Pats Practice Roundup
Posted: August 12th, 2014 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 107 Comments »The Eagles and Patriots practiced together today up in Foxboro. The Eagles media was up there in full force so let’s take a look at some of what took place today.
* The consensus is that the Eagles looked much better today than they did last summer. Tom Brady shredded the defense last August. Poor Curtis Marsh might have had nightmares for months after the drubbing he took. Obviously the defense didn’t go shut down the Pats today, but they were much more competitive and won their share of battles. That’s a very good sign.
* Jeremy Maclin went up against Darrelle Revis. Maclin won his share of battles, which is another encouraging sign. I like this note from Sheil Kapadia. “Great effort from Maclin down the sideline, going up for a contested catch and nearly coming down with it. I’ll say this about Maclin: More than at any other time this summer, I thought he just looked the part today.”
* Vinny Curry was once again highly disruptive.
* The Pats smaller, quick WRs Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola won plenty of 1-on-1 battles. They gave the Eagles bigger CBs fits at times, which is to be expected. In practice guys that are quick and elusive can often beat DBs and get open. Jason Avant wasn’t small, but was a similar type of player who always got open in Training Camp.
* Cary Williams didn’t do anything crazy. He had a solid day of practice.
* It sounds like Ifenayi Momah had another solid day of work.
* Jordan Matthews had one bad drop early on, but otherwise rebounded well from Friday’s sloppy performance.
* Speaking of rookies, CB Jaylen Watkins had a good day. He’s had somewhat of a quiet summer in terms of practice. Obviously things were very up and down on Friday. He gave up a long TD and struggled at times before coming up with a very impressive INT. It would be great if the light was going on for Watkins and he could start to play well. Nolan Carroll was having a terrific offseason, but has been hurt in recent days.
Here are the key links to the notes.
Jimmy Bama – Good practice notes, but even better pancake thoughts.
Tim McManus – Good stuff, especially this blurb on Tom Brady and Pats fans. — “An estimated 25,000 fans showed up for Tuesday’s practice. You can get up close to the action here, especially near the back of the end zone. There is a yellow rope that spectators stand behind maybe 10 yards from the playing field. At one point Tuesday the Patriots quarterbacks were working very close to this section. I can’t tell you the number of times the phrase, “I love you, Tom!” was uttered. And that was just from the dudes. ”
Jeff McLane had some good notes on DL. — “The Eagles first team did a fine job against Pats running back Stevan Ridley. Brandon Bair took some first team reps at defensive end in place of Fletcher Cox, who was quiet. Mychal Kendricks popped running back James White at one point, even though it was just a “thud” (no tackling) period. Vinny Curry shot into the backfield twice and had what would have been tackles for loss. He looked dominant again.”
Sheil Kapadia has his running practice observations again today. Always must read material.
PE.com had some notes on Momah. — “For the Eagles offense, Ifeanyi Momah continued to open eyes with the increased efficiency of his route-running. First, he employed a nifty hesitation move at the line of scrimmage to beat the would-be jam of Alfonzo Dennard, after which Momah sprinted down the sideline and hauled in a nicely lofted pass from Nick Foles. Later, Momah went up against Brandon Browner down the field and varied his pace to create exactly the perfect amount of space to outleap the 6-4 cornerback for a touchdown.”
Brandon Lee Gowton has the day in Tweets, if you prefer that format.
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Very encouraging news from Momah and Watkins. We need depth and that depth needs to be the future. Matthews needs to prove he’s not a practice and camp hero. I can’t wait to see more Marcus Smith..he needs to go up against some first stringers as the predator role before preseason ends.
I think ultimately Davis is looking for parity, wouldn’t surprise me to see him play opposite Barwin not as predator and Jack, but just 2 OLB’s like every other 3-4 in the league. That seems to be the plan for next year, no way do they pay Cole all that money.
Curtis Marsh also seems to be doing really well in practice.
He’s been a disappointment until I remember how raw he was as a former RB. He has the athleticism and size Kelly prefers. Wonder how that position will pan out. Hoping for healthy team, but if someone goes down ahead of him it would be nice to know we have some serviceable back ups.
Sheeeeeet if he keeps performing, we maybe able to extort the CB desperate jets for a decent pick
This is where our extra practice reps for our depth players helps us out immensely. I’m not ruling out the possibility that we do trade a player for a draft pick next year.
Absolutely!!
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Hey man GMs are still wheeling and dealing.
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Just yesterday the pats traded a CB I never heard of to the cowboys for a DL named Bass..
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Then the Packers gave up on 2nd round pick of two years ago jerel Worthy, for Vinny curry reasons (1gap player struggling in the Packers two gap), they traded Worthy who is a talented kid to the Patriots..
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I don’t see how the jets could sit on their hands and not make a trade,.,
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Should be some opportunities for wheeling and dealing still, and Howie practically pioneered player for player trades in the NFL…so hopefully we can still get some value for guys we don’t intend on keeping
Apparently the only guys that can stop Vinny Curry are Chip Kelly and Bill Davis.
** disgruntled agreement **
Wish I could argue with that.
Isn’t the issue with Curry his lack of 2 gap discipline? Scheme is not best fit for him. If we were a 1 gap 4-3 defense, Curry and Graham (or Cole ) would be our starting DEs.
Seems like waste of talent. I understand scheme change, but if they are not going to use Curry’s superior ability to disrupt backfields more often, why keep him? Same goes for Graham.
Reality is that, outside of Cole, Curry and Graham are their best pass rushers despite scheme/body type “non-fit”.
Oh well…
They will keep him because he is the best guy they can get for that roster spot, presumably including anything that was offered in trade. If they got any offers, they must not have been good enough. I don’t see this as a case of stubbornness.
Don’t even think we can afford to trade him, until a top pass rusher emerges for us
They keep them as situational defenders and backups.
Will that be enough to re-sign them? Probably not. But why would anyone trade anything of value for them? The Eagles set the precedent with DeSean Jackson that they will just release guys that don’t fit their goals.
Hoping, Dion Jordan under performs, after they already paid some of his salary, they get fed up and give him to us for curry….that’s why I’m hoping Vinny has a monster pass rush year… Most likely can’t resign him when his rookie deal expires, so best case scenario is he puts himself on the map as a top pass rusher. Miami gets fed up with Dion, and we swap players a year from now…wishful thinking but I have to maintain my sanity knowing we will inevitably lose a top pass rusher who bleeds green
Trades in the NFL are rare anyway. DeSean’s situation was a little different than these players, so I don’t see an exact co-relation to Jackson’s release. You’re point about being situational back ups is very true. If they were low round picks or UDFA’s instead of early round picks this would not be an issue for me, or us…I think.
Don’t trade for players in the NFL, you trade for contracts… No one was trading for Deseans! should be DRASTICALLY EASIER to trade a second round pick on his rookie deal…but even if we are offered a 3rd round pick, can they really afford to trade him at this point before a pass rusher emerges for us?
They aren’t going to waste his talents… I’m sure he will always be on the field on 3rd and 5 and longer,lol the problem is his talents aren’t suited to be a 3down player for us… Until other pass rushers emerge, I’m sure we really appreciate Having Vinny in nickel! I suspect that he is untradeable until we find pass rush elsewhere..,
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If it were up to the Eagles, I’d bet they would love to have a nickel pass rusher of his caliber for the next 7 years…the problem is when he becomes a free agent, we can’t pay him to play on 3rd down, what other teams will pay for his talents on 1st, 2nd and 3rd down…. So I don’t think it’s a case of us dying to trade him…think we would keep his pass rush forever if the dollars made sense, but it’s unlikely we can keep him past his rookie deal….
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But for this season, he should be a really important part of our defense.. His pass rush is crucial until we get the edge rushers we need
Did gronk play? Haven’t heard anything about him so assume no. Be nice to see our guys get reps against him.
Only if you get a weird kick out of our defense getting destroyed and shouting at the sky with your fists in the air (HOOOWWIIIIIIIIIEEEE!)
Gronk is practicing for the Pats but no 7 on 7 or 11 on 11 drills yet. So I don’t think doing much in these joint practices.
So, our Ranger hasn’t taken out Brady yet? I am beginning to believe he is a Patriot spy for sure.
Yeah I was hoping I would wake up today. With Brady having disappeared from his bed, no one knows where he is…water board the shit out of him til he admits they cheated us!!!! Come on Villanueva!!
“The consensus is that the Eagles looked much better today than they did last summer.”
Just another way of saying Patrick Chung isn’t on the team anymore.
(Eagles – Chung) + (Patriots + Chung) = Eagles Look Better
I only regret, I have but one Chung to give other teams.
Give me Victory or give me Chung.
Live free or Chung.
Veni Vidi Chungy
Sic Semper Chung
I’ve been rooting for Momah–what a problem he would be for defenses in the red zone. Match-up nightmares. Makes every db look like Mark McMillian.
As was once said at the breakfast table— Give me “mo, mah”
i’m rooting for him just for the possibility of regular season “yo momah” jokes.
hmmm. after reading articles the last few day about how Cox will be the man, reading this is surely disappointing. One write up almost made it sound like Cox was benched. Good to read about Maclin. After reading the updates, my thoughts on the KO team hasn’t changed. The kicker just has too weak of a leg.
Just a hunch, I think Cox will make the team.
Good news is he’s still one of the youngest people on the team, as much as people want to see a meteoric rise to being the next JJ Watt (1 gap system), Cox has the time for the curve to flatten a little bit while he figure out how to take the next step.
That is a good perspective. Obviously everyone wants to read about Cox being up and ready to go, but patience is important while he is looking a bit… flaccid.
It’s possible when he was introduced to 2 gaps last year he got over eager and now he’s spent. That can happen to young guys! I hear it could be 15 games before Cox is back up to the task of performing.
Sports science suggests Viagra.
At his age, Cox ought to be able to play two games in one day.
I wouldn’t worry about veterans who know they have a starting spot on lock underperforming this time of year… Do we really need to see Cox dominate the preseason after posting some of the best stats in the league out of 3-4 DEs aka 4techniques?
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Rather than see cox dominate, I’m more concerned with him getting into the season healthy and ready to roll
Very true. But Cox isn’t a veteran who has shown his capabilities. He still needs to develop and peek. If these reports are true … he’s not moving forward….
Anyone hear yet what’s up with Maclins injury? He wasn’t carted off or anything, but he took himself out of practice and was cursing on the sideline..first one to get some clarity on that situation, please post it. Cooper not fully practicingk Momah is getting more opportunities to step up
Maclin said its minor left hamstring
Nice… Thanks, I was getting worried..
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Forget who tweeted it, but someone said yesterday was the first time Maclin really “looked the part” in terms of being our #1 WR
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I also was unaware of Maclin leading the league in 2012 in getting corners called for pass interference…that could come up big for us this year with the refs not letting corners touch WRs.
What’s the likelihood of Maclin dealing with “little” minor things like this throughout the season as he gets used to his knee?
Also…glad to hear it’s a hamstring. Get that sports science treatment started right away!
the way coop n Mac keep getting Dinged up, we may have to keep that 6th WR
What’s up with Coop anyway? High ankle sprain? Is he still rockin’ the boot? Don’t like how long he’s been out, and no sense of what’s going on with him.
No more boot… He was in pads yesterday. Don’t remember if he participated in only drills or if he sat of the entire practice, but the boots Off, should be ready to return soon…. Major opportunity for a 6th WR to get reps with the ones and impress the coaching staff
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Basically MOmah vs. Benn vs. Maehl
Wow…I know it’s still early yet, but who would’ve thought Momah would have a shot this year. Honestly, that’s why I love this time of year. Playets get nicked up and it allow others to get a shot.
I’m still hoping Benn is able to show prove, but I wouldn’t be adverse to Momah if continues to bring it and improve.
Yeah I have been a fan of Benn since college, and really feel for that guy…he has had to put in so much work rehabbing and barely has gotten to play… Happy that he is getting to play, and if he doesn’t make it with us, I hope he can continue his career somewhere else…
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As long as we don’t keep Maehl over Benn and Momah! I’m fine with keeping either…
Right now it’s still Maehl > Momah > Benn in my estimation of the pecking order. I still think Momah has a chance to make the roster if he can show that he can do something significant on special teams. I doubt that he makes it otherwise.
MOMAHTRON!!!!!!!!!!!
Right on que Mitch
What a surprise, Maclin will now be nursing a hamstring injury.
Just said precautionary and that he expects to play Friday..
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Bumps n bruises happen… As long as guys don’t go down for weeks, I. Happy
I read he’s been icing the right knee, the one he tore. Let’s hope it just a precaution.
Were did you see that?
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Maclin said that these past few days it really clicked for him and he started feeling like himself again, so he was pissed because he knew tweaking the hamstring would end his day, and he was really starting to produce,,,
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He sounded like there would be a shot he practices tomorrow,… But I don’t really care if our first team offense even plays again in the preseason.. Just get Barbre up to speed
From Jeff McLane: http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/sports/eagles/Maclin-cuts-practice-short-after-hamstring-injury.html
I put low odds on him playing this week. I think they want to be very conservative with hamstring injuries especially for starters.
Man from G.L.A.S.S.
Just saw a tweet of patriots reporter Tom Curran praises the eagles defense and coverage against Brady… Article is posted on CBS
link?
Philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2 there is more after the 2 but I don’t know how to view it…
thanks that worked.
it’s nice, but a reporter interviewing another reporter for quotes seems a little odd.
It was to be expected that we would be much better against them than we were last year… But I like that their media got to see how our rival skins did against them last week, and we get to hear from objective media, how much tougher we are playing the Pats then the skins did last week
part of me thinks — DJ didn’t want to do all that conditioning because he’s great as is….. If he didn’t want to do it as an Eagle, he’s certainly not going to tell the coaches at Wash to push him and the team harder…
He doesn’t need to do the conditioning,,. But if I’m Desean on the redskins, I would be begging the defense to do extra conditioning,.. .. He knows our tempo and what it did to defenses, he had to see that the way the redskins players train wasn’t going to cut it against tempo offenses like eagles and pats
This is a list of ridiculous hyperbole against Jackson and his perceived shortcomings.
How we train? Look at our WR corps — who is practicing? Everyone’s injured. You don’t think Djax is going to torch us for a TD this year? Have you seen our secondary deal w/ speed players?
Really dude? You think the skins will be in better conditioning than the eagles? You think anyone in the division is as well conditioned? Btw, my point has nothing to do with Deseans conditioning… Desean doesn’t need to be in super shape to face our defense. Last I checked defense doesn’t get to dictate the tempo…
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But Desean knows very well the shape our OL is in. And how quick our tempo can get, and how it gassed defenses last year. Knowing how we train, doesn’t take a genius to know that his defense probably isn’t going to have the conditioning to deal with our tempo…. Or have you already forgotten skins defenders huffing and puffing begging to stop our tempo even trying to fake injuries to catch their breath?
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Lol how is this even debateable? are people that big of blind Desean fanboys? Lol fughedaboutit
Honestly i think it’ll be interesting how teams use timeout to slow the tempo, or a ticky tack foul, etc. Saints used a timeout to halt a drive in last year’s playoff drive that zapped our momentum. I think the Bears did it in pre season as well (I could be wrong)
Earl Wolff has been quiet…. Seems like Nate has gotten some separation in the battle to start next to Malcolm…
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Wolff really has elite athleticism to grow into a Bob sanders type and we have veterans like Cary who think the world of his potential…. Need him to step it up this week and make noise, instead of letting Nate run away with the starting spot in mid August..
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Like to see both,safeties elevate their game and really push each other competing to start…Wolff is running out of time…he needs to make his move THIS WEEK
4-3 nickel DT? I suppose they could use Graham there.
They could line up anyone there to be honest. I don’t think Wolff beats out Allen this year. He’s athletic but doesn’t have it in his head yet and for whatever reason he doesn’t trust his knee — which is too bad because he’s 80% athleticism 20% technique.
Wolff/Allen: If we’re talking about to start the season, I definitely agree, but there is a chance that changes over the course of the season.
I’d agree with that,., Nate probably has to nose Dive badly to not start at the beginning of the season at this point… But if he doesn’t let loose and start playing an attacking style, he will be susceptible to losing his job to Wolff mid season, or whenever Wolff is comfortable enough really putting his athleticism on display at the position
The two interior DTs when we go to our 4 man lines and have the OLBs stick their hand in the dirt and line up as 4-3 DE’s…
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Whether it’s a 4-2-5 nickel or 4-1-6 Dime
http://www.thechipwagon.com/eagles/2014/08/2-gap-1-gap-and-vinny-curry.html
Great reason why Curry is not starting. I remember a quite a lot of those plays where he wasnt under control and the guard just knocked him of balance. Late in the season, guards was even using his burst against him, because he simple do not have the control or balance at all times
I really like Curry but still think if he was going to be in a 2-gap 3-4 it needed to be as an OLB. He needs to be primarily a pass rusher.
i’m still frustrated that he never got a chance in the “predator” role.
Because he cant cover?
Clearly can’t stop the run either.
Vinny actually projected as a quality run stuffing 4-3 DE.., so I wouldn’t say that he can’t stop the run as a predator OLB…. But he is clearly still struggling against the run as a 2gap 3-4 DE…… Like that we are starting to let him shoot gaps against the run, getting creative by sending the NT in the gap behind him, finding ways to better use his talents…instead of just banging our heads against the wall and continue having him strictly two gap against the run when we know he won’t do it at a high level
neither can cole. the olb roles aren’t interchangeable yet, so he wouldn’t be dropping very often.
I liked the article to show how Billy Davis is going to put his talents to use even if we are a 3-4 2 gap… For example their breakdowns of us having curry and Thornton shoot the gap with the center stunting and filling that gap behind them,,. Curry and Beau did it together! as did Thornton and Square..,
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Awesome article tho, if it were up to me, I would make reading that article a prerequisite for being an eagles fan…
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Thinking this year we will see Billy Davis add concepts to our defense that put players talents to use that maybe don’t fit the traditional 3-4 2gap..
there’s another article further back about how poor curry was playing in the scheme last year. the first article made me think that maybe billy d (or jerry azz) might know what they are doing.
ok bored so tell me the percentage chance the following are on the final 53 (and I don’t mean traded the next day):
Momah:
Benn:
Maehl:
C. Matthews:
Marsh:
GO!
Momah: 35%
Maehl: 35%
Benn: 30%
Casey Matthews? I don’t have the slightest clue. Haven’t heard his name mentioned almost the whole camp.
Marsh… 0%, unless they carry 6 CBs. In that case, 100%.
Marsh is playing well. I realize we don’t have room, but if so they should trade him to someone like the Jets for a 6th.
I’m assuming he will be traded within the next two weeks
For what?
Worst case scenario: player that could interest us, who isn’t going to make jets roster
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Best case: like a 5th or 6th depending on how desperate the jets are
There’s no trade value for players you’re going to cut. The best you get out of these guys is a player for player swap.
#djax
Marsh is no # 5. Cary, Fletch, Carroll II, Boykin, Marsh, Watkins (is Reynolds a CB or a S?)
Reynolds is a safety
Watkins is ahead of marsh. Maybe not in terms of merit..but Watkins is a lock to make our roster with the other 4 CBs Cary!Brad!Boykin, Nolan with Jalen as the 5th..,
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We aren’t automatically keeping 6 CBs… So for Marsh to make our roster he has to outperform the fringe players at every other position. Marsh has to prove more valuable than guys like Long, Momah, Kruger! Bair! Maehl Benn, if he is going to make the roster as the 6th CB
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If I had to bet what happens to marsh, I would have to say he gets traded, probably to JETS
Momah: 20%
Benn: 5%
Maehl: 75%
C. Matthews: 25%
Marsh: 20%
Momah 35
Benn 15
Maehl 45
Matthew 5
Marsh 0
Chip wagon wrote an article about Vinny curry and our defense, that if it were up to me, I would force every single eagle fan to read this article before they listen to the simple analysis of many of our media members taking about how certain players don’t fit our scheme…
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It’s called “2-gap, 1-gap and Vinny curry” it’s the top article on chipwagon.com
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It shows how we have certain players shoot gaps on first and second down, while the others two gap…showed the still shots of the bears game when we were effective having Thornton or Curry 1 gap, while having our NTs Beau and Square stunt and fill in the gap that our DE shot thru..
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One of the top articles written about our defense all year. Extremely informative, and it’s important to understand these nuances before you start hearing Les Bowan tell you so and so can’t do this and so and so can’t do that..
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We are more than a 3-4 2gap, and I’m under the impression that Billy Davis is going to morph our defense to put all our players talents to good use… Surprised that we showed this in a preseason game vs. The bears…
Yeah Dion Jordan will inevitably end up in philly… It’s like he impregnated Joe phylbins daughter so the coach is doing everything possible to sabatoge his career lol:
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Phylbin said the team still doesn’t plan to use Dion as an OLB
“One of Jordan’s strengths coming out of Oregon was his position versatility, a long lanky athlete who has the ability to stand up and cover backs and TEs in addition to rush the passer. Dolphins continue to make him a one dimensional 4-3 end even with their LB corp being one of the worst in the league. Dolphins are wasting his talent”- Palm beach post
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Look, if they are hell bent on a 4-3DE who does nothing but rush the passer, a year from now, after some of his big salary has already been paid, a Vinny Curry for Dion Trade is practically inevitable…… Another average/weak year from Dion being not used to his strengths! and his draft status will no longer mean nothing… Hopefully Vinny blows up for a 6-8 sack year in a limited role, while Dion struggles! and next offseason this trade will be a no brainer
Dion hits fa one year after Vinny , but I would still trade Graham+pick for Jordan
Don’t think we will get the chance to….we would have to make that trade now, where as I suspect we have to wait another year before the dolphins are ready to give up on him… Hopefully Vinny has a big year, Dion struggles the retarded way they are using him and we can get it done next offseason…
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Momah lovers:
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McManus asked Chip the magic Momah question: how much does his ST play factor into if he is going to get a spot on the roster, and unfortunately Chip says both ST play and WR play HAS to matter if you aren’t a first, 2nd or 3rd WR. Momah is on KR team, he has played gunner out wide on punt team. There are a couple places on ST where his size could be advantageous to us. He is taking some reps on punt return team and that’s a battle for all those guys. If you aren’t a top 3 WR, you have to be a great ST player, but he has done a great job. One thing about Mo is he has grown leaps and bounds for last year to this year and he continues to make strides. Really happy with where he is right now- Chip Kelly
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But it doesn’t sound like he can just make the team by horsing at WR. He will have to produce on ST too..
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Get the impression that Chip despises only dressing 46 players and he keeps hammering home the point that the end of the roster, versatility and ST play becomes crucial…
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Anyone have any clue where Momah ranks with Maehl and Benn in terms of what they bring to the ST table? I would assume both a Benn and Maehl are ahead of him! would that be a correct assumption? I literally have no clue where he is at on terms of ST play
Jeff McLane calls Ertz performance today….DOMINANT!
he said it in allcaps?
I have a question about the stunt concept: I was under the assumption that a stunt was normally used on passing plays. However when reading the ChipWagon it looks like it was utilized on a running play. The question is, when using a stunt, is the weakside extra vulnerable to the run because both defenders are now attacking to the stunt side? Say for instance a cut back?