The Shuffle
Posted: August 8th, 2015 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 180 Comments »Walter Thurmond is on pace to be the starting FS for the Eagles. But wait!!! He’s been practicing with the second string for the past few days. If you think Thurmond has disappointed the coaches and this is their way of sending him a message, you’re wrong.
Malcolm Jenkins talked recently about the coaches wanting to shuffle players up and down to see them working with different groups. Chris Maragos and Eric Rowe have been working with the 1’s while Thurmond and Nolan Carroll have been working with the 2’s. The coaches want to see how the different groups perform.
Jenkins gave the example that with the 2’s, Thurmond is the leader on the field and has to make the calls and adjustments. That’s not something he is used to doing. Thurmond has played CB or Nickel. Safeties are the ones who run the back end of the defense.
By moving up, Rowe is now facing starting players and getting to see he does against them. Jenkins pointed out that it is important for Rowe to learn how to deal with getting beaten. Every DB is going to get beaten in the NFL. QBs and receivers are just too good. DBs have to develop short memories.
The other benefit to moving players around is to get them out of their comfort zone and see how they handle different lineups. Thurmond is probably a lot more comfortable when he’s on the field with talented veterans like Byron Maxwell and Jenkins. What happens when he’s there with Earl Wolff and Jaylen Watkins? You can’t count on having all your starters healthy all the time. Playing different lineups now is a way to build chemistry across the depth chart. You need to get all the DBs on the same page.
Jenkins is very high on this year’s secondary. He thinks they already have a good chemistry and said a lot of good things about his teammates. Some of that is PR fluff, but Jenkins is a veteran leader and his comments feel genuine, whether they are fully accurate or not.
Jenkins, just like Chip Kelly and Bill Davis, spoke very highly of Thurmond. He said Thurmond fit in right away as a Safety in terms of making plays and being on the “inside” of the defense. He pointed out that is because Thurmond played so much Nickelback (slot), which is also on the inside. That means there are different angles between the QB and receiver. There is infinitely more traffic to deal with. Players also have a two-way go (inside or out). On the outside, the sideline acts as a 12th defender. Jenkins did an excellent sales job on his new teammate.
The Eagles made a terrific signing when they brought in Jenkins. He is a good player, not great, but has added value because he’s a smart veteran and good leader. The Eagles have been lacking that presence on the back end for several years.
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The secondary isn’t the only group seeing some movement. The RG battle had been between Matt Tobin, Andrew Gardner and John Moffitt, but today Julian Vandervelde lined up with the starters. This really surprises me. I didn’t think he would have any chance at that job. Maybe he has gotten the attention of the coaches with a good showing thus far in Training Camp.
Ideally, the coaches wanted someone to step up and really stand out in the RG competition. There have only been a few padded practices so you don’t want to make too much out of this, but adding a fourth person to the competition is expanding things and not honing down the list.
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Now let’s get into some practice notes. First up is Brandon Lee Gowton from BGN.
Bradford looked good during the short practice. The thing that stood today was his command of the team’s high tempo offense, especially in the red zone. He looked in control out there between plays: getting everyone to the line quickly, having everyone lined up, making pre-snap adjustments, and then running the play.
Bradford hit Jordan Matthews on a short pass in the end zone for a touchdown at one point with a defender tightly covered the receiver. Matthews has done a great job of making contested catches and holding on this summer. The Bradford to Matthews connection has been red hot lately.
I look forward to the day when I’m tired of hearing good things about Bradford.
What about the rookie CBs?
Matt Barkley struggled in the red zone. JaCorey Shepherd contributes to his woes. The rookie cornerback shut down Rasheed Bailey on one play, causing Cory Undlin to run up and give him a pat on the back.
Meanwhile, Philadelphia’s other rookie sixth round cornerback, Randall Evans, has struggled a bit. He’s been a little too physical while in coverage. On Saturday, he was called for defensive holding in the end zone.
Evans sounds like he might be practice squad material. He has NFL potential, but needs work. The only question with Shepherd is whether he is the Nickelback or a backup.
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Jimmy Bama got to say nice things about Donnie Jones so you know he’s on cloud nine.
The Eagles did some directional / short field punting drills today. Among the players getting work as gunners were Eric Rowe, JaCorey Shepherd, E.J. Biggers, and Seyi Ajirotutu. Over the last two seasons, whenever the Eagles were punting from around the 50 yard line, Donnie Jones almost always punted to the right side, where Brandon Boykin resided as the one of the best gunners in the game. Boykin did a tremendous job getting down the field quickly, locating the ball, and downing it inside the 10.
I thought Rowe did a nice job getting down the field quickly. However, he’s certainly not Boykin yet. On one play he stepped out of bounds on his way down the field. That is a huge no-no. If you step out of bounds you cannot be the first person to touch the ball. That would be “illegal touching,” which can cost your team a great punt. Those are the kinds of small things that need to be corrected, and Boykin will not be easy to replace as a gunner.
Sometimes the Eagles don’t even need gunners. I write about Donnie Jones more than every other reporter on Earth combined, but to be serious, he really is incredible at directional and short field punting. On one punt today, he landed it at the one foot line, with backspin, and it rolled back the 3. Incredible punt. It’s like Donnie has a pitching wedge for a left leg.
Make sure you read his piece. You must see today’s stick figure version of Donnie Jones. Classic.
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Sheil Kapadia offers his QB thoughts from today.
Seven-on-seven time. Ertz immediately makes his presence felt, hauling in a pass over the middle from Matt Barkley and then another from Tim Tebow, who later connects with Kenjon Barner on a wheel route. Solid day for Tebow overall. Sam Bradford was sharp again. He throws a perfect dart to Jordan Matthews on a crosser. There is going to be plenty of opportunity for the receivers to rack up some YAC if Bradford is this precise with his ball placement come the fall.
Matthews — a clear standout at camp — makes a diving catch along the left sideline on a throw from Bradford. Mark Sanchez follows that with a beauty down the seam to Jeff Maehl for the touchdown. Sanchez has been a little up and down the last two days, but that one was money.
Last summer it was Matthews and Sanchez who made a strong connection in camp. That helped propel Matthews to a terrific rookie season and Sanchez posted the best passing numbers of his young career. Matthews and Bradford are quite the duo this year. How will that pay off for them in the regular season?
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Good stuff from Jeff McLane on the QBs/passing game.
The Eagles worked on blitzes during team drills. The defense had various inside linebackers and safeties blitzing off the edge. QB Sam Bradford looked comfortable in the pocket against extra pass rushers. He overshot WR Jordan Matthews on his second throw, but connected with WR Josh Huff on back-to-back plays. Both were anticipation throws and right on the money. The second completion – just as Huff came out of his break — seemed to even surprise the receiver.
Bradford took every first team snap. He found Matthews in the end zone during red zone drills. He tossed a quick hitter to Ertz, but the tight end dropped the pass. I believe it was Ertz’ first bungle of camp. All in all, it was another positive day for Bradford.
QB Mark Sanchez was 3 of 4 during short yardage third down, 7 on 7 drills. He hooked up with WR Jeff Maehl in the back of the end zone during team red zone drills. CB Jaylen Watkins was in coverage, but he bounced back later and broke up another Sanchez throw to Maehl. QB Matt Barkley was 4 of 4 in short yardage. He overthrew WR Rasheed Bailey on a red zone fade, but came back on the next play and found RB Raheem Mostert for a “touchdown.” QB Tim Tebow appeared to hit one of the “fly swatter” thingamagingys during 7 on 7s. He threw a wobbler wide to WR G.J. Kinne on a short dig and he threw short to WR Quron Pratt’s shoelaces, but his receiver used his hands to pull it in.
More talk of Bradford and anticipation throws. It is great to hear that. Good QBs don’t wait for receivers to come open. They anticipate that and have the ball there as the guy comes out of his break. This was not a strength of Foles or Sanchez so it is encouraging to read about Bradford making those throws on a regular basis.
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On the injury front, Kiko Alonso is still working through the concussion protocol. That should last a few more days. Chip Kelly said he didn’t think Alonso had a history of them so that’s good news. Safety Jerome Couplin recently underwent an appendectomy. He’s due back next week. That is a tough break for him. Couplin wanted to solidify a roster spot and challenge for playing time. He can still get that done, but coming back from an appendectomy makes the task all the more difficult.
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I have not heard a single comment about Riley cooper….I guess it’s #cuzhesux….was hoping that agholor show out a little more…..
It has to do with the blocking stuff and he is the Chip’s right-hand in that topic.
He don’t know completely how JMat, Huff and Agholor will blockinga full year.
Just bothers me the fact that he was overpay when we still have DJax and Maclin. Maybe Chip already saw both leaving…
He’s caught a few TD’s in TC. And he has dropped a few passes. Generally, the focus has been on Mathews, Huff and the new guys.
But my view is that Coop has not sucked in TC. He’s not great but looks more focused than last year.
he’d apparently been abusing rowe. I think coop had a bad year, last year maybe 2013 went to his head.
I think he’ll play better this year. Seems like he lost interest at times last year. I don’t think he and Sanchez ever clicked either
That’s not good.
His name has been mentioned. Seems as though he is doing better then last TC. I’m excited that we are hearing about Huff alot. Seems like a complete 180 from last TC.
JMatt, Huff and Agholor have all drawn praise. Could end up with 3 good young WR.
I posted this on the previous thread but that’s now put to bed. It’s maybe time to give Bradford his moniker:
Thanks to PPK for inspiration. He mentioned that Roman Gabriel was known as the Messiah in ’73. We need a moniker for Bradford.
Here are my suggestions: “The Surgeon”; “The Widowmaker”; “The Truth”.
So what you got??!
Rainmaker?
Foles has that one.
Odyssues, he has traveled many miles and been tested by many trials to be reunited with his brother, but now he faces a new series of tests to prove he is the king and warrior hero we need.
Hopefully the Bradford gamble works out so well that we will be calling him “THE FRANCHISE” being backed up by the “SANCHISE”
lets hope hes more like a chevy than a ford.
Super Bowl Sam. -_-
Maybe it’s wishful thinking but… if he does win one, it’s perfect!
If we are using monikers for accuracy why not appropriate the baseball lingo of Doc? Of course it will have to be earned in game…
I think it should be BRadford.
Bradforce
Good suggestions but we need a bigger hook. I am leaning toward “Windowmaker” since SB will destroy teams and make wives despondent for their poor boys.
he gotta earn names like that
“Sam Badass” doesn’t seem to fit
Sammy B
S.B.
Can’t crown him before the first game – don’t want to jinx him.
How about we wait and see whether he’s actually capable of performing as a good NFL starter before we crown him? Otherwise he’s going to be known as “just another guy who wasn’t the answer at the QB position”.
That’s too long to be a good nickname.
Sam “The tease” Bradford.
That isn’t very catchy. Maybe JAQb (pronounced Jaques, like the diver) for Just Another Qb?
Bran-ford, because he keeps the offense moving.
Brad Ford for his combination of Brad Pitt good looks and Henry Ford game changyness.
SAM, because he plays on our strong side.
Tut, because we seem to be anointing him pretty early.
It would be awesome if Bradford can go from “The Patient” to “The Surgeon”
The Cheif… Shout out to his Indian Heritage…
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Or The High Priest throwing to our holy trinity of young WRs, Pope Jordan, Archbishop Agholor and Cardinal Huff,,,
Wall Street or Mr. Moneybags, with a look to abbreviating that to just Money.
“He pointed out that is because Thurmond played so much Nickelback (slot)…”
I’m glad you clarified it was the position, and not the band. For a minute there I thought I would have to burn my Thurmond jersey.
Your punishment for mentioning the band http://beijingcream.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Nickelback-1.gif
I hope this season is how he reminds us he was once a first overall pick.
https://brooklynbuckeye.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/donovan-mcnabb1.jpg
The Widowmaker anticipates receiver position and delivers. Sam’s gonna kill ’em.
Isn’t that a sword from game of thrones? That bratty boy king Joffrey named his sword Widowmaker.
Widow’s Wail
A picture of Vick would have fit too.
and foles…
I usually have little sympathy for the sentiment of passing before the guy is open, because it’s so often used for mediocre or bad QBs who can’t do actually that in favor of better QBs with the arm strength to take advantage of his team’s strength. Not just all the silliness with Kolb before the 2010 season (comparison with McNabb and how we were going to get better), but league fandom wide. It’s about the total mix. Arm strength, accuracy, precision, functional mobility, understanding, functional mental speed, etc, and how it all blends together into a good QB.
In any event, Bradford is not really here because of his anticipation. Bradford is here because he has arm and accuracy.
And quick release.
I’m noticing a complete 180 in the attitude toward Sam Bradford compared to when the trade first happened. I think everyone is realizing what a talent he really is. I give a lot of credit to Chip Kelly for taking a chance on him. I’m imagining he felt Foles and Sanchez were essentially the same QB so why not go out and try to hit a home run. Think about it, if Bradford gets hurt we are no worse for the wear than we would have been not trading for him. Stay healthy, I can’t wait to see him play.
yeah Bradford is a legit #1 pick talent, just needs to stay healthy.
I think everyone is realizing what a talent he really is.
Either it’s that, or it’s everyone rationalizing the trade after the fact – “well, we’re stuck with him, so we might as well learn to love him.” Time will tell which.
“well, we’re stuck with him, so we might as well learn to love him.”
LOL, like Eagles’ fans know how to settle
Well, the talent isn’t really questionable. He has more talent than any QB we’ve had since McNabb. Whether that transfers to the field and he can stay healthy is a different question. I’m certainly excited by the upside, but wary of the injury history.
Bradford has a long way to go before he can reach the level of QB McNabb proved to be on the field… But in terms of pure passing talent and ability, I think Bradford is an even better passing talent then McNabb…
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So far Bradfords Incredible passing talent hasn’t translated on the field which is why he isn’t even close to McNabb yet as a QB.. But the elite talent is THERE! If a coach can keep Bradford on the field, and finally get his talent to translate on the field, you will have as talented of a passer as we could ever hope to bring to Philly…
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SAM is going to need to stay healthy and have 4, 5 Big seasons before he can even be compared with the QB McNabb was for this franchise,.. But in terms of skill set, talent from the pocket, Bradford is a tier or talent above McNabb…
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The problem is With all that amazing passing talent, SAM comes with a ton of Bust potential.. it’s the ultimate Feast or Famine gamble.. Fortunately he took the gamble making sure he had the best Safety net we could hope to get, Sanchez who is the best backüp in the NFL.. And in Case Sanchez has to play, we built a roster that could feature an elite Run game, and a top defense, hopefully good enough roster to carry a game manager QB like Sanchez if he has to take over..
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very High Risk, but potentially its a very high reward….. SAM can be the type of Franchise talent who keeps chip in Philly for a decade… Or he can continue to be held back by injury, forcing Chip to start over again next year in his search for his QB
Being able to throw a ball is only one part of talent. Kyle Boller could throw a spiral 70 yards from his knees or whatever but was still a terrible NFL quarterback. Awareness, mental toughness, command of the game, confidence, etc. are all also part of the necessary package and there are legitimate questions about Bradford in some of these areas. It’s not just the durability concerns.
Results certainly matter. But using the word “talent” as it typically is used (for instance, by scouts), Bradford is clearly the more talented QB. If you could guarantee no injury, it’s fair to estimate that somewhere between 95 and 100% of NFL personnel would prefer Bradford.
Of course, that “if” is what has Philly holding it’s breath. Keep him on the field and they’re a threat to make a playoff run.
Would prefer Bradford to who? Foles? McNabb? I didn’t know we were making a comparison here.
The issue I have with the way scouts use the word “talent” – and one of the reasons I think they are so often wrong, especially about QB prospects – is that they tend to focus only on the things that make a guy look really good in shorts-and-shells workouts or controlled passing drills. The problem is that actual NFL quarterbacking is not a quarterback skills competition. You need attributes – mental toughness, focus, game awareness, leadership, resilience, etc. – that are just as much a part of a guy’s inherent makeup as his height or 40 time or arm strength, but are much harder to measure objectively. You also need durability, which as Parcells used to say is the most important ability. I don’t question that Sam Bradford has the physical attributes to look really good throwing the football under controlled circumstances. What I question is whether he can hold up mentally and physically under intense pressure for 16 games.
I saw McNabb and Foles perform well under that kind of pressure in big game situations. I have yet to see anything like that from Bradford. So despite the fact that neither of them had his ability to throw the ball on a dime from 30 yards away, I’d be more comfortable with them leading a two minute drill down 5 in a key late season game in the Meadowlands than I would with Bradford at this point. Until Bradford proves he can do it.
The OP compared him to Foles and Sanchez, both of whom he is clearly more talented than. The tape is out there showing Bradford leading game-winning drives, just not in midnight green. Definitely want to see that myself.
You are correct that game situations bring out the best in some QB’s. But in the NFL, that needs to be combined with the physical tools, or you just get a scrappy backup QB. I think you underestimate scouts if you think they aren’t trying to evaluate that aspect of a QB. But if we are evaluating raw tools, Bradford is elite. So back to your original post, I don’t think fans are just trying to rationalize that he is a talent.
Well, 13 mill and a 2nd certainly count as something. But I agree that it was worth the risk.
To me, having to shuffle guys around to see which group performs better is an indication that you don’t have very good talent at a position. It’s the old adage about having lots of options really meaning you don’t have any good ones. Seattle doesn’t have to shuffle their safeties, Dallas doesn’t have to shuffle their O line, etc. Chemistry and continuity are important at these positions and I think the Eagles will suffer from a lack of them, especially early in the season. The players may turn out to have the talent to start for good units but that doesn’t mean they will produce at that level right away.
Yeah but the lob didn’t happen overnight. The shuffling mentioned above is a learning, training tactic with wisdom behind it. And in no way reflective of lack of a good roster.
Yes, it’s a learning tactic, but my point is if you have a good unit already you don’t need to experiment. While the roster overall has a good amount of talent on it, the positions in question are lacking talent. No top NFL unit relies on guys like Walter Thurmond or Andrew Gardner. They are journeyman players for a reason.
I think that provided everyone stays healthy the O line and secondary will both be decent enough by the end of the year. But I expect there to be some bumps in the road early on. It’s hard to have so much turnover in one offseason without it affecting you, especially when you don’t have players with elite talent in the positions in question to begin with.
Notice Maxwell is never running w the 2s. But i think it’s good for the other guys for the reason Tommy mentions, plus for the young kids you have to know how they stack up against starter quality talent.
Right, every team has strengths and weaknesses. Seattle has some OLine concerns this year (and S atm). Dallas has a few concerns of their own. I would certainly expect the Eagles to improve as the season goes on, on both sides of the ball. Good teams do that, even without as many changes as we’ve had. But the OL is solid, and it’s still reasonable to expect them to be strong contributors from game 1. Having RG unsettled is suboptimal, but it’s been a bit blown out of proportion by the media (imagine that).
But the whole point is that we don’t have a good unit. That is why we replaced most of the players, and why we are experimenting with how they fit. I would rather the coaches deal with the reality of the situation than pretend they have all answers after a week.
I agree, and to be clear I’m not criticizing the way the coaches are handling it at all. I think when you have this situation throwing stuff against the wall and seeing if anything sticks is the exactly the right approach. I’m just saying that the fact they’re forced to do that is an indicator that the talent level in these units isn’t great.
I will agree with all of that except the very end. It indicates the talent WASN’T great. ISN’T remains to be seen.
I’m comfortable saying that Walter Thurmond, Chris Maragos, Nolan Carroll, etc. aren’t great NFL talents, and that Rowe and Shepherd, will they may have promise, are very unlikely to be great as rookies since few NFL DBs are.
Every team has “set” positions and open positions. Some coaches like to establish a #1 asap, and get him max reps. The Eagles prefer competition, and feel that all the extra reps allows them to do more mixing and matching. No worries there, and having 3 open positions in TC is not a cause for concern.
That said, no warm and fuzzy feelings over seeing Vandervelde in there. Hopefully it’s just a product of the wonky practice. If someone hasn’t established themselves by the Ravens game, it will be time to get concerned.
Tommy talks every year about how Spuds drops some hints to prepare the acute fan for upcoming decisions. I am not sure what to make of it, but on the training camp summary, Spuds asked himself if Barkley still had a shot at making this roster, then answered that he does, that games will be the ultimate test for the 3rd spot at QB. The phrasing seemed odd, as if Tebow is to be viewed as the odd on favorite.
i think if they could move matty b he’d be gone. People are starting to talk up Tebow, plus he’s great in red zone / 2 pt situations. Matty B sadly doesn’t have anything that Tebow doesn’t arm-wise. I hope he’s saving his $$.
So, is Spuds playing mind games with us?
Is he jumping right over the incumbent being challenged, an even battle, the new guy getting traction, all the way to debating if Barkley still has a chance so that if the readers recoils a bit from that position they still find themselves squarely in Tebow getting the job territory?
“Good QBs don’t wait for receivers to come open. They anticipate that and have the ball there as the guy comes out of his break. This was not a strength of Foles or Sanchez …”
Or every other Eagles QB for as long as I can remember.
I think Jeff Garcia was decent at it… but yeah, it has not been a strength of Eagles QBs historically.
The issue with Bradford is that he tends to leave plays on the field, somewhat like Alex Smith. That he’s playing with so much more talent is going to give more of a feel as to whether he was let down by those Rams teams.
Locks onto guys sometimes.
Every QB leaves plays on the field, just like with RBs
Indeed, this is true. I find it kind of amusing though that people who criticized Foles for this heavily last season are not noting that it is an issue with Bradford as well.
One knock on Bradford is that he does not take enough shots down the field. I am really looking forward to seeing that change. Foles was never afraid to try to hit the big play. SB has the arm to do it, but needs to take more shots down the field rather than just taking the safe throw/check down. Good teams take their shots and the elite teams convert their fair percentage of these throws. This is one area that SB needs to prove himself to me.
Deep throws take time in the clock to develop. Foles held the ball for what seemed like forever when making those throws. That’s how a qb gets hurt, by not getting the ball out quickly. Brady and Manning constantly dink and dunk with success. I would rather move the chains then watch the qb get hurt waiting for an open receiver on a deep play. If you remember, that’s what chip wants in a qb and running back…make quick decisions.
I’d only add they dink and dunk with success, but when the opportunity presents itself, they’ll throw the deep ball when the defense isn’t expecting it.
Peyton Manning’s reads are almost always short-to-long. He will almost always take 4 free yards before looking for something bigger.
Yes, I don’t disagree. But the better QBs like these guys know when to throw the deep ball.
I think what you mean is that when they see a corner 1 on 1 with a receiver and no over the top help, they take their shot deep and ignore the short reads…unless they see Nate Allen with deep support, then they also know it’s a green light to take a shot ; )
I don’t think that’s an accurate criticism about Bradford. Not based on what I have been watching.
I wouldn’t worry about that,,,, SAM throws a gorgeous Seam ball… Also sounds like he is connecting on Fade routes all over the place..
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Our run game, and tempo should cause defensive mistakes providing big play opportunity for Bradford off play action… SAM and ERTZ should connect for some big plays down the Seam….Huff and Jordan also sound like they are building good chemistry with SAM which should result in some big plays down field… But we won’t always have to throw BOMBS to create Big Plays,.. the anticipation and accuracy Bradford throws with puts the ball on the money where kids like Huff and Jordan can catch a intermediate pass in stride, turn on the Jets and make a 10yard pass turn into a 60yard reception..
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I think we will see plenty of big plays down field with Bradford… I’m more interested in seeing more methodical drives, ending in efficient Redzone performances so that we can naturally improve in Time of possession. Chip might Genuinly not care about Time of possession.. But the more it improves, the longer opposing defenses have to play against our Tempo offense, and the longer we get to keep our defense fresh off the field,,,
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But when we get things rolling on offense, and we are driving using our tempo, we will force defenses into mistakes and Breakdowns which we can capitalize on and make some big plays down field
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CL9wpaVWoAAzQxn.jpg
days until the Eagles’ MNF opener
I know I’ve made joking comments in the past about how G.J. Kinne should be the starting QB, but I’m completely serious in saying that I think he should make the team ahead of Barkley and Tebow.
The other 2 may be superior QBs but the reality is that if for some reason we’re down to our #3 QB, we’re going to go even more run-first than we already are and for all intents and purposes screwed with respect to the passing game. Barkley is probably the best pure QB of the 3 but offers no extra dimension. Tebow hasn’t shown a willingness to contribute at other positions and while he has some STs experience from everything I’ve read Kinne is superior there. While Tebow is a little bigger and may be better for 2-pt conversions, Kinne also has the ability to be an X-factor there. Keep Kinne as the emergency #3 QB/7th WR/#4 RB. He could probably play H-B in a pinch. He’s about the same size as Burton. Try to re-sign Barkley to the PS. He is eligible. If he chooses to go elsewhere, you’ll have to find another QB prospect because Tebow isn’t PS eligible. If we have injuries and need to re-sign Tebow down the road, there’s a pretty strong shot IMO that he’s still a free agent.
I don’t think he makes the team over Barkley or TEBOW.. But I wouldn’t be surprised if he forces the Eagles to keep an extra WR because he is said to be balling on ST, and provides Tons of versatility with the ability to play emergency QB, WR or RB…
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Special Teams play is crucial for Chip Kelly backups, as is versatility….. WOULDNT be shocked if Kinney sneaks his way onto the roster… Although the fact that Huff, Agholor, Pope and Tutu are all Locks, and Cooper and Miles Austin will probably make the roster makes things difficult for Kinney
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But we have learned that if you play well enough on ST, Chip will keep you..
There’s no set in stone rule that you have to keep 3 QBs(if you are calling Kinne only an emergency QB)-+ on your 53-man roster. The Eagles historically have under both Reid and Kelly but about half of the teams in the league usually start the season with only 2 QBs on the 53-man roster. I would agree the Eagles may be more likely than some teams to keep 3 due to Bradford’s injury track record.
No, there is no rule…….. But I won’t assume chip will EVER keep only 2’QBs until I see it…. I’d think chip would like to keep both Barkley and TEBOW if he could… I don’t see him keeping neither……
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I would assume there is a better chance of Chip keeping Kinney AND TEBOW or Barkley, then seeing Chip keep Kinney instead of both Barkley and TEBOW….. I don’t really care much about any of the 3, So I wouldnt be upset to see both TEBOW and Barkley cut,,,but I need to see that to believe it… Chip HASNT had 1 season of Good QB health yet….
Generally only 3 or 4 teams roll with 2 QBs.
In 2013, 14 out of 32 teams started the season with only 2 QBs on the 53-man roster. I couldn’t find anywhere that had the opening day rosters for all 32 teams for 2014, but I don’t believe the number was quite as high. Still, it’s more than 3 or 4 – typically anywhere from 10-14.
Wow. Thanks for that. I checked this back in the EMB days and it was definitely only a few teams. The Pats, the Colts and a couple others.
I guess the new roster rules really did change things.
I hope Vandervelde plays well because that would mean MOLK won’t make the roster which is important to me,
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But I wouldn’t consider Vandervelde in the mix for the starting RG spot… If we had to pick someone who could fly under the radar and put himself in the mix for the RG spot, I’d go with Malcolm Bunche over Vandervelde.. Heard chip single out Bunche with praise on a few occassions… Seems like he is a Beast in run blocking but needs to improve pass protection..
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I like that chip forces all our backüp OL to practice at two different positions, and I understand the thinking behind it with the 46 man game day roster not providing enough spots for one backüp for every spot… As great as it is that all our backups PRactive at two different positions on the OL, the flip side to the argument is I wonder how much more they can grow if they were to focus on Only practicing at one position…. Chip said the 4 starters, Bane, JP, Kelce and Barbre along with Moffitt are the only lineman who aren’t practicing at Multiple positions, although Eagles are aware Moffitt also has center experience in his back pocket…. if Kelce has to miss games to injury, I assume Moffitt will fill in for him at center before we play Vandervelde or MOLK..
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I really don’t care too much who wins that RG spot…. If I had To bet on it, I’d probably think Moffitt and Gardner would give me the best odds (worry that Tobin is better suited for the left side)…. What I REALLY CARE ABOUT is whoever wins the starting OL spots stays healthy so our OL can grow its chemistry over the course of the season and hopefully play its best ball in December/January…… I think Tobin, Gardner, Moffitt can all get the job done, as long as they are in a healthy situation playing next to the same guys, instead of playing musical chairs every week with the OL like last year….. Stay healthy, gain continuity improving the chemistry and we will be fine at OL..
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I am excited about how high the coaches and players are on Barbre… They seem to Genuinly view him as a starting talent.
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Its year 3, Lane will dominate as the best RT in the game. Whoever wins RG spot will get to play nect to a FORCE that will be Lane Johnson in year 3… I also think Herremans getting injured missing the second half of last season was good for Lane… he had to get used to playing without leaning on veteran Herremans. That experience should serve Lane well this year when the RG is looking to lean on Lane’s experiemce,.
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If we have good health on the OL and the starters get to stay together, I expect to have one of the better OLines in the game…..
2nd day in a row for Vandervelde starting at RG on team drills
Noticed that, but I wouldn’t make too much of it. Yesterday was shells instead of full pads, and for a lineman doesn’t really count.
Even so, starting him in for 2 days in a row means he’s in the mix.
Unfortunately when it comes to the OL none of this really counts… This is one of the positions where you have to judge it mostly on what happens in the preseason… You aren’t going to be able to really know what you have in practice when chip always talks about “needing a certain cooperation between the DL and the OL in practice”… The opposing DL won’t be “cooperating” with our OL in the preseason. Our guys can show the greatest hand placement and technique possible in practice, but the OL position will always be judged on “Can you Move defenders”…Preseason is going to be crucial for the OL competition… All this is just training and preperation for the Final Exam, preseason football……
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The Joint Practice with the Ravens should also be important,, Even tho it’s practice, I assume the Ravens DL won’t “Cooperate” with our OL as much as our normal practices,
Who was that third string TE we heard tons about last year? Haven’t heard anything about him in camp.
Trey Burton
The other day when Ertz missed practice, the reports I saw said he had multiple TDs in the red zone drills
Burton has been making plays with the Backups, but his value far exceeds that of a #3 TE… Dude was a BEAST on Special teams for us last year, and he was even versatile to run the ball to kill the clock at the end of Game when we were short on RB’s…. losing Casey from ST, makes Burton even more important… I do thinki we will see Burton sporadically used on offense like We did with James Casey..
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I’m not familiar with the TE’s competing for the #4 TE spots. I don’t know if there is anyone good enough to force Chip on keeping a 4th TE this year…I assume there is a better chance Kenjon Barner, MAEHL or GJ make the roster as a ST player before we keeo a 4th TE this year
If we want to continue to enjoy a historically amazing, FORCE of Special team Unit, we can’t complain about chip continuining to be extreme in using ST play to decide who makes this roster as a backup… If we want to continue to have a special, ST unit, we are going to have to choose to keep better ST players over young player who maybe shows more potential at his main position.. for Example making Decisons like Keeping Prosinski over Earl Wolff
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Who are the players viewed as being Locks to make this roster because of their Special teams prowess?
1) Maragos
2) Braman
3) Tutu
The Next Tier of ST studs would be
4) Trey Burton.. Big ST contributor who is even more important now that we lose James Casey ST play
5) Prosinski
Who am I missing?
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chip has also valued ST so much that he has shown to be willing to use important starters on ST like Malcolm Jenkins.
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nolan Carroll was a very good gunner/ST player at Miami.. Could see him replace Boykin on Punt Coverage.
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Couplin is said to be a nice ST player… I assume it’s going to be Couplin vs. Wolff vs. reynolds for the 5th safety spot completing the safety corp of Jenkins, Thurmond, Maragos and Prosinski
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I am not a fan of Kejon Barner the RB.. But I hear he is a fantastic and very versatile ST player and replacing Boykin as a Gunner may be his ticket to the 53man roster (also Capable of backing up Sproles in that scatback role.
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Cody Parkey, Donnie Longball, Darren Sproles, Ryan Mathews 230lb kick returner, and Dorenbos…. That’s a really strong group of ST specialists.
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backüp DBs like JaCorey, Rice, ROWE, Jaylen Watkins could also contribute, Not sure how to Rank them as ST players.
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I also hear that Jordan Hicks is Balling and will make a nice impact on ST. Makes since considering he is a tough and athletic kid….he could replace James Casey on ST for us,,
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Out of curiosity Id like to hear a reporter ask Chip if there is any chance MS2 adds to our ST? He allegedly is much stronger and he was always really athletic.. travis Long got injured on a Punt Return drill, does Marcus need to replace long on ST? Besides needing to replace James Caseys body type on ST, we also used BG on Special teams last year and with BG starting at a position we lack depth at I don’t know how willing we will be to risking BG on ST…
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Anyone hear any rave special team reviews about any of our Undrafted kids?
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We have a core of like 5-8 really good ST players and we are strong at the specialist, Dorenbos, Parkey,Donnie,Ryan Mathews and Sproles…. But there are still a few positions open on ST that will have a big impact on who makes the roster as Backups..
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we are extremely DEEP at ILB, we are Too Deep. be awesome if we could trade a backüp ILB for a backüp at another position like OLB, Guard, Center, safety…. But I’m sure ST Play is going to have a MAJOR effect on how the ILB position shakes out. ILB/OLB versatility will also be big in deciding who makes it as a backup at ILB… Brad Jones has the biggest advantage in that he has NFL experience at OLB and ILB.. No idea how his ST play compares with Acho and Naje Goode…Mykal Kendricks, Meco,KIKO,Hicks are going to make the roster,,. 4 is a solid amount of ILBs, at the most we can keep 5… That means that we basically have Brad Jones, Acho and Goode competing for that last ILB spot… jones is the most versatile, no clue which is the best ST player
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We could keep 5 ILBs and skimp the OLB position, but then you might have to keep Jones as the 5th ILB because of his OLB ability.
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Barwin, BG, MS2, Braman are going to make the roster… So my guess is KEndricks, Meco, KIKO,Hicks, Brad make the roster, giving us 4 ILBs, 4OLBs, and a 9th LB Brad Jones that has experiemce at both spots… But I have no idea how ST ability impacts our LB decisions,,
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Tutu is our best ST player at WR…. But I question how much ST ability we will get if we keep Jordan,Huff,Agholor,Coop,Austin and Tutu….. I wonder if Jeff Maehl or Kinney can steal a roster spot from Coop or Austin because of their ST play… But keeping MAEHL or Kinney over Cooper is pretty expensive,,,
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Our Media needs to start giving us more Special Teams play updates when Observing camp because we have a coach who puts more weight on ST ability then most coaches.. You don’t get a ST unit like last year wifi
Unfortunately, the Eagles don’t make Fipp available for PCs like they do with Shurmur and Davis. I was under the impression that league rules mandated that all 3 coordinators be made available, but I guess only the OC and DC are required.
The other day I was thinking how I hope this wont be Fipps last year in Philly. Hopefully he wants to see this thru and try to win it all with this team… It would be so HUGE if we could keep Fipp at least two years past this next season.
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As long as Fipps ST keeps producing he should still find plenty job offers of he decides to stay in philly for 3 more seasons. He would get to learn even more from Chip, and he can count on Chip being obsessed with ST play to the point where Fipp can continue to count on coaching very talented ST units that he can produce yet..
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This is going to be year 3 so I’m concerned we are going to start getting our coaches Poached… Hopefully this season ends up being a very good one making it hard on assistants to leave before seeing how great this team can be next few years,,. We should be able to keep our older coaches like McGovern, Minter. Azzinaro won’t leave chip… Hopefully billy Davis, Shurmur, Undlin, Fipp stay here and try to win it all…..
Very rare for STs coordinators to get HC consideration. It took Reid moving Harbaugh from ST coordinator to DBs coach for a season for him to get into the conversation for a HC job. Dave Toub has been one of the top STs coaches for both CHI and KC for years and he rarely gets interviews. Keith Armstrong of the Falcons gets interviews and he is a good STs coach but the rules requiring teams to interview minority candidates plays a role there. Still he hasn’t been a serious candidate anywhere. I don’t see Fipp going anywhere anytime soon.
Brad Jones should be on your list. Prosinski should probably be tier 1. Looking forward to seeing Hicks out there. Graham played ST, no reason not to see Smith out there, esp with his athleticism.
Brad Jones is a good ST player? I have him making the roster due to experience at both OLB and ILB…. Yeah I would assume Marcus is playing but I don’t know that for certainty… hicks should be a nice addition to our ST..
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I assume Prosinski makes it. Not only is a he a ST stud, but he has been making plays at safety this summer.. Had like 3 INTs during the first week of camp
Yeah, he was solid for the Packers. Though the Seahawks exploited him in the playoffs, on the fake FG.
DAMN! This gets me so fired up I wanna go tackle my refrigerator!
Azzinaro has done a fantastic job with our young DL… He managed to talk our young lineman into taking pride in being the only DL who will hit the sled every day, and that they would keep that up no matter how much success they have… Veteran Defensive lineman get tired of the sled , they get to the point where they feel above doing sled work consistently… But Azzinaro has convinced our kids that if they take Pride in making it “Their thing” to continuosly do sled work all the time no matter how great they become, it will be an advantage knowing we are out working all the other DL’s… Constantly working the sled will keep our Technque, hand placement Sharp at all time,, proper technique will be second nature to our DL….. It’s no surprise why Cedrick Thorton has grown into such a technician at that LDE spot…. cox has all the supreme talent you could ask for, if he remains sharp technically, he is unstoppable….. bennie Logan is a Monster. Sheil reported that he threw the sled out of his way with one arm last week….
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love this defensive line, the “No Names” as they call themselves.. Scary part is as amazing as our DL has been, they are so damn young that they still have a higher ceiling to continue and grow into… to have such a dominant rotation of Monsters, with LBs like Barwin,Mykal,KIKO behind them…. This Eagles Front 7 will be must see TV… I’ll never forget what they did to Eli when we shut him out last year.. Or what we did to the Cowboys on thanksgiving, bringing so much mayhem and Carnage, Romo was scared to death, seeing Ghosts and diving to the floor without us even no touching him…
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As amazing as the front 7 was, this year it will reach new level of dominance… The 2015 defense will probably be the best at defending TEs since Carlos Emmons played in Philly…we can throw all types of defendwrs against TEs, Jimmy Graham’s worst nightmare BARWIN, KIKO, Kendricks, Jenkins…we are Elite against the run, we were elite at generating Sacks,, and we should improve in all those area…… All THATS missing from becoming an elite defense is tighter coverage in the secondary,,, and we are seeing some nice signs to be hopeful about…. the Secondary will decide how Great this defense can be,,.
Azz is Johnson Jr.
Not good. JaCorey Shepherd seems to be injured.
Jeff McLane
@Jeff_McLane
2m2 minutes ago
Rookie CB JaCorey Shepherd just fell to the ground. Down and being attended to by trainers. #Eagles
Jeff McLane
@Jeff_McLane
16s16 seconds ago
Shepherd going to be carted off. Several players came to offer support. Shepherd was the leading candidate to win nickel CB spot. #Eagles
1 retweet
3 favorites
Cue “Should have kept Boykin!”
As we should.
scary. Doesn’t sound good.
SHIT!!! Shep down with a knee injury
Watkins was getting reps at nickel in place of Shepherd.
Watkins was actually getting reps with the first team before JaCorey got hurt.. This was his day in the rotation with the ones anyway
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Murray hasn’t practiced much this week so today he took all the first team RB reps, which is why sproles was in with the twos when he bumped knees with Shepard who was also with the twos together..
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He was extending and bending his knee back n fourth as he was carted off.. I don’t know if he would be doing that if there was structural damage In the knee or broken bones in the leg… Sproles said he braced himself for contact and then heard Shep scream… Hopefully just a bad contusion from banging knees with sproles,. Fingers crossed
IMO, it’s not serious. If it was serious, he’d be lying down on the cart, with the leg immobilized and elevated. He was sitting up and was flexing the knee. Sounds like a hyper-extension to me which usually only take a week or 2 to recover from.
Thank you. I hadnt heard the details…. All I heard was he went down with a knee injury,…
Of course don’t blame me when it turns out to be a torn falujilar ligament.
Could have broken fibula and/or tibia (calf bones).
I hope its not an “Earl Wolfe” hyperextension that takes damn near two seasons
Attendance at open practice today: 43,000.
Philly has been since the mid-80s and always will be a pro football town as long as the Eagles don’t go through a very prolonged down spell. Flyers are a niche sport overwhelmingly followed by white folks. Sixers have struggled to attract fans even when they were good. The Warriors had the same issue before them.
Phils do get support and have a broad interest but they have gone through prolonged periods. Eagles are the only team in town you see worn by a really wide cross section of different kinds of people
GJ Kinney is taking reps at RB today
Practice is over.
https://twitter.com/Jeff_McLane/status/630442392018137088
https://twitter.com/pdomo/status/630395999073239040
Les Bowan: Eagles say no word yet on JaCorey. “Banged” Knee at sideline in Collision with Sproles
Bradford ended practice going 6/6 driving down field and scoring a TD
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With bradfords accuracy, anticipation, the fact that he seems to be dropping fade dimes all over novacare and our physical presence in the run game(Murray/Mathews) we should be a drastically improved Redzone team.
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When we are in the REDZONE id like to see us starting to use Sproles like Wes Welker.. Tiny Sproles sorrounded by all our big pass catching Targets..
The dirty Cowboys and Greg Hardy,funded a plane who flew a banner over our practice today at the LINC during our National anthem that said something ljke “we still them Boys…champs” or Something ridiculuos like that.
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Scum bags, can’t wait Cox and our Front 7 dominates them again and we run Demarco down their throat while Jason Peters gives Hardy the beating of his life
Jordan Mathews was asked about the Banner… He said “Hardy spent money on that?”
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demarco answered “it’s no big deal, we are not concerned about them, but it seems like they ater concerned about us”…. Spoken like a Boss!
Awesome. The NFL needs teams that genuinely dislike one another and not the largely manufactured marketing hype you get today.
Jimmy’s always good for a laugh.
https://twitter.com/JimmyKempski/status/630460098368905216
Most of the reporters today, list Bradford, Maxwell, Huff and Jordan as the stars of today’s practice..,, great to hear our two young WRs and our big Money corner standing out so much..
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If Bradford keeps this up they can’t call him the star of every practice
Well, hopefully Sheppard is ok. DB is not an area we want our depth tested at, IMO, despite Chip’s claims that we’re very deep there.
We did have depth before Boykin was traded.
Depth is one of the reasons cited for the Boykin trade, which I thought was peculiar because so much of that depth was centered around rookies and an untested Jaylen Watkins.
If Caroll or Maxwell goes down we’re suddenly starting 2 players out of the pool of rookies/watkins at 2 CB spots. So the whole we have depth thing was odd to me.
Agree completely. There is a difference between depth and people.
How can you tell the difference? Depth is depth for a reason and I feel much better about our players now as compared to the days of Roc Charmichael as our number 4. I think Shepherd is good but if you are relying on a rookie to impact your season significantly, you are already in trouble.
That’s the point exactly. Outside of Maxwell it’s just Carroll and Watkins outside of your vet corners. A rookie was going to be counted on to have a significant impact in the slot, and now he is more then likely out for the year. After the Boykin trade we didn’t have depth, we just had many heads.
No you see unless you have 53 pro bowlers you don’t have depth.
DUH.
? Are you going to tell me there is depth at CB? I’m very realistic when it comes to football.
Watkins and Biggers are still competing with Shepard… I don’t think it was already a lock that Shep would be starting in September… Watkins was with the 1’s today and Shep was with the 2’a.. And Biggers is also in the hunt being given first team reps..
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if the injury to Shep ends up being serious, I wonder how Denzel Rice compares to Watkins and Biggers in the slot?
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If the Eagles don’t like any of our slot corners, we can stay in base and have Thurmond match up against the slot.,
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We could also bring Rowe into the game in Nickel but play him outside and have Nolan slide inside..
Shepherd is scheduled for an MRI tomorrow which is worrisome. Hopefully it’s just to be cautious.
The Eagles MRI everything to be fair, is part of their routine programme with pretty much every injury. Hopefully it is just some hyper extension rather than anything more serious.
Sheppard injury happened right in front of me today. Pretty unnecessary hit from Sproles who looked to just be going out of bounds and easing up which made Sheppard ease up, then Sproles just delivered a shot under the facemask lifting Sheppard off the ground and he fell awkwardly….looked like maybe his leg twisted underneath his body as he fell on it
guess you should always keep your guard up, but it is TC
When vets trying to teach the rookies lessons backfires.
When ‘Keeping It Real’ does horribly wrong . . .
Hmm sounds like ACL for Sheppard
Oh no, this is terrible news.
https://twitter.com/HardyNFL/status/630488722715185152
Eagles fans and Cowboys fans are both idiotic. I’m not sure which was initiated first but some Eagles fans wanted to troll the Cowboys with some type of “Ha! Ha! You lost DeMarco to us banner” and some Cowboys fans wanted to have a Banner with Hardy saying sacks are coming. Again, not sure which banner was a response to the other. The Cowboys fans somehow got Hardy to contribute to their banner. The only banners Hardy has any business contributing to is to apologize for being a woman-beating scumbag. So, the Cowboys banner happens to be flown over Eagles stadium right during the national anthem, disrespecting the military and the country. This probably wasn’t intentional but they’re still idiots. Then, much worse, the plane flying the Eagles banner went down during takeoff and the pilot lost his life. Now I’m sure that pilot goes up everyday carrying all types of banners so you can’t make a direct connection. Regardless, nothing good comes from stupid trolling attempts.
Mate this is stuffed up sheesh
http://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2015/8/9/9124221/eagles-cowboys-banner-planer-crash-pilot-banner-demarco-murray-dallas-philadelphia-compton
I couldn’t agree more. Both sides probably meant no real harm but in the end someone lost their life over it.
Just heard about the Sheppard injury. Ugh.
Makes the Boykins trade look that much dumber in comparison especially for a middling pick.
No reason to rush to judgment, let’s see some games and how the nickel does before saying the trade was dumb.
I’ll be completely honest that I hated the move and your right. I just don’t see them having much depth again in the secondary despite spending a lot of $$ and draft picks there this offseason.
Really going to be relying upon Davis (who I think is mediocre at best) and their new secondary coaches to really get some value out of their younger guys.
That’s the hope. Most of the reporters seem to be on the Thurmond train, and Rowe is still available. If anything this gives Denzel Rice a chance to make the roster. I’d be more worried if Maxwell or Carroll went down to be honest.
Listening to WIP this morning with Macnow and Didinger. They had on McManus and Rice was his pick to make the roster as the best unknown player even before the possible severe injury to Sheppard.
There is a chance that Jaylen Watkins or E.J. Biggers or whoever steps in and performs well as the nickel back. Granted.
However, you have to admit that it would be a pleasant surprise. Watkins is a second year player who hasn’t shown much in the NFL to this point. Biggers is a veteran who’s sucked everywhere he’s played. Either guy playing on Boykin’s level would be an upset (as would’ve Shepherd if he stayed healthy).
Final judgment always has to be reserved until the games are played but we can make probabilistic assessments right now. And the assessment on the outcome of the Boykin trade can’t be considered positive at this point.
Possibly they could miss Boykin but you don’t even know how to spell his name so what the hell do you know?
Mike Kafka in for the Vikes.
What is the purpose of doing a reverse in a preseason game? Saw that earlier and it just doesn’t sit right.
For giggles.
Looks like JaCorey Shepherd may have torn his ACL. Anybody who was bullish on trading Boykin for a 5th round pick rethinking their position?
It’s probably going to be a 4th and if expect a rookie to come in and contribute right away then you are already in a desperate situation. It was a good trade regardless of Shepherd going down. Boykin was not staying.
There is a very good chance that nickel CB (which is basically a starter level position in today’s NFL) is going to be a serious season-long weakness for this defense. That chance got even higher with Shepherd’s injury. This after it was a strength last year (Boykin was rated the second best slot corner in the NFL). How is that worth a pick that has maybe a 20% chance of becoming a contributing player?
I guess it depends on your definition of weakness. Weak compared to Boykin in the previous years? Sure. Weak compared to the rest of the league? Possibly but I think we end up average in the slot department. Maybe we will be playing more linebackers and the % the nickel back will be in the game will go down.
Only the staff knew before hand that Shep was going to teat his ACL… People would complain at the end of this that we let Boykin go for nothing anyway
If we traded MK away and then Kiko reinjured his previously torn ACL then you might have a point
Of course they didn’t know Shepherd was going to tear his ACL. But by trading Boykin away, they weakened their depth at a position which (IMO) was already questionable. When you weaken your depth, you leave yourself that much more vulnerable to an injury like this.
They couldn’t have foreseen that it would happen but it was clear they were taking an unnecessary risk and it’s looking increasingly likely they will get burned by it. Sorry, but it is perfectly fair to criticize that.
You’re right, its fair to criticize the move. Don’t get me wrong, Im only 50/50 on the trade. I think that 4th will look good next year, but not having Boykin this year may hurt, regardless of the injury to Shep.
But how many of us expected Boykin to be on the opening day roster anyway?
I think Jenkins and Thurmond will be covering the slot most the time, and Thurmond is a really good Slot. Maybe Watkins steps up or Rice.
We’ll see what happens with Thurmond. He obviously can’t play two places at once so if he’s taking slot duty that means we’re weakening the S spot.
Watkins I still think has a chance, I just don’t want to bank on him. Rice is a RFA… yes those guys occasionally turn out to be diamonds in the rough but depending one who hasn’t even played a preseason game yet is very dicey.
Cross your fingers.
Well in our Scheme the Safeties cover the slot so we can stay in base D. You didn’t notice that last year? Jenkins or Allen covered the slot the majority of the time.
They do sometimes but if you’re facing 3 WRs and a TE you want 5 defensive backs. Somebody has to be that extra guy.
Couldn’t the CBs cover 2 WRs, a safety cover the 3rd, then a lb cover the TE?
Yeah, sure, if you want mismatches all over the field.
There’s a reason NFL defenses generally use 5 or more DBs in passing situations. DBs are better at pass coverage than linebackers.
Well sure but don’t we want lbs that can cover TEs? Isn’t that the point of having players like Kendricks, Alonso and Hicks? Same with our safeties. They want safeties who can cover. Maybe they didn’t think the slot corner would be used a ton this year and viewed Boykin, especially with only a year left, less valuable.
Kiko can cover the TE
Makes me like it less, that is for sure. It’s hard to predict though… I’m guessing that the coaches looked at the DBs they have, and realized they were going to have to cut someone they really liked. That, coupled with the fact he was probably gone at the end of the year, plus the chance to get a good pick back for him, probably all counted towards the decision. That, plus if you wanted to do right by the player, trading him before camps open gives him the best chance to make his place as a starter for the other team. The team may have been trying to trade him all offseason, and that was the best offer (maybe upped after a Pittsburgh player got a non-football injury), so they took it. Even if everything went well it was going to make us worse this year (I highly doubt the replacement will be as good a slot corner or on special teams), but maybe not terribly worse. I was ambivalent about the trade when it happened… bit worse now, but perhaps we do still have depth that we haven’t seen play.
Good to see you agreeing with a comment I made last season, TL. All DBs do get beaten.