Talkin’ Bout Practice
Posted: May 27th, 2014 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 182 Comments »All football coaches love practice. There are no distractions, such as fans or TV. It is just players and coaches. There is time to teach and time to learn. That is football at its purest.
Chip Kelly takes his love of practice to a whole new level. Even going back to his days as an assistant, Kelly became famous for his unique practices. The music. The speed. The style of practice. Players get a ton of reps, but overall practices are shorter. There is literally no wasted time or motion. Everything is thought out and done for a specific reason.
Think about this quote from Aristotle and you’ll get an idea of what Kelly is shooting for.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.
I don’t know if there is a better way to sum up Kelly’s football philosophy.
Think about the draft. Kelly went for smart, driven, coachable players. Theses are guys you can teach. They will learn the scheme and the plays. They will execute the techniques that the assistant coaches teach them.
Kelly doesn’t want random. He wants repeatable, sustainable success. This comes through practice and execution. You do something over and over until it becomes second nature…muscle memory. The key here is that the coaches must be good teachers and the players must be good learners. Take away either element and the results will suffer.
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I listened to Urban Meyer on the radio back during the season. He was asked about whether running his fast, no-huddle offense hurt his defense. Meyer had an interesting response.
Meyer explained that after leaving Florida he visited some programs to get coaching ideas. One of the first places he went was Oregon. He wanted to learn from Chip Kelly. One of the biggest takeaways that Meyer had is how Kelly prepared his overall team. There wasn’t the offense and the defense. There was the whole team.
Kelly built everything around speed. If the offense was going to play fast, they were going to need to practice fast. If the offense was going to practice fast, the defense was going to need to practice fast as well. Kelly took this a step further and had the players training and working out at a faster pace than normal.
Meyer took this idea to Ohio State. You can’t run an elite program based on just a no-huddle offense. You must have the whole team ready to play at that pace. This carried over to the Eagles as well. Think about the comments we’ve heard from Bill Davis. He’s talked about the defense needing to be ready to go back on the field quickly. The offense might go “3 & out” or they might go “3 & in”. Whether they score quickly or punt, the defense must be ready.
You don’t get a team ready for that just in games. You don’t get a team ready for that just in practice. You teach them that style of football in everything you do. It worked brilliantly for Kelly at Oregon. It worked brilliantly for Meyer last year at Ohio State. It worked brilliantly for Kelly with the Eagles last year.
Remember the Buddy Ryan days? He loved his defense and basically tolerated the offense. That kind of thinking is simply absurd. Kelly is a big picture guy. He mostly has an offensive background and mostly focuses on that side of the ball, but he’s not playing favorites. Everything the Eagles do is designed for an overall effect.
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Why write about Kelly and practice? The team hits the practice field today. We’ll have some actual football type activities to see and discuss. Hooray.
Mark Saltveit wrote a terrific piece on Chip Kelly and practice last summer. He also wrote about Kelly and practice methods extensively in his book. If you haven’t read The Tao of Chip Kelly, it would make ideal reading for this summer.
I’m personally waiting for Mark’s book called The Tao of Jimmy Bama. That would sell dozens, if not ones of copies. I’ve already written my review.
“A crackling good yarn. I even put down my Funyuns so I could concentrate on the book.”
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You can Preorder The Tao of Jimmy Bama by clicking the “Donate” button on the right and giving 1000 Dollars. Which is 500% off the normal price. (A savings of 49,000 Dollars).
For $1,000 I really will write a Tao of Jimmy Bama. OK, $950.
Words are cheap.
best header ever / great video
Love the off season. During the season, you jell a bit, but overall it’s attrition, everybody wears down until you are eliminated or you’re the last one standing. There’s rarely any improvement. In the off-season the roster changes, the remaining roster heals and trains. The coaches review and add new wrinkles to the scheme. The coaches can look for weaknesses and tailor practices towards eliminating them. It’s a beautiful thing. The work going on right now will play a huge part in deciding the outcome of this season.
Yup this is we engrave the high past tempo in our brains and achieve the level of conditioning that teams who don’t have an organizational commitment to tempo can’t keep up with… Put in work time..
Last,week Barwin,was,asked,during the reddit interview. What was the hardest part transitioning to our defense? His response: “you see how Chip runs a no huddle offense? Well we had to learn to run a no huddle defense”…
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Which is why it’s pretty absurd for fans and media to be assuming this is Meco’s last year…style of our defense makes Malcolm Jenkins,brain valuable!
Just wondering:’if losing a playbook under Andy came with an $8,000 fine, wonder what it’s up to now that we use iPads?
GPS, those things are hot, ain’t getting lost :-D.
True that…soon we will have drone Playbooks that just deliver the intell to our players wherever they are..
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Howard eskin made a fool out of himself again this morning on NFL network talking about remote control cars and how haha Dix was really the player we wanted, which I don’t believe
Drones set to sterilize the scene if our playbook is compromised.
As for Eskin, fools can’t make fools out of themselves, they just open their mouths and are. I don’t personally dislike him or anything, but I just cringe for him when they give him a mic.
Dude…I turned on NFL network when I woke up…and they LITERALLY have a segment Called “asking Eskin”…I wanted to throw up..lim like out of all people they got the friggin Burger King representing philly?
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Speaking of Eskin, papelbom tried to beat the crap out of him this weekend lol.. Wish they would have let Paps hit him lol
They have the app’s now that can wipe the computer if they get stolen, so I can’t imagine it’s as much of an issue as it was then. There’s probably a fine attached simply to mentally keep the pressure on not to lose it, but there’s nowhere near the amount of intelligence to be gained off of finding one anymore.
Also TC playbooks only contain all the basic plays and even I know majority of Kelly’s basic plays.
Re: Practice, Practice
Great coaches do their coaching before the season and before the games. (That is, with respect to scheme and technique. In-game adjustments is a different matter.)
John Feinstein’s “A Season on the Brink” about the 1985-86 Indiana Hoosiers basketball program under the legendary Bobby Knight makes that point about as plain as the light of day.
Now Kelly and Knight are about as different in temperament as, well, night and day.
But in terms of vision, expectations, control, and creativity — because at one time, Knight’s motion offense was cutting edge — you find many similarities.
Same with Lombardi and Kelly . . . and any great coach in any sport.
As T-Law wrote the other day, quoting Vince Lombardi:
“Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.”
The best teams I ever played on … In any sport always had the hardest practices. When game day almost seems like a break, you are ready to dominate!
Think high level of competition and accountability is everything
Best teams I ever played on had a bench who could start for most teams that didn’t even play…just pushed the starters.. Our practices were wars…can’t tell you the fist fights… It was rare that we would ever lose a game, but when we did, you could count on a royal rumble in our locker room or hotel….star demanded excellence and held everyone accountable to the point where someone was fighting if we lost…. I’m not talking about football tho
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Your stars have to demand that their team mates do there job…don’t settle for failing because a team mate didn’t do what he was supposed to
Same here. I’m a lacrosse guy, and Duke, who won the Natnl champ. this year, has a bench who could kill most other d1 teams
Even the bench players who never get in games,,..it’s so important that they can play and push your big guns in practice…Martellous Bennett made this great analogy that I won’t ever forget about the NFL..
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He said: Rookies that come into the NFL, are the Lions…veterans are the Gazells…veterans need to keep the gap between them, and the young lion trying to catch up… So true
To add to that, besides just being loaded with talent as you described, in general if you can instill the competition up and down your depth chart it works wonders. Too many teams (especially the lower you go in competition) are built of stars and scrubs. There’s the first team, and the rest of the guys they beat up in practice. You need one team, and who gets to start should always be up in the air. It keeps the starters driven, and the back-ups hungry. When he comes off the bench, he isn’t trying to fill the other guy’s shoes trying to be good enough until the other guy gets back, he’s trying to put a product on the field to take the other guy’s job (which if he succeeds, it means the injury actually made the team better, hell Mr. Foles, and events like that change the outcome of seasons).
Exactly!!!,and we will see it manifest under Chip…heck I like our depth, I think we will already see the beginning of that culture in philly this summer..
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Go back to the Andy days and our bench was a joke…Akeem Jordan? Who’s job is he taking? Curtis Marsh?
“star demanded excellence and held everyone accountable to the point where someone was fighting if we lost”
That’s why I never got the criticism Brady received for his aggressive approach towards his receivers last year. The guy is as competitive as it gets, of course he’s pissed when they drop one ball after another. But he worked with them and they turned out to be fine.
Never saw the problem with his first response, though.
RIP Ed Griffin…but when he was at Roman we were top 10 in the nation…he had a ton of pressure living with the number 1 player in the nation label…we would never lose in the catholic league, but they would fly us everywhere to play top teams in tournaments..god forbid we lost one of those games, someone was fist fighting!!! Our coaches knew about it and never said a word
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I love that about Brady
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Tho Rasual Butler was much calmer…but he didn’t have the pressure ED had on his is shoulders
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You know who was a prick? Marvin Harrison! but he was the definition of excellenve
what years were you at Roman?
Graduated in 2000.. Was on the team since sophmore year
What about the 1977 West Philly High “Speed Boys”?
30-0.
Eugene Banks
Clarence “Eggy” Tillman
Daryl Warwick
Vincent Ross
On your list of Top 3 . . . mid-’70s to present?
I’m an 80s baby…heard about those boys, but I cNt really speak on it….I think we were the last phillympowerhouse.. Haven’t seen a high school team in Phily since 2000 that would have beaten us….even the present day roman teams aren’t up to par…take Romans team from a few years back, the Wanamaker twins who went on to have a no career at Pitt, probably wouldn’t have started for us…..nuemanns sccop jardine/Rick Jackson team was good, but they weren’t up to par with us….
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What’s even crazier about our back to back championships in 1999 and 2000, was our 1999 team only had one senior (Kenyatta “mustafa” bey, Rasheed beys cousin)..so basically as juniors we were the seniors..so by the time our senior year came. You simply weren’t going to beat us…
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The recruiting class the year after me was pretty damn good…we had like 4 sophomores my junior year playing big minute…so basically we were a nationally ranked team playing with all juniors and sophomores and the one senior pt guard
I learned a long time ago how the level of competition you face really matters,..then first year we got Ed, he was a skinny 6’10 sophmore. He had a nice jump hook, but was soft and unsure of himself having to play with established senior star Sul Butler..we lost to father Judge in the playoffs that year… Ed was soft, he would miss two hand dunks… Just a shy kid who you can tell was unsure of him self… So that summer, going into our junior year, roman plays in a bunch of summer leagues, but Ed was gone, he was at all the prestigious camps like Nike and ABCD getting to play amongst the top players in the nation…so Ed wasn’t around to play in any of our summer leagues.. No one had talked to him, and rumors started to swirl that gratz had poached him away… Then comes the championship of the Bob Evans summer league at Drexel…who did we face in the finals? Gratz of course….. Who showed up to the finals? ED… We hadn’t seen him play in months..he left as some shy kid who was unsure of himself, played in all the top camps all summer, and literally came back to philly as the best junior in the nation… Ed suits up for us in the title game against gratz, and our players and coached jaws were on the floor….from that moment on he was the best player in nthe nation… How good do you have to be, to play a nationally ranked schedule, and people get board with seeing you average 33pts 14rebounds and 9 blocks a game? He literally almost averaged a Tripple double his junior year….
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Iron sharpens iron…competition really really really matters!!!
To the people who bitch about our draft picks not starting immediately… Is it ok for the Patriots to spend a second round pick on QB Garapollo, while they still have Ryan Mallet who NFL GMs say is one of the top 30 QBs in the NFL?
Mallet has only thrown about 15 passes in a game so how can he be top 30?
I was really surprised by the Garapollo pick. If I were Belicheat, given that he and Brady only have limited time left, I would not waste a pick on a QB. That is a little too cute.
Mallet was pretty hyped coming out except for some character concerns.
Problem with the Jimmy G pick is that they have now used 3 fairly high picks on backup/QBOTF for Brady and have gotten 0 out of them.
At least the Eagles and the Packers turn those backups into better pick thing.
I’m not calling him top 30. I have no clue what mallet is, but I do know a few GMs have called him a top 30 QB
If you are sensing the end of Tom Brady’s career, why not have two top choices being groomed behind him rather than just one? Like all of the back of the roster moves we are praising the Eagles front office for, It increases the odds of eventually getting a legitimate starter out of the group
I think just the opposite of the Pats. I think that team is so dependent on how good Brady is, why care about the backups. When Brady retires or declines, the party is over. I would not use sparse resources on picking QB’s in the draft.
Maybe they think in the way Indiana w/ Peyton and Luck,
You guys are totally missing my pointl….I don’t think it’s bad at all that your draft picks don’t play… I think it’s a sign of a healthy team…aggrivated by fans bitching that Marcus smith isn’t a day one starter
your point is wll taken;think your comment about the Pat`s draft and reasons behind it led to other ideas for discussion.
Gotcha…
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Think what the Pats did was brilliant… They probably end up with a nice compensatory pick for losing Mallet at the end of the year
I got your point but wanted to b$tch about the Pats.
That’s always encouraged!
Patriots won’t pay Mallett next year. Desperately want a (high) pick for him, not sure if they get one.
Nah. They blew their chance to get a pick for mallet. Think that window is closed…you typically don’t add a QB late in the offseason… They have too much playbook to learn…. Getting a pick from the texans was their best bet…think Bill Obrien is just assuming mallet il will gravitate to him and they sign him as a free agent without giving Bellicek anything….. THo Mallet will probably net the pats a nice compensatory pick cuz QBs aren’t cheap…as long as they don’t have another offseason spending spree getting guys lik Browner and revis
People are still bitchin?
Not here… This is one of the smarter comment sections you can find….but that’s all I keep hearing about everywhere else…what a horrible pick Marcus was lol sillyness
Im gonna follow up on GEAGLE’s who is gonne break out next year?
This is a guy like Cooper who came out of no where and not a guy like Cox or Ertz this year where we expect it.
GEAGLE’s boy was Wolff and Im with him there on defense. On offense my bet is either Burton or Huff. Both have those super versatile players that Kelly loves.
In theory the Eagles could have Huff, Burton, McCoy Sproles, Ertz on the field and the defense will have no clue who lines up where, 4 of the players can line up in the back field and all the guys can be in slot and Huff, Burton and Ertz can all line up wide (and you can even swap Maclin as he can line up all over the place as well).
Im also firm believer that Maclin will have a monster season, like 85 catches for around 1200 yards and 12 TDs
Yeah, even though Maclin doesn’t fit the criteria for being considered break out (well I guess he could if he ended up with the most catches in the league or something), he is definitely the guy I’m watching this year, I don’t know if there’s a guy with as much variance to go either way on the team. So much up side and so many questions. Health? Will he be physical enough? How heavily will the offense feature him? If enough of those have have a positive answer, he could have a monster season. Or he could wash out completely.
That is why I had Maclin on a separate part as we all expected the boom last year before the ACL and hope for it again this year
All could points,… Which is why I found it kind of odd that we would offer him a 5yr deal. It makes me feel optimistic about his health… I knew Howie would ATleast try to lowball him into a Multi year deal. But I found It odd that without getting these questions answered, we tried to ink him for 5years, instead of two or maximum three
He played a lot of spread offense in college. Arguably he was not a scheme fit with Andy. If he’s looking explosive in workouts and rehab….
I’m with you on Wolff. I also think the only way Cooper and Maclin don’t have big seasons (900 – 1,100 yards) is if Ertz and Matthews are getting a ton of their targets.
For an offensive, out of nowhere guy, I’m going with no one, unless you count Jordan going for ~600 yards. Mainly because I’m not assuming preseason ACL tears to projected starters.
For me Huff getting around 400 receiving and combined rushing would be out of no where for a 3rd round WR
400 combined for Huff is certainly possible. I’ll leave the debate over acceptable definitions of ‘out-of-nowhere’ to others.
That isn’t to say I disagree with yours, just that I have no stance on the matter.
For me its about the fact that 3rd round WRs rarely contribute at all
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/play-index/tiny.cgi?id=efrYI
All though looking at that Allen was a major steal last year.
DeSean should be in there. Guess they considered him to not be “drafted as a WR”? Maybe drafted as a return specialist to them?
That was 3rd round WRs, Jackson was a 2nd round (and have the 3rd best 2nd round WR rookie season ever)
D’oh! Had 2nd and 3rd stuck in my head. Obvious evidence to the contrary was unable to dislodge it.
Loving the love Wolff aka dark man X is getting around here…..just watch how that kid flies around this year..
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I’m absolutely with you on huff. Think the nastiness he plays with has him ready to contribute day one…and how many college players have EVER been drafted into a better situation than Huff? 10? 20? 30?
Kids ready to do damage
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By the end of this season no one will ever question Kendrick again….
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Another kid I believe in a lot, is Kruger… Had he stayed in school, I’d bet he would have been drafted ahead of Brent urban, Hart, Cassius,
Think he can give us what hart does in the run game, while also growing into one of the 4 DL we rotate as interior 4-3DL on pass rushing situations… I’m thinking, Cox, Curry, Kruger get to play on Nickle this year….not sure who the 4th interior pass rusher will be
Good one on Kruger.
And if we are to believe Barwin, mad man Braman has chance to surprise us.
I think Cole will play a lot of DE in nickel, in a 3-3-5 like:
Curry-Cox-Cole
Barwin-Kendricks-Smith
I see that in a 3-3-5’for sure…
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But when we go to our 4man lines, who do people assume will be the 4 DL we rotate as interior pass rushers? Cox and Curry are the only locks I see… Ced is allegedly working to improve his pass rush, Logan was more pass rusher than the typical NT…but there should be a nice camp battle for our DL as interior passrushers when we go to a 4man line… It’s so up in the air that I have to project Kruger as first off the bench, and I can’t even guess who the 4th DLinemen would be..
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Braman is intruiging for sure..Howie said his 40 time is something insane(can’t remember the number he said)..I actually tried to go back and download torrents of the texans preseason games, but they weren’t available., lol I got him to promise he would hit tony Romo for us on twitter lol
Cole and Barwin played DE’s in 4 man looks.
I think Logan will 100% be a part of 4 man looks, he did play 1 gap DT at LSU and most thought that was his best position in the NFL as well.
Also blocked punt by Braman
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/0ap2000000080324/Texans-block-punt-for-TD
No, I mean the two interior DL(DTs if you will), when we go to our 4man lines?
Cole, Barwin, Marcus probably rotate as the 4-3DEs, but who will be the 4 DTs we rotate in the interior of the 4man line? I guess it’s Cox/Curry, with Logan,Ced,Kruger and Hart fighting over the other two members of the rotation…no clue how that battle unfolds… Yeah it does seem like Logan is already ahead of Ced in that regard
I think Logan being used as a DT will be a function of how well Allen does at NT. If Allen is ready to take some of the running snaps, Logan will be fresher for passing downs.
Plausible for sure… Am I completely wrong for counting out Damon Squares, or is him not making this roster the popular opinion?…
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I’m also wondering if now that we have Beau, if Damon is going to get to compete for a DE spot, or is he still competing as an undersized NT?
Barring a serious injury, I don’t see him making it. He will probably be given an opportunity to impress at DE, but that spot seems crowded too. Behind the presumptive starters, you have Curry, Hart, and Kruger ahead of him (in my mind). They won’t keep more than 5 will they?
That’s how I see it..
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In my mind this is one of the most set positions. We use 6 DL in each game, so I assume we keep 7 again and only dress 6,,,, in my mind I have a hard time seeing anyone make it over
1) Cox
2) Ced
3) Logan
4) Krugs
5) hart
6) Beau
7) our change of pace fastball, mr. Vinny Curry…
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I don’t see us being able to sneak any of them on the practice squad, and I think hart and Beau are ready. No need to IR them..
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Hard time envisioning losing one of them to keep Damon
The fan in me wants to count out Square, small, no athleticism, made the team as a coach’s pet. Sounds like a really good kid but I hope we can upgrade.
I wont lie, getting absolutely trucked by Demarco Murray in what honestly may end up being one of the all time most amazing trucks, the fact that I’ll probably have to relive a nose tackle in Eagles Green getting humiliated like that by a Cowboy on a B-reel everytime someone even talks about Murray on ESPN, yeesh, shame. It’s badly compromised the objectivity of my opinion.
I say it all the time…no eagle NT should ever get trucked by a cowgirl RB.. I can’t thing of squares without that image popping in my head..don’t care if it wasn’t legal, that should never happen to a 3-4 NT…EVER
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I do like his nastiness…just wish it came with some size
I’m going to pick a dark horse in Henery Josey. I could see him showing maturity beyond his years a really seizing the opportunity created by the openings behind Shady and Kelly’s statements that he wants to take some of the load off Shady. I know they have said good things about Tucker, and Polk, but I think (hope) he can surprise us.
I’m going to pick a dark horse in Henery Josey. I could see him showing maturity beyond his years a really seizing the opportunity created by the openings behind Shady and Kelly’s statements that he wants to take some of the load off Shady. I know they have said good things about Tucker, and Polk, but I think (hope?) he can surprise us.
“Think about this quote from Aristotle and you’ll get an idea of what Kelly is shooting for.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
As a philosophy student, didn’t thought I’d read an Aristotle quote on a football blog. Well done, sir. And it even makes a ton of sense. 😉
Especially from a guy that extolls the virtues of PBR and Funyuns.
“We are what we repeatedly do.”
Maybe Tommy is in fact dating Megan Fox. I don’t know if dreaming is part of repeatedly doing things, though.
Tommy is the renaissance man of football bloggers.
So does that make Jimmy ‘Bama the Jester?
More like “the kings fool” for those that get the GoT refrence
I begin my GoT journey tonight.
If you have the chance, you should 100% read the books first
Yes and no… I read some of the books and it bothered me knowing what to expect in certain situations…but other situations were explained so much better in the books…so I can see why you would want to read the books first, but I could also see why you wouldn’t want to
Nah, I’m borrowing the blu-rays, so I want to get them watched as quickly as I can.
But I’ll most likely read the books later. I see there’s a 5 book set available for the kindle for only $19.99. That’s a pretty fantastic price.
By the 3rd episode, you will be hooked, in full crackhead mode lol
Lol get back to me when you meet “HODOR” and tell me that’s not Andy Reid? Everytime I imagine Andy saying “times yours” it now sounds like he is saying HODOR in my head lol
From Funyans to Philosophy….only in Lawlorville 🙂
“You might think I’m drastically overthinking this music business, and maybe I am, but the Eagles have announced since that first game that they will play their music during offensive possessions at Lincoln Financial Field” …This was written a year ago by Mark, dos anyone know if they actually placed the music at the Linc when the offense was on the Field?
I was just trying to remember (went to the home game against the Redskins)— I don’t think they did, but I can’t confirm anything from earlier in the year
No, they stopped it… I wrote about them doing that in the preseason and it was something I was paying attention to see if we would use in the regular season. And they didn’t…
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Definitely didn’t use it at the redskins games…lol that was probably the most sober I was at a game all year lol
I was at the third preseason game and it had already stopped. I wonder if it was a choice or if the league made them stop.
Yeah I have been wondering about that myself
i forgot all about this! i’m really hoping someone can remember if this actually happened or not.
Not
I read on a football blog somewhere that it didn’t happen. Just can’t remember where I read that…
The team hits the practice field today. We’ll have some actual football type activities to see and discuss. Hooray. — Reading that brought a tear to my eye…
Hopefully we are more lucky than the Cowboys. Sean Lee got injured by rookie Zach Martin
Our kicker can get hurt but that’s it. LOL.
Really? Geez that dude can’t stay healthy
Sean Lee . . . there were a few weeks there about 2 or 3 seasons back when he was a very popular “we should have drafted him” guy here.
The poor guy just can’t stay on the field.
If he can’t play this year, we will absolutely trample their front 7 in the run game… Don’t see how they can play Demarcus Lawrence on first and second down! with the slop they have behind him at LB…Lane or JP are going to burry that kid
They also lost Hatcher who was their best player on defense last year
I can’t even name their front 7 players…
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Once people see how Lawrence gets abused this year rushing him into the lineup! they will understand why it’s a good thing that we aren’t forced to start Marcus day 1
GE . . .
It’s because the Cowboys don’t have a front 7.
I’m not sure they have a front 3.
Like normally I can rattle off players from other teams easily… I don’t know I can name two front 7 players on Dallas besides Lawrence and Lee…
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Their Secondray is a name brand mess…and they stuck a garbage no name front 7 in front of them… Man, I can’t wait to line up against them. I hope we don’t even attempt a pass, and just pound them into submission with shady
They do have Carter
Ok..so I know one name… Lol
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Seriously, we are a pretty football educated community….football crackheads if you will… And I’m not sure this entire board of posters combines could name their front 7 without looking it up
Article said a bunch of tweets were sent out. I wonder if their practices are open to the fans/media.
Are the OTAs open to the public?
The media?
In toto? Or in part?
Or not much at all?
Not that I’d be there . . .
But disappointing. Again.
We’re left trusting the media to synthesize what’s going on out there.
GEagles’s not a fan of that . . . generally, speaking.
(Exceptions to the GEagles Rule exist, I believe.)
That’s the person we can’t trust at all … media 🙂
Kelly’s secret plan.
Let the media describe what he’s doing.
GEAGLES . . . thoughts on Kelly’s plan?
GE . . .
Nice plug for Eddie Griffin, by the way.
And R-Butler
Always keep is memory alive.. Very dear friend…he actually died the same exact day as my father, both in Houston.. Go figure.. Yeah that day sucked…
That’s a great thing.
Kids like Eddie Griffin are forgotten so — too — quickly.
Never forget that shitty day…got home, and the next day was when the Vick/Dogfighting arrest story broke,..
Death never visits on a good day.
Ain’t that the truth
Actually surprised they haven’t made a documentary about him… Pretty good story
I can’t tell you how satisfying it is to see Sul in the eastern Confrence finals while Evan Turner is burried on the bench… Puts a giant smile on my face.. It’s been a long career, but the “legend of Suli Bop” continues
LOL you know me too well
Can’t imagine there’s a lot of exciting things going on at OTA’s. Mostly they’re a chance for players and coaches to get on the field together, to get used to each other and the way they are going to work, in other words they are going to practice how to practice.
ICD:
Don’t disagree.
But why keep them closed then?
To keep them from losing focus. Media can be a major distraction.
May well be.
Former Rams/Washington coach Geo. Allen also kept practices closed. Hated the media. And paranoid about spies.
There’s probably not a whole lot to worry about as far as obtaining secrets, in these sessions. But media tends to change the atmosphere. Think about when they add cameras into a trial courtroom, and it turns a trial into a media circus.
If it were up to me, I wouldn’t let those mutts have any access at all… I think more than actually winning a SB, I want to win one so bad so Chip can go all Bellicekian on us and give our media NOTHING… Hacks don’t know how to act…nTHEY should be entitled to nothing more than post game press confernces
“Mutts” . . . .
A favorite word of federal law-enforcement agents.
Like the crossover use.
Another good word is “lazy humps”
GE:
This may the best comment you’ve put up in a long while. Certainly filled with some Damon Runyan-esque color.
Thank you sir… But in a town where fans are always STARVED for eagles news, we got the media going to the Novacare complex, while our boys are trying to get ready to go to war for us, and all they do is try to create controversy…how friggin dare they? ..l
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Yeah, I’m not typically a fan of getting my football news from people who don’t even know what gaps our players are responsible for …. How many people in our media can actually tell you where the 5tecnique lines up off the top of their head? How many can even tell us where the NT lines up? Front side A? Backside B?..
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can Geoff Mosher tell you what a kick step is?
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How many media members even know the difference between a stunt and a twist?
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You would think that a paid media member would care enough to make sure they actually know these things… Wonder how many of the people providing us our news could actually answer every one of those questions correctly off the top of their head…
…
I’d bet. Ashley Fox couldn’t. Answer one of those questions in depth
And this is EXACTLY why TY Law needs to be respected and appreciated… I may not always agree with the man, but ATleast he cares enough to A) Know the nuances of the game and B) Watch film for himself..
…
You wouldn’t think a media member shouldn’t be praised for such things, but it’s pathetic how few media members take the time to know these things and watch film for themselves..
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Much respect to the “Funyan god”
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Btw, can we start a petition to stop Ray Didinger from ever talking about draft prospects again…he really needs to leave the draft alone and stick to post game analysis
if you read MMQB you realize Peter King doesn’t know anything about anything, but has access so can write a Tom Brady is awesome article once a year. Because Tom Brady works harder than anyone. No insight at all, about anything.
It’s really insane how people can get paid to cover football and not take the time to learn..why I hate when everyone who never played footbal like gonzo gets Butthurt when people call him out for it… You don’t have to have played football to educate yourself on it’s nuances…I doubt Sheil Kapadia ever put a helmet and shoulder pads on, but the man took the time to learn the game and can probably identify ghost motion, or green dog blitzes…but it’s sad, how few media members care enough to take the time to learn
Think Thursday is open to media… No fans at mini camps tho
Sucks that we have to wait til Thursday to hear Chip and FOles talk
True. I check in on times to see baby Eaglets. Can’t they just put up a webcam and let us watch? LOL. I mean, we know NE would watch….
Lol. I vote getting Cary Williams MICed up for all OTAs
Wouldn’t the Tao of Jimmy Bama be more of a pamphlet than a book?
Childrens book made up of crudely drawn stick figures.
GENIUS
i think one of them is a popup book that involves a drunk guy peeing on his alarm clock. oh how i miss uncle jimmy story time. hahaha
now i’m sad to learn that jimmy took down those posts from BtB. those were some great stories!
I think that was at the request of his family
Family ruins everything.
lol was it really? i guess i could see how this would make a journalist seem less-than-professional so i understand why he took it down.
i just wish we could change the names and move it somewhere else 😛
Alas, this is the internet. Nothing is ever gone.
https://web.archive.org/web/20120503223617/http://bloggingthebeast.com/category/uncle-jimmy/
Wow, I have been reading Jimmy for a while, but never read some of those. Great stuff.
As a side note, Tommy, I would like to see you sign up for whatever spambot frequented Jimmy’s BtB. Stuff like this, from the comments that follow his crazy drunken tales are good fun:
“Unquestionably believe that which you stated. Your favorite justification appeared to be on the web the simplest thing to be aware of. I say to you, I certainly get annoyed while people think about worries that they plainly don’t know about. You managed to hit the nail upon the top as well as defined out the whole thing without having side effect , people could take a signal. Will likely be back to get more. Thanks”
So that WAS a pack of gum in his pocket after all…
Jimmy Bama always sounds like some crappy Jimmy Buffett impersonator to me. Hawaiian shirt, blonde sagging moustache…
Well, this didn’t take long…
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/05/27/sean-lee-injured-during-non-contact-practice/
Sean Lee injured during non-contact practice…
after he was blocked to the ground by rookie guard Zach Martin.
…
wonder if this is a “non-contact” drill (emphasis on the quotes, there) or if the rookie just got ahead of himself and had to hit somebody.
Either way… Isn’t that a rule violation of the CBA? I demand a pick be taken from the cowboys!!! 🙂
I think a judge should award Lee his salary fully guaranteed because the team encouraged violation of the non-contact rule… and take a draft pick.
Perfectly fair in my mind
Is it safe to say that Zack Martin is my favorite Cowgirls player now?
Sean Lee is the Glass Joe of linebackers.
Is it wrong to feel bad for the guy and simultaneously hope this creates a hole in the defense, division in the locker room, trouble with the league, and more salary cap pressure at the same time?
I’ll allow it 🙂
yes it’s wrong to feel bad for the guy
I just read he might have a torn ACL. I feel bad about my comment below now. I do feel bad for him. But not the Cowboys.
Yeah man…alot of work goes into rehabbing from injuries… Sucks for the kid for sure… If it had to suck for someone, I’m glad is a cowgirl
This is the #1 site for Google search: “pbr megan fox funyuns”
for me, its #1, #2 AND #3!!!
Me too. Are PBR, Megan Fox, and Funyans discussed to much here, or not enough because it isn’t the first 10 links?
Not enough
Nice find. He still isn’t #1 for the article title though. For those who want the straight stuff:
http://youtu.be/d29VsG35DQM
…or for those who prefer the remix:
http://youtu.be/exOxUAntx8I
And Jazzy Jeff feat. J-Live…
DJ Jazzy Jeff – Practice Ft. J-Live – YouTube
The link didn’t work for me, but I found it. That is a much better version.
Yeah, my phone wasn’t helpful in posting that link. That’s one of my favorites.
I’m itching for the June 1st cuts, see if we can add anymore competition..
,,,
I forget, but correct me if I’m wrong… June cuts can be signed by everyone right? Or do they have to go thru the waiver process?
June 1 cuts haven’t been interesting for a long time, since any player can be cut earlier and designated as a “June 1 cut” for the purpose of cap management and this has been the case for several years.
However, one thing that could get interesting is trades. When you trade a player, you can’t designate it like a cut. So if the Dolphins actually wanted to trade Dion Jordan this offseason, June 1 or later would be advantageous to their cap situation as compared to doing it before.
Geez… Dion Jordan haters will probably be eating crow this year.
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Weighed in at 248lbs like 15months ago at the combine,,. Kid is already up to 265lbs, and Miami reporters described him as looking like someone took an “air pump to his arms”
Not sure I know any Dion Jordan haters.
Now, Deion Sandcastle, that’s a whole other story.
Allow me to introduce myself. I think DJ is completely overrated, is mediocre, and that Brandon Graham, let alone Trent Cole, are more desirable to have on our D.
I’m with you. A first round pick for someone who has so far shown minimum flashes just doesn’t cut it for me. We should trade away Kendricks and Cox if that were the case.
Agreed. I hate the idea of DeSean Jackson playing on our defense.
I may not have been paying attention last year draft time, but now I read how Jordan doesn’t really have a starting position there b/c of the 4-3 and they have two good DE’s already….so why the heck did they trade up to 3 and take him?
Lol retard GM wanted to make him a 4-3 SAM
“Whenever you have that mentality as a team, when everybody feels like this is supposed to be the year, that’s a special feeling.”
Wow…Sean Lee torn ACL, done for the season…. Feel really really bad for joking about his injury yesterday. Kids career is probably over…I don’t wish that on anyone who has had to put in soo much work in rehab
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Caplan reports Rejus Benn surgically repaired knee is 100%. Hopefully that kid can get some luck and get ATleast one season to show for all the rehab work he had to do
I wonder if that rookie was over zealous. Rookies are probably trying to impress and vets are trying to pace themselves through camp. Either way .. coaches should be keeping an eye on this stuff.
[…] Talkin’ Bout Practice – Tommy Lawlor, Iggles BlitzAll football coaches love practice. There are no distractions, such as fans or TV. It is just players and coaches. There is time to teach and time to learn. That is football at its purest. Chip Kelly takes his love of practice to a whole new level. Even going back to his days as an assistant, Kelly became famous for his unique practices. The music. The speed. The style of practice. Players get a ton of reps, but overall practices are shorter. There is literally no wasted time or motion. Everything is thought out and done for a specific reason. […]