.

That isn’t to say fans and the media won’t stick with this story. No matter how his teammates react, Cooper will be labeled a racist by many and that’s something he’s got to live with. You don’t say what he did, especially when it was directed at an African-American security guard, and have that forgotten any time soon, if ever.

Incredibly disappointing story, on several different levels.

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Here is Riley Cooper’s full apology. Jimmy Bama has the video, but the sound is low.

CSN has some video up with good sound, but only about 1/4 of the PC.

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Please be careful when commenting on this subject. I hope this doesn’t need to be said, but I will ban anyone who gets out of line. Choose your words carefully and be very careful if you attempt to use sarcasm. What may seem clever to you may be lost on others.

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