Sunday Stuff

Posted: May 10th, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 83 Comments »

Let’s talk about a variety of things today.

First up is the Sports Science group.

What the heck is reconditioning? Here is a good definition.

RECONDITIONING is a performance-based model for training athletes following injury or surgery. It is directed by a performance team and medically supported. The program design begins with the end goal in mind, which is a return to competition. We then design a progression backward to the surgery. This process allows the performance team to address all aspects of athletic development immediately post-injury or surgery to best prepare the individual for the true demands of competition that lay ahead.

Reconditioning follows a functional path immediately post-injury and continues this progression until the athlete has returned to competition. We recognize that a serious joint/tendon/muscle injury should be looked upon as a neurophysiologic dysfunction, not just a basic peripheral musculoskeletal injury. With this in mind we must train movements, not muscles during all stages of post-injury care. Most protocols that restrict motion, brace joints, assist motion (CPM), or restrict loading are affecting the normal patterning that an athlete needs in order to best prepare for higher quality training in the weeks and months to come. The best “brace” for any injury is neuromuscular control and coordinated movement patterns. These CAN be developed early and often if encouraged to do so. Unfortunately I find many rehabilitation protocols are more centered on what an athlete CAN’T do versus what an athlete CAN do. This is often designed to protect the healing tissue, but I find the limitations imparted compromise the short and long term movement qualities of the athlete.

Training Around the Injury: The reconditioning model respects doing no harm and maintaining joint homeostasis, but encourages more creative ways to train the athlete in all phases of recovery. Because reconditioning is performance based, we prepare the athlete- not just treat the injury. Whether the response is physiological and/or psychological the outcomes are excellent. I find the medical model of rehabilitation focuses more on the injury and underestimates the positive healing response of training the entire individual.

Here is more info.

Injuries are extremely frustrating to athletes, forcing them to modify their lifestyle while they’re healing. Following rest and healing, they often discover that they’re still not able to participate in an activity without risking further injury. This injury/rest/re-injury process is all too common for many athletes. The key to stopping this vicious cycle is to understand the aspects of reconditioning.

Conditioning and Reconditioning

Reconditioning after an injury requires the athlete to modify his/her conditioning program in two ways:

  1. Carefully control work intensity.
  2. Use residual pain to monitor acceptable levels of intensity.

And

The Reconditioning Process

Flexibility – Strengthening -Functional Rehabilitation

  • Start the reconditioning program with exercises that involve static, pain-free stretching.
  • When flexibility has improved, use a program of progressive resistance exercise (weight lifting) to increase muscle strength.
  • When sufficient strength has been obtained, gradually add intensity within the movement of your sport.

Within each stage of the reconditioning program the athlete must be very careful to select an intensity level that does not increase the Type I or Type II pain. As an athlete continues to recover from injury, the Exercise Window will widen and the athlete will find that he or she can once again challenge Type I pain with minimal Type II pain.

Following these procedures will allow the injured athlete to break out of the injury/rest/re-injury cycle.

Obviously the Eagles focus on something like this is part of why Chip Kelly is willing to take a risk on players coming off injuries. He must feel the Eagles can do a better job than many other teams at getting the player all the way back to where he needs to be.

We really need another year or two to see how this works. Jeremy Maclin came back from his ACL and looked as good as ever. We’ll see how Kiko Alonso, Sam Bradford and DeMeco Ryans look this year.

If you like reading this kind of material, this site is full of ACL info. It covers reconditioning, but also different types of surgery and all sorts of technical stuff.

* * * * *

Weirdest draft trend of all time?

If that continues next year, it will be pretty Freaky Friday.

* * * * *

I’m glad to hear the Eagles will be doing this again. I think it helps the players. They get tired of playing against each other. I think it also helps to get the competitive juices flowing when you go against someone in a different uniform.

It also helps that the Ravens are a good team. You want to practice against quality competition so you can get a feel for where your players are.

* * * * *

Allen Barbre is now Dr. J?

Good to see the Eagles basketball team is still going strong without Nick Foles. He looked like their best player in previous years. Barbre the dunking machine? I just didn’t expect to read that.

* * * * *

From Dave Spadaro.

  • Ed Reynolds, a fifth-round draft pick last year, is taking part in this weekend’s activities. He needs the reps. Reynolds never caught up after missing OTAs last year while his Stanford class graduated, so Reynolds will eagerly gobble up reps any time he is able to do so.
  • There are two guard prospects I’m watching through Training Camp: Josh Andrews, who was on the practice squad last year after signing in the post-draft period, and Brett Boyko, an undrafted rookie from UNLV. Boyko has great size and reach and is said to be a very good athlete.

I still have my doubts on whether Ed Reynolds ever develops, but I’m glad he is in there early. I was kinda hoping Jerome Couplin would be in there as well, but he’s not. I don’t know if that’s by choice or the coaches limit who can be there.

Reynolds needs every rep possible. He’s got to show something this summer. He is exactly the kind of Safety I think the Eagles need…a centerfielder/ballhawk type…but he’s got to play well. There are no excuses at this point. He’s got to show NFL ability. I hope he does. Would be a nice boost to the Safety position.

As for the OL…Andrews is an overlooked guy. He doesn’t have Chip Kelly’s ideal build at just 6-2, 311, but he is a solid athlete and he’s versatile. He played OT in high school. He began his career at Oregon State as a Center and then moved to LG. He is strictly a G/C in the NFL. I don’t know if he’s a serious candidate for a roster spot, but he has been a bit overlooked.

Boyko is an interesting OG prospect. I don’t see anything special athletically, but he is a tough, physical run blocker. He does have a great frame. He did his best playing LT in college, but he is meant to play OG.

* * * * *

Finally…Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there.

_

83 Comments on “Sunday Stuff”

  1. 1 Kelce's Beard said at 10:45 AM on May 10th, 2015:

    The program design begins with the end goal in mind, which is a return to competition

    You quoted Dweck in your last post; you can attribute this one to Stephen Covey (7 Habits of Highly Effective People):

    http://www.depts.ttu.edu/upwardbound/books/the-7-habits-ofhighly-effective-people.pdf

    spoiler: habit #2 is “begin with end in mind”, page 45

  2. 2 Anders said at 3:53 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    Who knew that it was required to learn psychology to follow your favorite sports team?

  3. 3 Baloophi said at 5:43 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    It has certainly always required psychology to follow our favorite sports team…

  4. 4 Michael Winter Cho said at 7:27 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    Oh, do you guys use affirmations, too?

    “All of me is beautiful and valuable, even the ugly, stupid, and disgusting parts.”

    “False hope is nicer than no hope at all.”

    http://www.lollie.com/giggle/giggle2.html

  5. 5 76mustang said at 10:53 AM on May 10th, 2015:

    Right on
    You see this cat Shaft is a bad mother
    (Shut your mouth)
    But I’m talkin’ about Shaft
    (Then we can dig it)
    He’s a complicated man
    But no one understands him but his woman
    (John Shaft)

  6. 6 GEAGLE said at 10:56 AM on May 10th, 2015:

    I dig it

  7. 7 P_P_K said at 10:24 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    That’s some old-school soul.

  8. 8 GEAGLE said at 10:56 AM on May 10th, 2015:

    Andrews, Vandervelde I’ll root for anyone that helps me forget MOLK was ever an eagle. The last thing a QB coming back from injury needs is having a center like MOLK blown into his lap on every play. I’d rather waive the white flag and forfeit a game then to risk Bradfords health with MOLK under center. I despise him.
    ..
    I don’t rule out Ed Reynolds because of a uneventful rookie year. With that said this is the deepest, most talented collection of DBs this franchise has had since the great Jim Johnson was our “Secretary of defense”.
    ,,
    I honestly liked Reynolds more then the Safety from Stanford Bellicheat reached for in round 2. I’d bet that pick ends up worse then drafting Ras I Dowling…
    ..
    I dont rule out Reynolds making the roster, but it won’t be easy at all… We have a deep stable of Young Db talent, should provide a spirited competitipn in camp and in the second half of preseason games. curious to see which young DBs rise to the top, and which get engulfed by the competition?
    ,..
    3 seasons ago, reynolds was a playmaker. The kid grew up as an NFL brat.. If he wants to follow is fathers footsteps this is the time he will have to seize the opportunity.. Going to be very interesting to see the DB competitipn throughout camp and the preseason,

  9. 9 Anders said at 3:54 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    Molk was miles better than Vandervelde, but I wonder if Andrew Gardner could learn to snap?

  10. 10 George said at 4:47 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    *MOLK

  11. 11 GEAGLE said at 6:43 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    Molk was better then no one EVER…

  12. 12 xmbk said at 6:50 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    I like Reynolds, but wonder if the focus on measurable works against him. He may not be in the ideal situation.

  13. 13 GEAGLE said at 12:12 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    So excited about finally being on the path to building a top Defense.
    our elite run defense has been in place but now we are finally on the right path to building a pass defense to match.
    .
    thrilled with all the young athletes we have accumulated. Should make for some interesting Camp battles. I wouldn’t be surprised if this collection and competition amongst so many young defensive backs will provide us with a ew eventual Gems..
    ..
    we have stockpiled: Boykin, Wolff, Watkins, Reynolds, Couplin, Biggers, Rowe, Shepard, Randall and more importantly we have some Super Bowl chanpions in the secondary to set an example and help grow our young talent. With the Exception of Malcolm Jenkins, our Super Bowl champions Maxwell, Maragos and Thurmond weren’t these high first round draft picks that had anything given to them,..Sherman, Maxwell, Chancellor, these weren’t high draft picks who were penciled in to start from day one. Those players became starting caliber Champions through sheer competition. Chip brought in the seahawks who were known for being built on an ultra competitive practice environment, and their example should reallly be huge in helping to set the tone for what should be a really competitive summer DB competition. We don’t have room to keep all our young DBs, so I assume a HECKUVA camp/preseason battle that should make the cream rise to the top…
    ..
    it will Be harder then it has ever been so far under chip to make this years philadelphia Eagles team this summer, and that’s a testament to how improved this 53 man roster will be…we have some serious competitions at most positions,,

  14. 14 Avery Greene said at 12:46 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    This is what excites me. I really believe there may be some bumps and bruises for the first few games in the secondary, but after that these guys will really start to shine as they play more together.

    Meco I think will be the player/coach and really help Kendricks, Kiko, and Hicks. Cox, Logan, and Thornton have something to prove this year since everyone is talking about the Cowboys offensive line. We should see a much better defense this year.

    The offensive side of the ball may struggle early too with a new QB, new WRs, and new OL. But a couple games in I think they start to hit a stride once they start to gel.

    Watching the interviews with the rookie class has me stoked. This whole team is hungry and I think they’ll take that next step forward this year.

  15. 15 Kelce's Beard said at 3:44 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    our DL > DAL OL, even last year. And that was with a real running back. They don’t scare me one bit

  16. 16 GEAGLE said at 6:35 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    It’s been a while since anyone won back to back division titles in our division, I don’t see dallas being good enough to be the team to break that streak. I have a feeling the Giants will be our main competition this year, not the Cowboys.. Our DL dominated that OL on thanksgiving, and Cox, Logan and Ced will be a year older, with better LBs behind them..
    ..
    demarco Murray Kept Romo on the field and in a supporting role where he couldn’t screw up too bad and Murray kept that over rated defense off the field… You can improve your OL all you want but Randle ain’t Murray…..
    ..
    our DL is equipped to do better against the Dallas OL, then the Dallas DL is equipped to handle our OL. For example Dallas can’t even put Randy Gregory on the field of we are running the ball, I’m not sure who would smash that chump worst lane or Peters. If Gregory thinks he got mauled when Melvin Gordon ran for 400 yards against him, Dallas beter not dare put him on the field on running downs..
    ..
    Dallas has an awesome OL but ours is no slouch. Tyron Smith,Travis Fredrick, Zack Martin and Lael Collins do NOT outclass Lane, Peters, Mathis and Kelce.. Their weak link will be Leary or Free, ours will be Tobin or Barbre. When we are healthy, I wouldn’t concede that Dallas has a better OL then us. while our DL completely outclasses the Dallas DL

  17. 17 Avery Greene said at 8:23 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    I just got back from a new hangout spot I found. Lots of Cowboys fans there (as well as Redskins) and I made a two cigar bet with two Dallas fans for each game.

    No one believes in Bradford and they think CK got duped trying to get Mariota. On paper, our defense is better and our offense has more depth. I think we get them this year.

  18. 18 GEAGLE said at 10:19 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    U certainly plan on stomping Dallas. Really like to see us win both games instead of the usual splitting the series against them. All I want is one year of running the table against our division. Easier said then done

  19. 19 eagleyankfan said at 10:57 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    New OL?

  20. 20 Cafone said at 11:41 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    The lack of clear starters at two positions in the Eagles’ defensive backfield does not mean it’s a position of strength.

    They may get lucky with their “throw a bunch of journeymen, late round picks, and marginal NFL players at it” solution, but it’s not really something to be optimistic about.

  21. 21 Mac said at 12:55 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    With Harbaugh’s talk about sports science the other day, I’m glad to hear the Eagles can have joint practice with them. One can only assume it will focus on knees, but I hope other joints will be considered.

  22. 22 Baloophi said at 2:13 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    “…it will focus on knees, but I hope other joints will be considered.”

    If only Herremans was still around to help “oop” this joke set-up…

  23. 23 Flyin said at 4:56 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    I’m sure he would be blunt with a response.

  24. 24 A_T_G said at 10:08 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    During warm ups, the song that will play is Heasds, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes (knees & toes).

  25. 25 Mac said at 12:58 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    With all this talk of reconditioning, its safe to assume this Eagles squad will be silky smooth for the start of the 2015 campaign.

  26. 26 Joe Minx said at 1:40 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    Saw this & got a laugh out of it. Gerod Holliman was asked about his tackling “issues” by the media after Steelers rookie camp. His answer:

    “The scheme I was playing in college wasn’t meant for me to tackle,” he said.

    lolwut

  27. 27 GEAGLE said at 2:39 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    Yeah I laughed.. A safety who was discouraged to tackle….. Must be SOME scheme…

  28. 28 Baloophi said at 2:10 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    I thought this was reconditioning:

  29. 29 SteveH said at 2:56 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    The darker side of reconditioning.

    They flash pictures of players with poor technique or effort.

  30. 30 unhinged said at 5:46 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    The Soviets referred to “re-education” all standard-bearers of the revolution (anyone) who “mistakenly” said what they actually believed instead of reciting the official truth, as handed down from the Politburo.
    – CAPTIONSAREUS

  31. 31 wee2424 said at 6:35 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    That’s the alternative of not voluntarily buying into Chips system. That is dialing in.

  32. 32 Michael Winter Cho said at 7:32 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    The alternative is to be sent to the frozen tundra of Siberia, er, Buffalo.

  33. 33 wee2424 said at 7:37 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    Lol true. My friend lived most of his life in Buffalo. They have a smaller but very die hard fan base. Not all of them are as excited about Shady as you would think.

    They do have very high hopes for this season though. I’m surprised but most are thrilled about having Rex as their HC.

  34. 34 GEAGLE said at 2:56 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    Injuries play such a huge role in shaping each season that if we can get any edge in recovery, and stay ahead of the sports science curve it could be a huge advantage for us going forward, The problem is It will be hard for us to ever really know how much it helps since we don’t get to read all the data they collect from each players body monitors…
    ..
    Fortunately chip is very much into the “WHY” and I doubt he will keep dumping assets into anything that isn’t showing results and paying dividends.
    I wonder if this new title for Hulls is considered a “promotion”? Is he getting a pay increase? I ask because that would suggest chip has been pleased with what Hulls has brought to this franchise.
    …
    Injury prevention/recovery are so important for our upcoming season. I cant stomach another injury disaster like last year where Lineman found the,selves linnning up next to a different player each week, and we Lost our offensive and Defensive captains, Foles and Mufasa for the second half of the season…If this years injury luck is more like 2013, it should be a very fun season for us. if our injury luck is more like last year, it’s going to be another frustrating year. Even if we have way more depth to handle injuries it won’t matter if we keep getting injured to where we can’t build any continuity because every time we bring a player Off our bench another starter gets hurt
    …
    keep THIS Eagles team Healthy and we can be the best eagle team we have seen in a while..

  35. 35 GEAGLE said at 3:07 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    Terrell Pryor signed with the Bengals, surpised QB Whisperer Andy Reid gave up on him so quick..
    ..
    Rotoworld speculates that with the Patriots bracing for a length suspension for Brady, they may be looking for more QB help behind Garapollo and mentioned the Eagles as a potential trade partner with a surplus of QB talent…

  36. 36 SteveH said at 3:59 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    Trade them Tebow. Bwahahahahaa.

  37. 37 GEAGLE said at 6:24 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    I asked Dorenbos if he could make Tebow disappear, so maybe you get your wish 😉

  38. 38 GEAGLE said at 6:42 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    Roto says that the Philly Inquire “confirms Cooper isn’t guaranteed a starting spot” and that PFF rated Cooper the 110th rated WR out of 110 WRs aka dead last…. While that’s all true, I’m not sure who the Inquire is to be confirming or denying what chip will do wifh his starting spots 4 months from now…
    …
    Wonder if there is any chance of a June 1st cut with Riley Cooper? But with Bradford coming back from injury, we should be running the ball 50% of the time, which would mean coop becomes an elite WR 50% of the time since he can block his ass off. cutting Coop would leave Miles Austin as the only real Veteran in the WR room..don’t think our puppies are ready for that yet…

  39. 39 FairOaks said at 6:45 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    There is no longer any salary cap reason to keep Cooper after June 1. So… I think he’ll need to earn his spot. With his blocking, he very well could, and I’m sure we’ll keep 5-6 receivers. I’m sure we will keep him through preseason to see which receivers play well with which QBs, but if it looks like he is 2014 level (or worse) and some of the rookies look good, he could be casualty. I wouldn’t count on it, but it’s possible.

  40. 40 wee2424 said at 7:43 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    There is really no salary cap reason to cut him either considering the cap hit and how this is after the FA period. You would just be better off cutting him next year. If he falls on the depth chart use him for depth and ST. Would be good on the return units considering his blocking ability.

  41. 41 FairOaks said at 11:56 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    There would be a modest savings this year, but yes, you would not cut him for salary cap reasons either. I would guess he would at least make the team for depth and/or blocking ability, and that he is the only WR with > 1 year in Kelly’s NFL system. But if Kelly actually likes 6 other WRs better, he could be cut. It should be a purely merit-based decision. Now come next spring… there will be salary cap reasons to cut him.

  42. 42 wee2424 said at 12:18 AM on May 11th, 2015:

    Exactly right.

    However you have to wonder if there would even be savings. We only have 6 WRs worthy of making this roster. That includes Harris who is an UDFA, a talented one but a UDFA all the same.

    Cutting Cooper are you fine with only 5. Keep in mind Cooper can play ST. If cutting him you may end up signing someone (idk who) for depth reasons which will be some type of expense.

    People may not want to hear it but keeping Cooper this year is by far the smartest thing to do.

  43. 43 FairOaks said at 1:49 AM on May 11th, 2015:

    Riley has a $4 million salary; of that $3 million is guaranteed. So after June 1, cutting him will save that $1 million in cap (and actual money outlay, so it’s not money pushed to next year either). So if you can get a player you prefer on the roster for that $1 million, it might make sense. I still don’t think it’s likely but with the number of UDFA WRs, plus the signing of Austin, Kelly may be giving himself that option.

  44. 44 wee2424 said at 2:15 AM on May 11th, 2015:

    As crazy as it sounds the team is better with him then without him considering the lack of other options on the table. Harris is a UDFA so even with him in the fold that counts as 6 WR that really have a shot of making the roster. Cooper could be a very good 4th WR. I can’t see any talent out there that would beat him out on that. Unless Jones that just got cut by Oak. That addition just doesn’t make sense though and will cost well over that million you speak of.

    If he falls on the depth chart the thing that will save him is ST in which Kelly really values. Due to his blocking he could be valuable on the return teams. I just don’t see him being cut.

  45. 45 Alistair Middlemiss said at 5:12 AM on May 11th, 2015:

    His salary became fully guaranteed on the 5th day of the league year. He will get EVERY $ that is in his contract for this year. There is no offset language. If we cut him and kept a UDFA that would actually cost $425000 in cap over the year.

    Post June 1st cuts are meaningless unless you are hard against the cap, with cap roll over. The cap you save this year is just rolled over to pay the larger dead money charge next year.

  46. 46 Anders said at 5:15 AM on May 11th, 2015:

    That is why Cooper is already sunk cost, so you have to wonder if Cooper is worth keeping over what his replacement would cost.

  47. 47 FairOaks said at 10:30 AM on May 11th, 2015:

    Whoops, I missed that, you’re right. So there would be no cap savings –it is jus a sunk cost, and cutting him would be a wash for the cap this year, and the extra player would eat into the cap we have left. Still, that is something that Kelly would do if he actually preferred a different player.

  48. 48 370HSSV 0773H said at 8:19 AM on May 11th, 2015:

    Riley Cooper’s dead money cap is a $7,200,000 hit, so it’s unlikely they will cut him this year. Next year they can release him with only a $2,400,000 hit against their cap.

  49. 49 FairOaks said at 10:40 AM on May 11th, 2015:

    If he is cut before June 1, yes it would be a hit to the cap like you say. That’s why he wasn’t cut earlier this year. After June 1 though, only the expected signing bonus proration would be charged to the 2015 cap, with the rest going against the 2016 cap, so there would be no additional 2015 cap hit. I missed that the remaining $1 million of his 2015 salary became guaranteed in March, so there would be no 2015 cap savings either, and the extra player would eat into the current 2015 cap space, but there would not be an additional hit otherwise. The cap situation would be exactly the same cutting after June 1 as if we cut him after the season; we’d have the $2.4 million in dead money next year but that would be a net cap savings. The 2015 money is a sunk cost and it wouldn’t save anything to cut him now, but if Kelly decides that having another (cheap) player over him makes the 2015 Eagles better, he could go that way. I still think he makes a roster with 6 WRs on it, but cutting him is not completely out of the question.

  50. 50 wee2424 said at 7:03 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    Cooper has never seemed like a team leader, so losing him won’t open a leadership void.

    Mathews has already proven he can succeed in this league and has more of an advanced mindset then just a regular 2nd year player.

    Agholor has an extremely high quality mind set as well and was arguably the most pro ready WR coming out of college. He will have more of an impact in the receiving department then Cooper.

    I think Huff also has a good head on him and if he truly needs a veteran to learn off of there is Austin.

    Austin is reportedly a high quality guy as well and will be a leader for the WR corps. He is a much better veteran to have his foot steps followed then Cooper ever will be. Is also a better receiver. He went from undrafted to Pro Bowl caliber player. Good guy to learn from. Cooper can’t say that.

    Harris like the others is also a high character guy and can learn from the others, specifically Austin.

    I don’t see how our “pups” as you call them couldn’t handle life without Cooper. Call them pups because age, but not because their mindset. That is the more important then age.

    If Huff manages to earn alot more playing time he is a very violent blocker for a WR. Mathews is no slouch at it and Austin is willing as well to block. I don’t think Cooper is really needed.

    At the same time there is really no point in cutting him this year. If he is out performed set him back in the depth chart, but you would be better off using him for depth then just cutting him this year. It’s not like we need to make room this year for cap space so we can begin our FA haul. It’s better off to use him as depth and cut him next year when the cap hit is less.

    If he falls in the depth chart then find a spot to put him on ST if you can. Did it when he was younger. Considering his blocking abilities he would be good on the return units. I’m assuming he would take Brad Smith’s spot on ST if this were to happen.

    Who knows though. Maybe he has good chemistry with Bradford and goes 2013 on us. Can’t rule that out. I don’t think it will happen, but he has done it before so we can’t say it won’t 100% not happen. A fire should be lit under his ass this year. If there isn’t he has more problems as a football player then just being a bad WR.

  51. 51 OregonDucker said at 7:15 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    I’m hearing murmurs about Coop. Disappointment about his performance after the contract. There is a reason why Austin was brought in. Stay tuned.

  52. 52 Alistair Middlemiss said at 7:26 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    Cooper is almost impossible to cut or trade. I am 100% sure he is gone at the end of the year, but they do not save a single $ if we cut him this year – his entire salary is fully guaranteed. The June 1st designation is only a help if we were hard against the cap – since it will spread the pain into next year.

    So unless he gets gets beat out by every wr in camp and Chip decides that he is so bad he is a waste of a 53 man roster spot he is staying on this team.

    I don’t love Cooper – but there are far worse no.4,no.5 and no.6 receivers in this league – and considering we save $0 cutting him – not one dime – he is staying on this team this year.

  53. 53 wee2424 said at 7:34 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    Agree. Also like I said above if he falls in the depth chart then throw him in on ST. He did it in the Reid era, and with his blocking abilities would be good on the return units.

    Like you said, there are far worse 4th or 5th WR out there.

  54. 54 mksp said at 8:03 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    With a developmental-minded coach like Chip, I think he’s less concerned about the $$$ this year, and more concerned about the roster spot.

    Practically speaking, we’re only going to carry six WRs.

    Nelson Agoholor, Jordan Matthews, Josh Huff and Miles Austin are locks.

    Which means the following WRs are fighting for two spots:

    Riley Cooper, Seji Ajirotutu, Quron Pratt, Rasheed Bailey, Devante Davis, John Harris and Jeff Maehl.

    If Bailey / Davis / Harris show enough in camp and preseason, then you don’t want to risk losing them at the expense of keeping Cooper for one more year.

    Best case scenario next year is that Davis and Harris win roster spots, it means we signed NFL-caliber WRs as UDFAs

  55. 55 OregonDucker said at 8:50 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    I’m rooting for Devante Davis and Seji Ajirotutu at the expense of Coop. John Harris also has a chance.

  56. 56 Joe Minx said at 10:21 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    Totally agree. Big fan of Davis. I’d love to see him take over Cooper’s role.

  57. 57 Will : C.R.E.A.M. said at 2:45 AM on May 11th, 2015:

    I’ll throw my hat into the Devante Davis and John Harris pile

  58. 58 Anders said at 4:07 AM on May 11th, 2015:

    Tutu is an almost lock based on his ST play (he was one of the best ST tackler in all of football last two seasons).

  59. 59 Alistair Middlemiss said at 5:25 AM on May 11th, 2015:

    Seriously the hate on Cooper is strong! Are we really thinking that our No.2 WR last year is going to drop to no.7 on the depth chart in a year?

    Chip consistently says he wants to build for this year to compete. He forces rookies to win jobs and beat out vets. Nelson is going to have to beat out Cooper for a starting spot.

    Realistically if we loose Nelson and Huff after 10 games, who would you want coming in to take WR2 reps? Cooper or a Devante Davis? 1 of them can run the full offence and is NFL ready and can do a proven job…. that is not Davis.

  60. 60 eagleyankfan said at 7:30 AM on May 11th, 2015:

    so you want to prepare for 2(possible) starters to get hurt? I don’t think any nfl team prepares for that…

  61. 61 GEAGLE said at 7:30 AM on May 11th, 2015:

    Tutu is almost a lock. He replacing Brad Smith

  62. 62 A_T_G said at 9:53 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    But this year’s salary to Cooper is a sunk cost, we are paying it either way. There is no future costs that would accelerate. So, really, we are only talking about saving the cost of a rookie that gets his spot.

  63. 63 FairOaks said at 12:00 AM on May 11th, 2015:

    After June 1 he is easy to cut (though agreed impossible to trade). It won’t save very much cap since the salary is basically guaranteed, but there will be some. It’s a sunk cost, so the question basically is, would Kelly rather have Cooper or some other rookie on the roster. If he has a lousy preseason I think it could very well happen, but you’d at least keep him to see if rebounds somewhat.

  64. 64 eagleyankfan said at 7:36 AM on May 11th, 2015:

    I think a lot has to happen to Cooper off this roster to be honest. Those rook’s really have to impress. However, if they(Cooper and rookie) are head to head — at the 5th or 6th spot, keeping Cooper is silly. What advantage does that give you? Yes Cooper was supposed to be number 2 last year but it was a huge down year for him. Maybe a new QB makes a difference or maybe there’s a fire lit under him. This years success does not ride on his shoulders…

  65. 65 wee2424 said at 7:30 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    My thinking as well. You can tell durring some games he just wasn’t there mentally.

    He caught flak very early in the year. Could be wrong, I don’t personally know him, but he seems like a guy that when the chips are down he just says fuck it instead of battling back. I don’t think he will be cut though. Makes no sense if you think about it.

  66. 66 Joe Minx said at 10:20 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    Roto often just takes things the media puts out as complete speculation & treats them as if they were facts.

  67. 67 Cafone said at 11:34 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    When has Kelly ever guaranteed a starting spot to any player?

  68. 68 BlindChow said at 11:57 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    Bradley Fletcher sure seemed able to do no wrong…

  69. 69 Patrick said at 1:21 AM on May 11th, 2015:

    Thats one of the main reasons I have very little trust in Nolan Carroll. Sure, it could just be Chip and Davis being super stubborn and sticking with their guy, which isn’t a bad thing after a couple of bad games, but would have been ridiculous after the last 8 games Fletch had and how good his best games were(which were super average). Doesn’t really sound like Chip does it?

    Carroll must have been super average in practice and in the film room if he couldn’t manage to force the coaches to shake things up. I can understand that they didn’t want to move Boykin from as important a package as the nickel, but Carroll wasn’t in that situation.

    Chip Kelly has done enough on this front, that when he doesn’t use a player, its because the player hasn’t earned it, not out of spite or something silly.
    On the other hand, Billy Davis has done nothing to win me over in regards to him being the right DC for the team. But I still trust Chip.

  70. 70 Will : C.R.E.A.M. said at 2:38 AM on May 11th, 2015:

    I think CHip and Davis were afraid of moving Carroll because of how well he played in his Dime roll. At least the excuse Davis gave….Not wanting to weaken another position.

  71. 71 Patrick said at 3:12 AM on May 11th, 2015:

    I understand that, especially with our injuries at LB, and I just looked up the snaps, Carroll actually had almost the same amount played as Boykin, which is much more than I expected, although 20 % of his snaps on defense came in the week 17 start.

    Lets be real, Davis probably tried protecting Carroll and/or himself and his decision, because protecting the Dime role doesn’t warrant ignoring how bad Fletcher played. Carroll didn’t win the job.

    It would however make sense, it involved a lot of changes. Even though Boykin didn’t play well this year, maybe they wanted to try him outside, but since Fletch can’t play the slot and we know Davis values that position, it would also involve Carroll taking over that role. A rotation that involved 3 spots( Outside, Slot, Dime), weakening 2 while being unsure about the outside spot and ignoring out own values about taller CBs. That could explain it too, but then thats not really protecting the dime role.

  72. 72 Will : C.R.E.A.M. said at 4:10 AM on May 11th, 2015:

    I have no idea if I believe what Davis is selling or not. Not even sure if I want him here as DC. I’m liking Coach Az more and more

  73. 73 DaQBeezKneezAllDay said at 8:34 AM on May 11th, 2015:

    Snap Count alone should discredit that….
    Fletcher played 1047 snaps=90.4%
    Carroll- 369 snaps=31.9%

    It would make sense to have the lesser player in the lesser role, and vice versa. Not a criticism of you, rather Billy’s backward logic. Once it became apparent how badly he was struggling they should have looked to get Boykin or Carroll in there, and limited Fletche’rs exposure to a third of the total snaps in the dime role.

  74. 74 Bert's Bells said at 7:20 AM on May 11th, 2015:

    FOles got that 1000 year deal.

  75. 75 anon said at 10:11 AM on May 11th, 2015:

    that looks really funny in hindsight

  76. 76 anon said at 7:04 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    Great articles the last couple of days — really informative.

  77. 77 SteveH said at 9:15 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    I just saw this, kind of cool, apologies to those who already knew about it:

    http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/news/article-1/How-Asante-Samuel-Still-Helps-The-Eagles/fb68d3d5-5ab1-409d-ad4d-e9628be8359f

    We turned that 7th for Asante into Beau Allen and that third rounder we picked up next year. Not bad at all.

  78. 78 Flyin said at 10:45 PM on May 10th, 2015:

    Texans coach, Bill O’Brian, says on rookies “we have a lack of conditioning”.

    http://blog.chron.com/ultimatetexans/2015/05/strong-texans-rookies-must-improve-conditioning-obrien-says/

    I don’t think we’ll ever hear that out of the Eagles camp while Chip is here. Maybe a player, but not the whole group. The long snapper gets a pass. 🙂

  79. 79 Iskar36 said at 2:12 AM on May 11th, 2015:

    To be fair, he is referring to rookies who were drafted a week ago. Bill O’Brian hasn’t had a chance to get them into NFL shape. Of course, part of that is who they selected, but I would imagine there are plenty of rookies on every team that aren’t in the condition that the NFL coach is looking for right at the beginning of their first camp. The question becomes can they get into shape by the time it matters.

  80. 80 DaQBeezKneezAllDay said at 8:03 AM on May 11th, 2015:

    There’s been a lot of talk about rookie conditioning lately, in light of the Dante Fowler injury. These guys are out on a world tour, visiting teams, and not spending as much time training once the combine/pro days wrap up.

  81. 81 DaQBeezKneezAllDay said at 8:01 AM on May 11th, 2015:

    I got a kick out of the Eagles-Ravens practice plans. Does anyone remember John Harbaugh’s comment a month or so back, about how the Ravens use Sports Science themselves, they just don’t “self promote like some other teams do” in his own words????

    It seemed fairly obvious to me. I only know of one team promoting sports science.

  82. 82 BlindChow said at 10:49 AM on May 11th, 2015:

    Do the Eagles “promote” sports science? Or are they just responding to media questions?

    I know we read about it a lot, but I can’t remember how much is stuff the team volunteers vs. the media’s fascination with it.

  83. 83 DaQBeezKneezAllDay said at 11:20 AM on May 11th, 2015:

    Good question. It just seemed like a jab from John at the time. I can’t think of another team who’s sports science program gets any attention, who else could he be talking about