Patriot Games
Posted: August 12th, 2014 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 121 Comments »The Birds are up in New England to practice against the Patriots for 3 days. I love the fact that Chip Kelly does this. Players get tired of going against each other, day after day. It makes a difference when there is a different color uniform to work against and some fresh competition.
One of the problems with Training Camp is that players begin to know each other. The WR knows what the CB will do. The CB knows what the WR will do. OL know the moves of the DL. And so on. That all changes starting today.
This isn’t a competition where one team will get the better of the other. This is still about individuals. Like we talked about in regard to the postseason, this won’t be good X’s and O’s on display. The key is proper execution of simple stuff by individual players. You want to see how the players perform in the most basic setting. That allows you the chance to evaluate them and then to teach them.
Bill Belichick is a great coach and his team knows how to practice. Going against them will be a challenge for the Eagles. That’s exactly what you want from this format. If you go against a lesser team, all you will find out is that your players are better than lesser competition. The Eagles goal is to build a great team. In order to do that, you need to compete against top flight competition.
Last summer Tom Brady ate the Eagles defense up. I’m sure he’ll do some of that this summer, but hopefully the defense will show some progress. And it will certainly be interesting to see how the Eagles WRs do against a new defense. Jordan Matthews has shown that he’s better than the Eagles backup DBs. He now gets to face new guys. That could bring out the best in Matthews or they could give him fits. Either way, you get a better feel for where he is right now.
As always…the key is no injuries.
There will be tough practices on Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday will be situational football. Friday night is the Eagles-Pats preseason game.
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As for the Cary Williams/cheaters stuff…I don’t think that will be a big deal, but you never know. How many players are left from the Spygate era…Tom Brady? Belichick is surely offended, but I don’t see him ordering a player to go after Williams in a summer practice. That would be stupid. I’m sure some players who get a chance to block Williams will pop him a little harder, but I don’t think this will be a huge issue. You can bet Kelly will talk to Williams before the practices about what he wants to see out there. And fighting won’t be on the list.
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Another hit for Dallas. CB Orlando Scandrick has been suspended for the first 4 games.
In 2013, Cowboys gave up 400+ yards 8x, 500+ yards 4x, 600+ yards 2x, & now they'll be without their 4 best defenders for the first 4 weeks.
— Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) August 12, 2014
Jimmy Bama has more on that story. Dallas fans have to be thinking…”What’s next?”.
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Re: Dallas
they had a ton of games where they gave up a ton of yards. however, none of them were from us. we all talk about our offense being great, but we never went over 400 yards against what we all look at as a bad defense. i was really surprised to see that.
one of those was Foles’ bad game/concussion/whatever, right?
yes (concussion, he couldn’t hit a barn) and the other one was the last game of the year
ok good. i feel a little better now!
I wouldn’t be surprised if we could beat them this year without our QB attempting a pass… Lol can I really fear 9 cowboys in the box? Lol who? Unless Melton is superman coming back from his serious injury I don’t see how they can stop any of the top rushing attacks from treating that like a college defense… It’s really really bad
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Cool to hear that jay grudens redskins were extremely gassed against the patriots tempos.. Skins defense didn’t have the gas to keep up with the pats offense… It’s mid August. Doubt they have enough time to get in shape for our offense
Looking more and more like Dallas will have the worst defense in the NFC, if not the entire league!
What a shame!
My worlds are colliding I leave near Foxboro
In the “olden” days . . . when square-toed kickers ruled the football world . . . the Eagles would scrimmage against Washington at Albright College or in Hershey (pre-1968).
A chance to see Sonny Jurgensen annually demonstrate that the Birds’ DBs always seemed to be a “work in progress.”
Odd that in an era of square-toed kickers nobody ever gave this guy a shot…
I think the Rams did. As a punter though.
Ultimate weapon
Apparently he did get a cup of coffee in college hoops:
“When Herman goes to Marilyn’s college to pay her tuition, the basketball coach mistakes him for the player he’s been expecting.” (Season 1, episode 17)
That writers’ room better have broken this episode in less than an hour…
this pic was taken before he became a judge
Are you mockin’ Baloophi?
My Cousin Vinny reference. He played the judge.
Two yutes?
Picture also taken before he started tending to that pet cemetery…
Til this day, any time that movie is on and I flip to it for a second, no matter what part of the movie it is, I’m still never able to change the channel
“Are you mockin’ [Baloophi]?” . . .
Also using a line from MCV.
From the scene when Vinny shows up in court wearing a big bow tie and old western style suit. The judge asks Vinny, in regard to the suit, “are you mockin’ me?”
I don’t want the Cowboys to get to be too bad… Then they would get too high a draft pick.
They actually spent a first round pick wisely… Can they really do that two years in a row? Higher pick, is just a better opportunity to make fools of themselves….probably took whatever brain cells they had left to take the OL over Johnny… I’d be intruiged to see what Morris Claiborne they spend a top pick on… Clowney wouldn’t even save that TRAINWRECK…
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Hopefully they draft WRs, so they can get coached up by their awesome special pass game coordinator as opposed to the great run game coordinator..two coaches so special that they had to get their own part of the offense lol bwahahaha love that team
.l
Ralph Wilson’s death was sad
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Jerry’s will be tragic! Long live Jerruh
Honestly though 2012 draft everyone was high on Morris Claiborne. It’s not like they reached at all. It just hasn’t been working out with him.
Never liked him…but you aren’t wrong…
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Eagles commandment… “Tho shall not interrupt eagles fans when ripping cowboys in any way shape or form”
8-8 as usual?
Orlando Scandrick, maybe the only decent defenders the cowjokes had left, and one of the leaders in the locker room. Suspended 4 games for popping Ecstacy… I can’t stop laughing
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Don’t know who is more desperate for CBs, Dallas or jets… Roc Carmicheal for sale..
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It’s one thing to get popped for PED.l to lose one of your few vets for taking friggin Ecstacy in Mexico is just awesome,
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I love that damn franchise in every way possible. I can’t even hate them any more, I officially love them
The true irony of it is that he wasn’t suspended because he took Molly. He was suspended because it was laced with amphetamines, somehow making it a PED? NFL logic is reallllly intelligent.
Molly is pretty much pure MDMA.
Lol think I can safely assume that Demeco isnt popping Ecstacy in his off time
Real Molly might be. As with all illegal drugs, the quality of the product depends on how much you can trust your dealer. And I’m assuming if he found a random in Mexico, that trust level is pretty low.
Real Molly
“Reel, Molly!”
Sigh… better
“Meal, Rollie?”
Talk about a “stretch”…
(many apologies, everyone… I promise I’m done now.)
How does this have so few votes!? Criminal.
i saw an article, i think it was on deadspin, where the argument was ‘the NFL’s drug testing is stupid. MDMA should be recreational and he should only be added to the substance abuse policy, not yet suspended!!!’
lets all just forget about the amphetamines part of it and pretend that part doesn’t count as a PED….
every time this happens, the argument is always this:
the player needs to be 100% aware and 100% responsible for what goes in his body. if he wants to take a recreational drug that won’t get him suspended on the first positive test, fine. but he sure as hell better make sure that is what he is taking and it isn’t something else banned! seeing as how we are talking about football players and not guys who can analyze these substances in a lab, i think they should just knock it off…
When Josh Gordon might have to sit out a year for pot, you better get in trouble for Molly, ecstacy, MDMA, whatever we wanna call it… But yes, I am in favor of only punishing athletes for PEDs.. Couldn’t care less who is smoking pot or doing whatever…
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I really would like someone to investigate how eagles passed drug tests for a decade under Andy, when a handful were getting caught with weed! which doesn’t leave your system in 3 days…
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Something wasn’t right during the Andy regime..it’s not possible for a team to be as clean as we were
Momah lovers, He showed up today. Tweets about his big TD catch over Browner
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Love that ST’s are going live against each other… That’s quality work.
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Marcus was working with some first string
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Hear Sproles and Edelmen were both unguardable
fights?
No…but Cary is clearly most physical and I seen a few tweets about Cary and Malcolm roughing up their WRs
.L.
Bunch of reporters say Brady isn’t lighting up our secondary like last year
i think there was a tweet about Boykin mixing it up with someone. maybe i misread that, though.
Coming off the previous thread it sounds like a Vick joke.
Fletcher Cox?
Haven’t seen any tweets yet about DL production other than Curry but a lot of it seems to be coming against 2nd team OL
Molte grazie
You know that’s my dude, Fletcher…named my fav puppy after him lol.. I’ll be sure to post something if I see a tweet about him..
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Vinny curry turned out to be my nastiest pup, like he is a scary bad ass. I have to watch him because that dog can,get me in trouble….gonna suck when we lose him.. Doubt I can change a dogs name at the age of 4.
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They are both at 135lbs at 10months lol… Don’t know what I will do when they are like 160lb..
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Lucky Fletcher is sweet for a guard dog…I wouldn’t be able to control two vinny’s
Sounds like you went with “big dogs beat little dogs”.
Love the names.
Lol cane Corso.. Italian mastiffs,,, duh lol Roman Empire war dogs 🙂
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I’m afraid to run into little dogs.. Their prey drive is Pyscho
Talkin’ some beautiful animal.
Really are amazing dogs..crazy loyal and super attached.. I can’t ever have another breed
nice choice.
our neighbor has a puppy mastiff. It’s about double the size of my puppy retriever.
I joke that they are rip offs as puppies… Mine were puppies for like a month and a half, and the next day they were dogs… They literally grew 15-20lbs per month..I never seen anything grow so fast… Could have used an extra month or two of them not knowing how to climb the steps lol
reports are he got handled pretty well by Marcus Cannon
You can be a big CB but you can’t be bigger than Momahtron.
You guys love that dude… Not sure he will make enough of ST impact to make the team, but I hope we PS him, and I don’t think he would be poached… Hopefully he improves enough for all his cult followers… I’m a Braman, maim, kill and destroy cult member 😉
“I’m a Braman, maim, kill and destroy cult member ;”
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Braman’s in the Papale fan-mold.
Can’t top your description.
He definitely found a home in this city.. We will love that whack job
Absolutely. And absolutely.
Whatever Maehl, Tucker, and all of the other fringe players bring to ST..Maragos/Braman replaces. It doesn’t have to be a WR to play ST.
I —
Would like to believe you’re right.
I certainly don’t mind him emerging as such a WR force that his ST play doesn’t matter to make this team… Go Momah.. Hopefully he is producing at a level where Chip doesn’t even care about ST… I’m always going to be pro defense..
he’s 6’7″ back shoulder red zone throws with Foles after practice. Just have him toss the ball 10ft in the air.
Only way to defend him is to hit him hard below the belt or step on his foot while delivering a forearm. I hope he makes the team – they’re giving him a chance to prove himself.
iffy
Here’s iffy:
Momah, mo problems!
damned iffy.
A_T_G and I live on the iffy wall… and you need us on that wall.
You want us on that wall.
You guys definitely focus on honor, code, and loyalty.
…AND duty…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lOGnKUHlGA
He is the Momah Lisa of big receivers.
And the Moprah Winfrey of talk show hosts.
I wonder what it is like in big Momah’s house.
http://youtu.be/_AIFoBRIny0
This.
“iffy” withdrawn.
I REALLY like hearing about Curry blowing up run plays. Good.
I read a tweet about him one gapping on run plays and getting exposed. But i’m pulling for him. Also heard cox getting no penetration 🙁
Cox isn’t supposed to get penetration.
Yeah. That’s tweet came from one of the PFF guys…
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He blew up a few run plays after that tweet… No idea how his overall performance was
I readd too that there was some serious Cox blocking going on.: / Also, how could we NOT pull for Vinny right? The guy is living every Eagles fans dream playing for his beloved Birds. He has real pass rush ability & it bums me out that he’s a victim if wrong scheme at the wrong time.
any idea which beat writers made the trip?
McLane, mosher, Les Bowan, that I know of for sure
The Momahtron is building momentum! Can’t wait to see him this Friday. That catch over Browner was HUGE in my book!
Wasn’t his only catch today either…seen a few different tweets about him making plays today… No idea where he is at as a blocker right now….
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Anyone know if he is even competing with any of the Special teams?
Momah catching a contested TD over Browner is impressive because he is most likely the only CB in the NFL who comes close to his size and and Momah is still 4 inches taller.
You Momah lovers sound like you have a chance for sure..
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Whether he makes the roster or practice squad, I think we can safely say that the kid has improved drastically this past year. For him to improve like this, without working with our coaches or practicing our guys certainly can’t be ignored. If he can improve this much on his own, how much better can he get spending a year getting coached up by our staff, practicing against NFL players…
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I don’t really care if he is roster ready or practice squad ready, but if I’m being honest I would hate to lose him to another team at this point in his development.. So if he is someone who could be poached from our practice squad, I would rather give him a roster spot than to lose him
I wonder if everything turned out right (doesn’t often happen in this league) and he developed right if he could ever be like a Harold Carmichael type for us. Sometimes I see footage of that dude and wish Chip coulda gotten his hands on him in his prime.
*disclaimer: I am NOT saying Momah is the next Carmichael, please don’t hate me, people*
What’s funny is if you hear Carmicheal story! he wasn’t some blue Chip prospect… Basically dumb luck, he got thrown into a game, caught a pass, and never looked back…. He wasn’t some can’t miss prospect….similar LONGSHOT turned into stud story that we hope Momah can mimick
“Dallas fans have to be thinking…”
That’s a pretty big assumption, Tommy…
Makes sense. After all, everything in Texas is big.
Egos… Waistlines… Holes in the secondary…
you missed low on the waistlines. won’t touch the holes.
“won’t touch the holes” is just good policy.
I live deep in the heart of Cheatriot country. Just want to go on record that I’ll always appreciate Sconces for telling it like it is. My hatred for that team will burn bright & for all time. Go birds!
Then you must have enjoyed firsthand the Boston Globe’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “move along, nothing to see here” mantra after Belichick refused to talk about spygate…
Omfg baloophi, many hours of unhealthy thoughts and likewise self meficating has resulted. I hate those bastards with as much zest as I love my birds bro.
My folks live in New Hampshire so I get all the biased news updates from my father. He’s looking forward to all of the “New Hampshire’s own Chip Kelly” articles this week…
Oh no kidding huh? After we left Lancaster Pa we moved to southern NH for the rest of my school years.They love them dome Chip down there! For that matter, the town I live in now produced David Ball so they love them some Chip here too. : )
Are you sure it won’t just burn adequate to a light a path along the wall but not the entire room?
Love me some “bad cop” aka Cary “F’in” Williams…
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We were probably the softest I can ever remember a philly defense being the year before he got here… Really really appreciate him doing his part to try and toughen us up last year and bring that bite back to our defense… We don’t have that problem any more, but I think he was huge for us last year in that regard. I adore Demeco, but he isn’t the Nasty type.. He is the type that everyone wants their daughter to marry… That’s why I call Cary “bad cop”… He was the bad cop we needed last year, to compliment good cop, Meco in our locker room…
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His tough guy role is no longer as important as it was when he first got here, really appreciate his approach to the game… Hopefully he can up his game from last year now that we added a legit safety…
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Wish I could know how much Cary has grown to hate! cowboys, skins and Giants, but I get a real kick out of him. Weeks like this one when he facing a team he despises…
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He may be a maniac, but I can’t really disagree with anything he said about the patriots! except for that I think we can get a lot more out of these joint practices than he was willing to admit…
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Philly has had so many better corners, and I’m not oblivious to the fact that he isn’t a top CB, but I can’t help it, I love the dog in him, and I really like that the past few years his best football has by far come in December and January… He doesn’t shrink when it matters most.. If anything the,bigger the game, the more he has elevated his play…
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Thought Brad had a better September and October, but Cary was the better corner in November/December/January… But we faced such a murderes row of top WR tandems that we wouldn’t have survived without both corners playing well during that November/December stretch when we were holding teams under 24
T-Law . . . .
You’re a living public service.
You’re an interactive public work of art.
B . . .
what was today’s inspiration of choice? white hot.
Today we’re sponsored by Peet’s Coffee (House Blend) and a lukewarm Coke Zero I found under my desk. Yet another “health-first” day!
lean and mean on that combo
You’re an old Dutch master.
The corona delux kind,. As original as it gets
Anyone know which reporters, if any, will be attending the joint practices up in NE? Curious to hear some reports about how we stack up in year two compared to year 1 against the Patriots.
http://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2014/8/12/5995785/philadelphia-eagles-training-camp-practice-notes-new-england-patriots-nick-foles#comments
thanks, was wondering who went up. Doesn’t look like Shiel went, but at least Kempski went. Keeps it fun.
ESP is there for NJ.com
They have some stuff written beware of the misleading headlines.
ESP, the buzzfeed of Eagles football.
Les Bowan, Mosher, McLane are there for sure
Why am I watching Jordan Poyer start with Joe Haden for the Browns vs. The lions… What corner is injured for the browns?
Heard some nice opinions from today..
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The reporters who witnessed our joint practice last year with the Pats all said it’s obvious we have closed the gap from last year between the two teams, in that it’s significantly more competitive than last year..
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One or two media guys called FOles his best, if not one of his best performance this offseason
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And that Brady wasn’t having his way with our DBs like last year..
Is Momah even working with any of the ST? I don’t remember noticing him with ST… If he isn’t even competing as a ST player, he should be able to make team just based on how he looks as a WR..
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Curious if anyone has even noticed him with any of the ST units?
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Also curious if anyone noticed him blocking in the run game.l no idea where he is at with his blocking..
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Our media all seemed to notice a pretty obvious difference between Alex and Gostkowski, which wasn’t great to hear
The thing I wonder is when does a guy like Momah’s potential out weigh his contributions on special teams. I would like to see his run blocking also, but at 6’7″, he has to at least be able to get in the way of cbs.
As far as Henery goes, we know he won’t look good as many of the other kickers out there. Really hope he builds on his performance from last Friday. I want to see him attempt some long kicks this week.
Here’s my thing… There are certain personel additions that teams make, that aren’t supposed to pay off immediately… There is no point in ever adding a guy like Momah or Kruger if you are going to cut them if they don’t pay dividends right away….if we are realistic about both players situation, neither should have paid off for us yet,,,,so if you aren’t going to give raw, high upside talent more than a year to prove that they can contribute, you shouldn’t add them to begin with…
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A guy like Kruger is drafted because you think he would be a much higher draft pick had he stayed in school…don’t spend a draft pick on raw talent like him, if you aren’t going to give him the time everyone knew he needed before he was added…
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Momah and Kruger weren’t supposed to pay off for us yet! I don’t want to lose either player to another franchise before next offseason. I’m not overly concerned with them making the roster, or being placed on practice squad this year, but if you are going to PS them, you better have a good idea that they aren’t going to be poached by another franchise…I’ll be pissed to lose them to another franchise and see them start to pay dividends a year down the road…
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Anyone even know if Momah has been working with any ST units? If we only have him working as a WR, I don’t see how you can hold his lack of ST against him….if you need him to provide ST ability to make the team, then he should be getting a shot to compete on ST…. I personally can’t recall ever seeing him with any ST units..and if he isn’t at all working with ST, then I don’t want to hear lack of ST play being held against him when it’s time to decide who stays and who goes
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Personally I’m thrilled with where we are at, in terms of ST personel… We have a nice amount of quality ST players..it’s not like you need 30 players contributing on ST… As raw as he is, if he is already outperforming guys like Benn, Maehl and Damaris as WRs when they are all much more polished than him, then I don’t need to see him have a ST impact to want to see him on the roster
Exactly. To further my point, how much does Maehl actually contribute to ST? Even if his production can’t be exactly matched, there should be someone to take his place and be almost as good. Plus as you said already, we have a bunch of good ST’ers.
We have to see about Henery, If he can at least improve a little bit we are in awesome shape and as I said above, he first preseason performance was encouraging. Keep your fingers crossed!
Think being able to play the position first is the priority.. Being able to play ST is a bonus.. That tackle Momah made after the INT shows he not afraid to make a tackle.. Playing him on the FG or P unit looks like a no brainer with his height.. If Momah or Kruger dont make the 53 good chance they will get picked up from another team
Good point about the tackle after the int. I really hope the line plays better for this Pats game so we can see more of the Momahtron. Honestly I can’t even believe he has A SHOT at making the roster, after what he was like last summer. Huge improvement.
[…] Patriot Games – Iggles BlitzBill Belichick is a great coach and his team knows how to practice. Going against them will be a challenge for the Eagles. That’s exactly what you want from this format. If you go against a lesser team, all you will find out is that your players are better than lesser competition. The Eagles goal is to build a great team. In order to do that, you need to compete against top flight competition. […]