Tons of Stuff
Posted: August 4th, 2015 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 151 Comments »Monday was busy in EaglesLand.
First, the bad news. LB Travis Long tore his ACL, the same one he tore last year. He was going to contend for a roster spot and possibly be a backup OLB. The coaches have loved him for a while, but he just can’t stay healthy to this point.
The Eagles still have Marcus Smith, Bryan Braman, Brad Jones and Emmanuel Acho slated to compete for backup OLB spots. Vinny Curry has reportedly taken some OLB reps.
Losing Long doesn’t really hurt the team all that much, but I hate it for the young man. He’s worked hard to try and make it in the league, only to suffer injuries. Football can be a cruel game.
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Bill Davis held his first PC of the summer. All kinds of good stuff from Mr. D.
I’m not going into everything he covered. Watch the video. Davis is always interesting to listen to. The highlights:
* More praise for Nolan Carroll. I really can’t wait to see him play.
* Davis defended Chip Kelly, saying the organization did a ton for the players and that there was a great atmosphere. Davis mentioned he’s been part of 10 organizations and this is the most player-friendly of them all. He praised Kelly for having an open-door. Interestingly, Davis also mentioned Boykin having long talks with him and Kelly in the offseason in regard to his role on the defense.
* Davis explained there is a competition to fill the Nickelback spot. JaCorey Shepherd is working there now, but he will have to fight for the job. E.J. Biggers and Jaylen Watkins are the primary competition for now.
* Eric Rowe will stay at CB. Chip Kelly has said this a few times, but reporters keep asking. The Eagles feel Rowe can play S or CB, but since he is a rookie they want him to focus on one position for now.
* Davis was asked about Marcus Smith and praised the young LB, saying he was in the best shape they’ve seen him in. Obviously you don’t know anything about LBs until the pads go on and there is hitting. That starts Tuesday.
PE.com has a piece on Smith, who now is about 260 pounds. That’s the kind of size the Eagles want in an OLB.
* I thought Davis gave an excellent explanation of why Walter Thurmond is playing S. He talked about vision, football IQ, angles to the ball and things like that. Davis said that they just kept checking off the boxes and that the move made sense.
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Practice Notes
* Jimmy Bama offered serious praise for WR Jordan Matthews.
Jordan Matthews destroyed today. He had catch after catch after catch, working against an assortment of Brandon Boykin replacements in the slot. Is he just dominating because he was going up against inexperienced competition, or because he’s just really good? Probably a mix of the two, but he was the best player on the field today. I’m of the opinion Matthews is going to have a big season. He’s underrated both nationally and locally. Hope I’m not overdoing it here, but Matthews has star potential.
I’m fired up. You?
I thought the quarterbacks had rough days yesterday. Sloppy. Or rusty, maybe. They were much, much better today, as a whole. Sam Bradford was very accurate, and had two deep balls that should have been caught but were dropped.
This is good news. All the writers mentioned the QBs having some issues on Sunday. You don’t mind an off-day here and there, but you would much rather hear positive comments, especially with QBs. Fletcher Cox can be so-so in the summer and then turn it on when September rolls around. QBs can’t do that. They need to play consistently well.
* Sheil Kapadia also had praise for Bradford.
12:11 – During 7-on-7s, Sam Bradford is on the money to Matthews on a crossing route. One thing I’ve noticed in some of the team drills with Bradford is that he seems to do a really good job with his ball placement on crossers and other routes that are supposed to lead to yards after the catch.
“Like everybody said, he places the ball where it has to be,” Matthews said afterwards. “It’s extremely noticeable. You can’t miss it when you come out here and watch him practice. He’s gonna come out here, he’s gonna put the ball where it has to be.”
That is the kind of accuracy that can make a real difference in a game. When guys can catch the ball in stride, it helps them to turn short gains into big plays.
More on Bradford.
12:41 – Bradford opens up 7-on-7s with a good ball to Matthews on another crossing route. Those two hooked up all day long. Then Bradford delivered a dime to Ryan Mathews on a wheel route down the right sideline, but Mathews couldn’t hang on. Kiko Alonso ran with him step for step.
Bradford later hit Zach Ertz in stride, as the tight end had Malcolm Jenkins on his back. Overall, I thought it was a very good day for Bradford. He was accurate and took some shots downfield. It appears he knocked some of the rust off from Sunday.
Man, I love reading this stuff.
12:21 – Depth chart note: Andrew Gardner played right guard with the first team today. It was Matt Tobin on Sunday. We’ll see if anyone else rotates in at that spot in the coming days or if it’s primarily a two-person competition.
In case you’re wondering about John Moffitt, he’s been lining up with the third team so far. Chip Kelly made it clear that Moffitt is going to have to earn a role here. He’s on a non-guaranteed contract so nothing will be handed to him, and the Eagles can cut their losses at any time.
Glad to hear Moffitt is with the 3rd team for now. He needs to work his way up the depth chart.
* Brandon Lee Gowton has your Tim Tebow update.
• TIM TEBOW: Tim Tebow is fulfilling the Trent Edwards prophecy one practice at a time. Pretty decent day for the former first round pick. Easily the best he’s looked since I’ve watched him practice. Tebow had one series where he led a drive down the field in three plays. He didn’t do anything too special but he made solid throws in tight coverage. He threw with good accuracy and he didn’t take forever to get rid of the ball. He also broke off a great run on a read option keeper. The fact that the defense can’t actually tackle him helps, of course, but his mobility makes him a legitimate threat to run. Only one of Tebow’s passes was broken up: a deep attempt intended for Seyi Ajirotutu. A little underthrown but also a good play by rookie Randall Evans to knock the ball down.
We can joke about Tebow, but the guy has a very real chance to make the team…if he plays well. Tebow struggled mightily in the spring, but sure sounds like he’s much better so far in TC.
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DeMarco Murray was limited in practice on Sunday, but a full go on Monday. He wasn’t thrilled about Sunday. I don’t know what to say, other than I trust Chip if this was a Sports Science decision.
Weird situation, but I don’t want to make too much out of this. Murray missed one day of practice. That’s weird because of the timing, but one day is just one day. We’ll have to wait and see if Sunday was just an anomaly.
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We talked a lot about Boykin, Chip and the subject of race in the previous post. I appreciate all the good comments made by readers. I’ll try to come back to that subject on a quieter day.
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If you’re not worried about the superstition-based implications of the injury-prone guy getting injured on the second day of camp, then I just don’t understand you as a fan.
I guess i am too much of a scientist and statistician to be a real fan then ^^. I mean it is a disaster for Long, but he was a roster bubble guy anyway and there is a chance that any of our guys coming off injuries get a bad one in camp (or anyone for that matter).
I went through my voodoo cleansing rituals just to be safe.
Colonic?
Gotta love the jordan mattthews stuff!!
It would be a relief if Marcus Smith would show something this preseason. He’s bigger and in better shape but he’s got to play with some violence.
And he should have been ahead of Long in the rotation as is.
Considering the Long injury… I think Vinny is going to get even more chances to make plays. I think he makes a bigger impact this year (sacks, TFLs, batted balls, hurries, etc.) as a situational DL, DE, AND OLB than last year. When all is said and done, I think the org will have a tough decision to make with Curry next offseason.
I really hope we keep him. I think anytime you have a productive pass rusher, even situational you gotta keep him, especially when the Giants could grab him. You think a contract of 4/$28/$16 keeps him here?
http://overthecap.com/player/everson-griffen/1774/
A contract two years more rich than this is what Curry should get.
If one projects a cap of $155 mil next year, that would be an appx 16.5% jump over 2014 when Griffen signed. That would approximate to a 5 year / $50 million dollar deal.
No way the Eagles can afford to pay Curry that much.
I would give Curry around the same money as Graham or Michael Bennett
They you won’t have him. Pass rush is at such a premium. What held down Graham’s value was his injury history and lack of aggregate production. If Curry puts up 7 or 8 sacks again this year; he’ll get $10 mil / year based on a 4-3 team that’ll pay him to be out there every down at DE.
If that is the case, I’d love to get a draft pick for him via trade prior to losing him for what will be likely no compensatory pick in 2017.
With Cox most likely hitting around 11-12 mill per year and Logan soon needing an extension, paying 10 mill per year for a part time player is really tough.
I would love to keep Curry, but I think it will be too much money tied to the DL if we pay Thornton, Logan, Cox, Curry.
Given that Kelly wanted to take Hart in the 3rd round, I’d expect him to play some more snaps this year and win the starting spot next year if they can’t afford to keep Curry and if Thorton won’t sign the deal the team would like him to.
But I 100% agree with your premise that you can’t keep everybody.
yea optimal for me is either signing Thornton and Logan cheaper as they are more run stoppers and keeping Curry, or that Hart shows enough that we can let Thornton leave.
Nose tackle has been such a fluid market over the past 5 seasons, I cannot get an accurate read for what it would take to keep Logan. I’d pay him before I’d pay Thorton to be honest. Logan got so much better last year from how he played in 2013 (playoff choke especially) that I’m very comfortable investing in him long term as his rookie deal ends going into 2017 season.
You guys are gettting me amped for next off season already! !
I love Cox, but with the silly money he is likely to command, he is the guy I would be more concerned about losing. I would expect that we pay Vinny what he deserves. In my mind you can’t just replace that production with a different body.
And for the record, Bennett’s 4 year / $28.5 million deal signed in early 2014 becomes a 4 year / $33 million deal in early 2016……………and we aren’t at Seattle’s level just yet in terms of top guys taking discounts to come here.
Idk that seems a bit too much for curry imo. If we ran a 4-3 then yes because he’d be a starter.
I’d peg his contract to somewhere around Bennett or Mcphee.
Bennett got: 4/28.5/10 in 2014
McPhee got: 5/38.75/8.75 in 2015
Curry will be 28 in 2016. So you probably only want a 4 year deal.
Factoring in rising cap, you’re probably looking somewhere between 8-9 a year depending on what % they guarantee.
We’ll say 4/34/14. (8.5 a year, you can get out after year 2)
That’s alot.
Kendricks is probably looking at 10 a year
Cox 12
Thorton 5-6 (I don’t see us retaining him)
You could do it, but alot of the calculus depends on if we have to bring back Bradford, Carrol, Kendricks, what you want to do in FA, and if you want to lock up Cox, Ertz, or Logan early.
I love Vinny, but I think financially it probably makes sense to spend a couple day 3 picks on subpackage rushers, who tend to have a devalued draft position instead.
Thats way too much to spend to go 10-6
He’s not the kind of guy you want to put in coverage much. But how hard would it be to tweak the scheme to allow for him to play as an “OLB” that only rarely drops into coverage? I realize you lose an element of disguise in the defense, but you gain a really good disrupter in the backfield.
I hope he shows some improvement against the run this year, so he can be on the field for more snaps.
You cant, but he can still get a lot of playing time as a rush end in 4-2 nickle looks
Actually VINNY and his team mates are raving about the two gap improvement VINNY has made, and expect him to be a force against the run and expand on his 3rd down role… If true, that’s very exciting
I really doubt he will ever be a starting 3-4 2 gapping DE
No one said he would start… Even VINNY says he won’t start, but he claims that our second string can start on other teams, and respects the 3 players ahead of him… But my understanding is we will also see VINNY rotate in one 1st and 2nd down in two ago situations much more then he did in the past, of course we will continue to let him hunt on 3rd down… But we’ll see…
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Allegedly, his two gap improvement is one of the things the front 7 is excited about…. Heard this from VINNY, and a couple of his linemates
If Kiko and Kendricks are the ILBs while Vinny is OLB, I don’t think he will have to drop into coverage much (if at all). That ILB pair have the athletic ability to cover for Vinny’s lack of coverage skills. As you said, teams may key in on that personnel after awhile, but there should be ways to get Vinny on the field more this year. He has definitely earned it.
Coverage ability for 3-4 ROLB is pretty overrated.
All he needs is a bigger snap count and the impact will grow. He and Cox are doing a great job of washing away the memories of pass rushing busts from the top 3 rounds.
Marcus Smith is really gonna do his thing this year and make that a distant memory!
Kelly needs to give a very specific reason as to why Murray didn’t run any of the 7s on 7s on Sunday. I don’t mind a guy being held out of part of practice whenever they decided to do so, but they need to explain why. Doubly so given the number of people attacking the Eagles by saying that Murray is going to have a bad year this year due to being burned out from last year.
. In no time you will get excited over all the murray reports from practice and you won’t even remember that Murray sat out sunday
Well, apparently Chip walked past Murray in the hallway (and didn’t say hi, hello, or ‘sup, naturally), and heard hip-hop emanating from the Beats headphones Murray was wearing. Beats is endorsed by Dr. Dre. I think the implications are clear.
I don’t want to get political, but as a steadfast supporter of President Obama I am LIVID that his OFA organization would have Kerry Washington ask me to wish him a happy birthday. Why on earth would anybody want to ruin my day by having the wife of one of the world’s biggest free agent bust lazy bums ask me for a favor.
HEY KERRY; GO ASK NNAMDI TO JUMP OFF OF A BRIDGE IF YOU HAVE ENOUGH FREE TIME TO EMAIL ME ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE’S BIRTHDAYS!
Well, personally I’d have more of a problem with Kerry Washington asking me to wish OBAMA a happy birthday than with KERRY WASHINGTON asking me to wish Obama a happy birthday. Kerry’s hot, her and Nnamdi could always get a divorce down the road. Good to start building a rapport with her now.
That’s delusionally assuming that this is a direct, personal e-mail from Kerry and not just some form letter.
Well, now LAEAGLE is asking you to wish Obama a happy birthday. My assumption is that everything should be OK now.
(ducks for cover)
Better than Ducks for running backs; get Barner out of here.
There were bus billboards here in LA with Nnamdi on them for a while. Something to do with some charity he works closely with, for kids. Screw that. Screw the kids. I don’t need to see that son of a bitch on a freaking billboard.
Hey kid, if you hang out with Nnamdi you’ll be a loser as well!!!!
Day 1 of practice and QB’s were a off? Don’t care. Day 2 of practice and QB’s are on? Still don’t care. Nobody on Thanksgiving Day is going to say ‘the Eagles are going to lose because of day 1 of practice’
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I love to read who is doing what in practice. You like to see players hit some sort of stride during the summer sessions. However, none of that means much right now. Once the games roll around in a couple of weeks we’ll get to know a little better who’s doing what and who’s progression.
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Haters are(were) already hating on Mathews. I’m on his bandwagon 100%. I didn’t read everything on camp yet — were the 3 WR’s Huff, JMatt, Coop? Where is Aggie running? (with the 2’s)? Is the hope he takes over Huff or Coop?
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Finally — reading some meaningful ink. Thanks Tommy (and the rest).
Huff or Coop? Is that even a choice? 😉
1) Wonder if some of the pass catchers with less-than-stellar hands are having trouble adjusting to Bradford’s fastball. It might be time to adjust the acceleration and velocity on the Jugs machine.
2) Is there a manual or “Guidance on how to communicate with Chip Kelly”? Just from reports, it seems pretty easy. No extensive non-football chit chat. Be prepared and think thoroughly before you talk. Be direct, succinct and clear. Know that it’s not always about you or him personally, it’s about football and getting better as an individual as a team. Talk is cheap. Limit existential-related thinking.
A lot of these kids just don’t have the life experience or maturity. But they think they do, as once I did when I was their age. I always thought I was “mature.” But in hindsight, I was not. How does one mature? And why does someone such as Agholor exhibit such great maturity and understanding of life and the role of football in his life at his young age? Who knows. Maybe that’ll be next frontier of CK’s “sports science”… Accelerating maturity.
One of the signs of maturity is knowing how to keep your mouth shut and opinions to yourself. These young athletes have a lot to learn.
I don’t think not voicing your opinion is a sign of maturity. It’s more about what your opinion is and whether it’s an informed/thoughful opinion that considers other opinions or points of view. And of course consideration of facts. But in general, I think it gets back to perspective. It’s not all about you, or your boss per se; the focus has to be on football and the team and winning. That’s the work at the center that should drive your opinions. Of course, if the player doesn’t want to think about these things clearly or deeply, they have little chance of relating to CK and should just keep their mouth shut.
Maybe I should have written, “when to keep your moth shut…”
Regardless id rather have kept him around ..i like having good Athletes
It’s looking like Shepherd is a good athlete as well. We’ll see how consistent he is and whether he can avoid becoming a speed bump target like BB was during the NO playoff game.
I know we are all thinking it, so I will put it out there. The injury to Long is almost assuredly the fault of Greg Richards. His taunting of the injury gods the other day by discussing a GJ Kinne pinky injury was the equivalent of throwing down a gauntlet.
I hope we have all learned something from this. Greg, atteding the open practices wearing an eye patch, a sling, and on crutches should settle the injury gods.
Sorry, Travis. You were the necessary sacrifice to ensure keeping Kinne healthy. You guys will be thanking me by mid-season when Kinne has ascended to being both the starting QB and the starting slot WR(Yes, at the same time – that’s how good he is) and is lighting up the league.
FWIW
https://twitter.com/Edwerderespn/status/628536137179623424
Probably offering a 1 year extension that is in line with the franchise tag, but Bradford gets a little more money this year and more guarantees and gives the team more control in the case he lights up the league.
I’ll guess less than the tag, but guaranteeing around 15-18 million over the this season and next.
Unless it’s too late to count bonuses against this years cap (but I don’t think it is).
Why sign early if you’re Bradford? You already stole $80 million from NFL teams, so you don’t exactly need the extra financial security that a guy on the current CBA might need.
If Bradford has an “average” year for an NFL Kelly QB and plays all 16 games, he’s due for a big deal.
I wouldn’t sign early if I were him. He could be in line for a Cutler level deal for 7 years and / $125 mil.
It only makes sense the Eagles want this. Bradford blows up, they pay a bit less than open market. If he performs according to his norm–well, at least it’s “short-term”.
I got the impression that Murray was late or broke some small team rule and sunday was his punishment, but he isn’t saying it since the eagles arent throwing him under the bus… But who knows, and who really cares as long as the man is healthy..
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Something I’d be curious to just hear chips honest thought process about, is the timing of adding TEBOW? He has been out of football for some time. Chip could have gotten him a while ago if he really wanted him..why now? Why not last year?
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The one cool thing about TEBOW, is I hate starting QBs who run. But having a 3string QB the size of an OX who I don’t give a shit about allows me to enjoy a running QB without caring about the risk of having your QB run.
Think it could be a sports science thing, he came in a little dehydrated or with poor electrolyte balance and they decided to rest him for 24 hours as an injury precaution.
That also could very well be it…
I don’t think they want to share anything about their sports science. My spidey sense says the chart on Murray has a lower threshold for days off than most players. He’ll be ready on opening day.
Chip just confirmed that his hydration levels were off. And when a players levels are high, They are more susceptible to injury… So Murray hydration level was off and sitting him out was basically injury prevention measures
Good call… Chip confirmed it
I don’t think I have ever seen a preseason game where I had genuine intrest in all 4 QBs, and so many of the young players. Depth was non existent under andy, so preseason was Lame… So many young kids I want to see, my eyes will be glued to the second half of preseason games this year..
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Couplin keeps standing out. It would be awesome if he turns out to be a promising young safety.
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Last year our 2nd team OL was dominant in the preseason, Id like to see them build on that and be even more dominant during the second half of preseason games.
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I expect Maaaaarcus Daaaarling to start the preseason like a man possessed. He is going to get playing time so he better be ready to make noise against backüp OL’s.. Kid has a lot to prove, once the pads come on we should start to hear him flash every day…
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This is the last weekend of the year without eagkes games… Can’t wat for next Sunday’s preseason opener.
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We paid our dues to the injury Gods…. Now fuck off and leave us alone TIL next year… They took a young mans football career away from him yesterday. Go harness some other team now
The whole Marcus Smith press coverage is idiotic. He was a project pick to start with – playing one of the most complex and demanding positions on defence (rush/cover/run d) and he had 3 excellent players in front of him.
If people had liked the pick predraft we would have none of these stories at this point.
If he cannot get on the field this year – panic but i expect him to see the field (may not be the greatest pass rusher yet). He is the kind of player who will break out year 3 with a 10+ sack year and people will go wow where did this come from….. answer is simple patience and development.
I fully expect MS2 pan out the way he is supposed to. He is who I wanted us to draft and I admitted he wouldn’t be able to play as a rookie long before we drafted him… So how can I be down on the kid?
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I expect to see him start to shut people up, and by next year all the shameful dopes who have senselessly trashed him because they werent educated to know who he was, will jump all over the bandwagon, with no shame for how terrible he was treated due to their sheer ignorance
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Damn shame… The kid deserved better
I think with MS2 it’s all about what’s in his head. Sneaking junk food last year didn’t help his cause. He’s got the athleticism and size, now he just needs it to translate to his head and make it happen on the field.
Lol Dallas had the audicty to go on camera and admit that they “think we can re-create Demarco using those two guys(Randle and the great runDMC lol).. Good luck with that.
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Jason written had a more realistic approach this morning.. “Just because we have a great OL, doesn’t mean anyone can run behind it(tell that to your owner) Guys are working hard to step up”…
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if Marco left meat on the bone last year, shady left entire ribs untouched..
I’ve been wondering if they let DM walk because they thought they were getting AP. When AP fell through, they use the OL as an excuse to say that they’ll be fine and anyone can run behind that line.
Very possible
I think they bought the hype. Dallas is run by the Jones, and while the son may be more sensible than Jerrah, he is no football guy.
I think Dallas has issues this year (everything offensively and defensively played off a strong run game). Yes their line is a great run blocking set up, but you need a good RB to then take the yards they make.
Murray has always been a good back every year in the league. He did not stay healthy so never put up amazing numbers but he has been a consistent 5yard average guy. Something none of their RB’s has been close to achieving.
Yeah, and I hope they crash and burn for it this year. If they can’t sustain drives, their defense is going to get exposed and that translates to losses. How funny would it be if Dallas finished like 3rd in the division?
Not as funny as them finishing 4th
On some level they prob did expect to get AP. they posted it on their webpage which is basically tampering..
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The skins GM claimed he was only going after high character guys, two weeks later he is defending signing Gallette saying that he is a “good guy” even tho he hit a woman at least two different occasions that we know if… You aren’t a “good guy” when you had 22 sacks in two years and the saints paid you 17mil to go away
Mark Saltveit posted an article on BGN about Murray being held out of Sunday’s practice. Seems to be more sports science related, and that we shouldn’t be worried.
http://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2015/8/4/9093421/sports-science-demarco-murray-eagles-injury
I am extremely happy that the Eagles got the info out on Murray being held out.
CK: DM held out due to hydration issues. When they are dehydrated, carries higher risk of injury so they held him out.
D3FB (or anyone else),
JoCorey Shepard was talking about the adjustment to playing nickel and said this:
“It’s mostly [learning] the run fits,” Shepherd said of the adjustment to playing nickel. “You have to know the play call as far as when you have run fits and when you don’t. And I have to be a lot more aware of who I’m working with [at nickel]. If I’m working with a linebacker or a safety or a corner. At corner, usually just a corner and safety work with each other. But a nickel, I could be working with one or two or all three.”
I assume “run fits” has something to do with guarding against the run, but I was wondering if you (or anyone) could give a more detailed explanation as to what he means by learning the run fits for different play calls. Thanks!
Here’s a link explaining the difference between “run fits” and “gap responsibility.” Should help, I think.
http://joedanielfootball.com/runfits/
Thanks AC. That is a great reference! I was not familiar with the terminology of “run fits”.
Run “fits” just means his responsibility against the run on a given play, not the same as gap responsibility but it’s your duty on a given run play. which will change from one play call to the next.., playing outside corner he only needed to communicate and be on the same pav as the safety.. In the slot there are times he has to communicate with the safeties, other times he will have to work with a linebacker…
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When teams run the ball it’s not like everyone just runs to the ball. There are certain responsibilities each position has against the run and it varies by play call and defensive scheme..
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shep doesn’t have any slot experience, but they had him play a lot of “mirror press” in college which I think Ia a good base to have for transitioning to the slot.. If you have a great physical press outside corner, his press technique goes out the window when you move him to the slot… Mirror press is basically getting up on your man at the line and staying glued to him without using your hands as much as you would getting “grabby” in press jamming a WR at the line
In college he played exclusively as an outside corner in a man coverage scheme. So he immediately locked in against his receiver, and played coverage (think Revis stylicistically/schematically). If he identified the play as a run, specifically a sweep in his direction, then the objctive is to get off your block, and be in good position to make a tackle. As an outside CB, he had the sideline as help (sideline never misses a tackle) and pursuit from the LB’s, playside DE and S.
As a nickelback his assignment will be drastically different. He will still be matched up in man (primarily), but due to his proximity to the ball, he will now have to more quickly diagnose run/pass, if pass try to read and process route combination, and cover his man.
If run, he will be asked to do more than he did in college. He won’t have the sideline as help, and several times a game how he run fits will determine if it’s a 2 yard gain, an 8 yard gain, or a TD.
Once he identifies a play as a run he needs to determine a few things. First, who is trying to block him. Is it the slot? is the outside WR trying to crack block him? Is there a fullback or pulling lineman on their way? Is the slot just trying to “run him off” (get him to continue to play coverage)?
Once he has determined the blocking “leverage” he needs to know where his help is. Did the S over top of him drop into single high? Is the safety rolling down and “running the alley”. Is the S in man coverage of the TE? DId the ILB get crack blocked? Did the OLB get reached?
All of this has to happen in the first 1.5-2 seconds of play. It determines his run fit. Should he go beserker and try to blow by his blocker? Does he try to take on a pulling OL or FB and “spill” the play to the outside? Does he want to funnel the back inside to his pursuit defenders, or does he need to force the back to bounce to allow the pursuit to catch the back?
This is what he means by learning his run fits.
1. What defense are you in?
2. What is the offensive formation?
3. What plays do they run out of that formation?
4. What is the blocking leverage?
5. Where are your other defenders?
If he goes all out to make the tackle and gets crack blocked? TD
If he doesn’t recognize he’s being run off? Big gain
And so forth.
As you can see it’s an overwhelming amount of information to have to process instantaneously. That’s why it needs to become second nature. 80% of it is film work and presnap diagnosing.
wish i could upvote this more than once
Thanks. Great stuff!
Chip says that Travis Long has indicated that he wants to rehab and continue to chase his NFL dream.,, kid is a warrior! All this rehab with no reward of playing time is a very tough physical and mental grind. I assumed his career was over, but the kid isn’t ready to give up his dream..
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I don’t care what we ever get out of Long but I never wanted to see a kid succeed so bad. Best of luck kid!
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Chip says we are going to sign another OLB and Brad Jones is playing some OLB. Chip says it’s because he has actually played OLB and ILB in NFL games already
BTW Chip said it was a freak injury, he was untouched, stepped the wrong way on a ST drill and tore his ACL
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a lot of these the second (or third) tears aren’t contact injuries. Unfortunately when players tear they their ACL they often tear secondary ligaments that there is no medical procedure to repair currently. Medically it was thought some of these ligaments weren’t really necessary to hold the knee together for just about every motion the knee does. However a lot of athletes through the broad and organic range of motions they do can lead the knee to a situation where it becomes unstable with a ton of torsion stress and re-tear the ACL.
Here’s one such ligament discovered and extensive research is being done.
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-24826323
Fascinating how the procedures have been evolving for quicker recovery times and greater stability to lessen the chance of future injury. And it’s still evolving.
Excellent info.
it makes you wonder how the human frame/Structure has evolved in respect to the advancement of human exercise regimens…. muscle mass and tendons probably haven’t evolved much in our time on earth, even though athletes seem to get bigger every year….. i read an article a long time ago about how European soccer players have different looking muscle groupings in the leg compared to US players (attributed to decades of playing that sport? are US athletes top heavy?).
Evolve? Tim Tebow and Kurt Warner reject that entire premise. You must have meant how the knee was created you dope!!!!!!!!!!!!!
this is great lol
I’m not sure to be honest. There seem to be some guys that are just built different and never get major injuries. But I don’t know there are any evolutionary pressures to emphasize the spread of that trait over the regular schlub traits the rest of us are spreading to future generations.
I know that during development while growing up, there are some adaptational traits. IE Vikings skeletal structures have been found to have robust shoulder sockets thought to be developed while rowing miles and miles from a young age, traits that are not shared by their modern descendants. And I know some martial artists in South East Asia kick Banana trees to deaden nerves, and supposedly raise bone density by collapsing (damaging) the natural molecular honeycomb and healing over and over. But I’m not sure if ligaments/tendons can become more robust throughout life. They almost certainly can’t improve at the levels of weight/strength gains you can achieve, if at all
Forget how everyone raves about Molan Carroll, I am more excited by what he said a, he talks about being mad and pissed off at th end of the year and it fueled him to become a new player… “I’m putting in the work to show that I should have been the corner last year”… He is a classy kid, so he won’t talk trash but you can easily here an angry, determines jacked up tone when he speaks…
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I have always maintained he was better then we thought. Forget that someone started ahead of him. When we see this kid and judge him on his own merits, I expect the city to be pleasantly surprised… And I’m talking about the player he WAS.. From the sound of it we should expect to see dramatic growth in his game..
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Chip admitted someone made a trade offer from Nolan, and Chip sounded like he wanted no parts of losing him.
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I have no doubt we will wbe be a much better player then what w thought He was when we signed him
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BG was asked what does the improved secondary mean? He laughed and responded MORE SACKS!
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BG raved about Rowe, talking about how you see him making plays, playing with confidence, communicating so well and I forget he is a rookie..
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BG praised Shep for being a pleasant surprise with the plays he is making, and so far I heard Jenkins, BG, Maxwell all Rave about Shep for one reason or another.. barwin claims he had never been around rookie DBs who are THIS impressive..
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Im extremely excited about the direction of our secondary
Media asked Chip about not talking to players when he walks down the halls LOL…
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But we atleast get a fun quote out of reporter wasting our time with lame questions.. “I can sit with Kiko for 4 hours and we might not say a word to each other. but that’s because Kiko doesn’t Talk”… Gotta love our space cadet/silent assassin
St. Francis and St. Dominic were rumored to have done the same thing.
Bradford really throws a gorgeous ball…. He is connecting wirh Pope, ERTZ, and Huff is making some nice catches from SAM today
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Play broke down, and Bradford Took off and ran up the middle.
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TEBOW avoided the rush, then tried to flip the ball to a WR and it was intercepted and returned… Bonehead decision. Think Prosinski had the INT. Proz is making some plays against both TEBOW and Barkley today.
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Besides pope Jordan, Sproles is Linning up in the slot a lot today… I expect to see Sproles pass catching role to drastically expand from last season.. When we are playing fast with our tempo, defenses are going to scramble to make sure they are linned up correctly to try and stop Sproles. he commands attention from Defense..ERTZ will also emerge as a mis match weapon, defenses will give Presnap attemtion too… The attention Sproles and ERTZ will command from Defnses, especially when we step on the gas and play fast, should open up all types of great opportunities for “Pope Jordan”, “Archbishop Nelson” and “Reverend Huff”, our Holy Trinity of young WR’s…
I’m pysched.
If we can go on and have 3-4 healthy seasons from Bradford, there is Nothing BIGGER for this franchise… He is going to love playing in this offense
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When we get the ball, getting that first down is EVERYTHING.. If we can start drives emphasizing our run game, and pick up a first down, rev up the tempo and pick up the 2nd down, we should see some big play opportunities open up from SAM, due to a combo of defenders being winded, and making mental errors trying to keep up with our tempo…if we can run the ball for two first downs while moving fast, keeping defenders Frantic trying to keep up, good chance we create big play opportunities off of Play action…
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It’s amazing how this offense starts to get rolling once it gets a first down or two…. If you don’t get get a 3 and out, or a 6 and out against our Offense, good chance we are going to put points on the board during that drive, as long as we take care of the rock..
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i do think Sanchez will reach a higher level then we saw last year and that we can win games with him if we need to…. But Bradford staying healthy, getting to watch a QB of his elite talent level in the hands of a great offensive coach like Chip would be such a treat,.. Here’s hoping..
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I assume their will be a ton of Oklahoma fans rooting for the Eagles this year.
If Bradford stays healthy, and fulfills his potential by playing at an elite qb level, Eagles win at least one Super Bowl. Ya’ heard it here first.
Best way to put it
Arian Fosters Groin injury is very serious… Most likely having surgery.
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didn’t my man, “Baby Huey” Chris Polk sigń with the Texans? With Foster out, Polk could finally play a major role, and I think the world of that kid and would love to see what he can do in signifcant role.. Signing with the Texans was a good choice in terms of a place he can end up gettng some playing time..
Yea he did sign with them but I don’t see Polk playing well enough to over take Alfred Blue for #1 backup duties. Blue played pretty well any other times Foster went down. But would be nice to see CP get a shot if he can.
blue is a nice player, even if he remains ahead of Polk on the depth chart, with Foster out, I doubt Blue will dominate the workload.. I Assume both will get touches and share the running load (60/40 or 65/35 type split.,,, Im not ready to bet on Polk being a quality starting RB, but I do believe The kid can be a very productive #2 RB…
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But leaving us to be stuck being Blue and Foster would have sucked for the kid
You’re correct. Those snaps go to Blue now. Polk will get some in relief of Blue, but Blue is the starter when Foster goes down.
Polk is already nursing a minor hamstring injury.
Hahahah shocker… I love that kid, but he is terrible during the offseason
Well it is official that the Murray thing was a Sports Science decision. I thought that was pretty obvious when it happened.
He probably didn’t want to say that was the reason when asked. He is new here and these teams are so guarded with information. What benefit did offering it up have for him?
When has someone been held out of first day of training camp to prevent injuries. This is cutting edge stuff here.
Hydration levels man. Pretty cut and dry. He was probably traveling the day before.. etc. etc. How many times have seen guys go down on the first day?
Cut and dry from where we sit.
This is pretty relevant:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2529508-korey-stringers-sacrifice-and-the-battle-to-stop-football-heat-stroke-deaths
The worst injuries (related to heat/hydration) happens the first 3 days in camp
Oh god, I can feel it, the chants of Rowe being a bust because JaCorey is getting 1st team reps at Nickle CB. While he is in a battle for outside CB. The horror.
Looks like that already started at birds247.
Yeah, but I feel like they can keep it under control. Philly.com and sports radio will be effing classic.
Would be nice hear Kelly and Davis use the word *LUXURY* and the phrase *EXPERIENCED PLAYERS* when talking about the CB position.
They don’t even have to mean it.
But scores of polls show that those words, when used together, put the minds of football fans at ease when the topic is playing time for 1st Rd picks.
Did Algohar switch to CB? 😉
Positive translation:
“Is 6th Rd pick JaCorey Sheppard the next CB version of Tom Brady?”
Well, considering they are going to rotate every couple of days, I’m sure we are going to see days with Watkins and Biggers playing with the ones, and we are going to see days where ROWE is with the ones, and JaCorey is with the 3’s…so the hype should slow down a bit..
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Marcus smith is going to ball, and make people shut their ignorant mouths, so hopefully THATS a teaching lesson to the ignorant that will help them treat ROWE with a little more patient at the shame they should feel for how they treated Maaaarcus Daaaaarling..
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But even if the ignorant don’t learn anything and rip ROWE for sitting all year, that kid is going to give us so many years of quality service that it won’t matter.. Plus I expect Nolan Carrol, to really impress people and be thrilled with our two starting outside corners.. Then again, BARWIN, COle and BG balling last year DIDNT shut the ignorant up about Marcus…
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no first round pick should ever be treated how marcus was.. Especially one with so much damn upside, who was known to be Raw. Anyone with a Brain Knew Marcus was drafted for THIS YEAR, when we knew we were getting rid of Cole.
With that said, Marcus Smith is talemted enough and tôugh enough to handle this fanbase/medias shameful ignorance and overcome it, and like BG, once you handle how tough this city can be on a kid and overcome it, the rest is easy… BG can handle the Lows because it won’t be worse then what we put him thru for those first few years
Have people started that? I just figured that anyone with any knowledge of the Birds knew Rowe would be strictly outside or maybe even S.
With the news of the Arian Foster groin injury that will require surgery, I can’t help but think that could have Demarco without sports science…
yeah its hard to believe hydration is considered cutting edge, but it’s obviously really important when it comes to soft tissue injuries like hammy’s etc…not that foster would have been ok with some water, but keeping murray out of practice could have saved him.
I hope no one gives chip credit for that.
You read these stories about guys getting called “soft” and harassed by coaches for drinking water as late as the early 80s. At that rate it’s surprising that band-aids aren’t considered cutting edge in the NFL.
Read this story http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2529508-korey-stringers-sacrifice-and-the-battle-to-stop-football-heat-stroke-deaths
Horrible.
I remember when we first got Chip and he started his sports science Graham said he never knew he was always so dehydrated. When he started to work on that he said he felt much better.
The Eagles cut WR DeVante Davis and signed WR Josh Reese out of Central Florida. Post-draft, DeVante Davis was hyped as our best UDFA signing. Guess he wasn’t impressive in minicamp and the early stages of training camp.
I thought that guy was supposed to be awesome?
must suck at blocking
His tape was good, but when you get cut this early it’s because he’s not doing the little things behind the scenes. UDFAs don’t have a lot of rope here.
just enough
Posted this on Birds 24/7:
For those of you at practice today, what do you make of this team? All I am seeing is positive comments about key players.
What is your feeling about how this team compares to past teams? Do we have the talent and coaching to do anything?
:). !!!!!!!
Nice to see Huff make some BIG plays, with SAM and Barkley throwing to him..
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jordan is such a beast, he even starting to beat tight coverage and come down with Balls aganst our best DBs like Jenkins
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Maxwell had a big break up against Agholor who tried to go deep on him, fans went nuts.
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Really liked what I saw from MS2.. He always moved around well but the added violence was evident in his game. You could tell that kid got himself JACKED up for the pads coming on today, and I saw his interview post practice and you can tell he took today very serious.
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they asked Marcus if he thinks he is ready to backup BARWIN and Graham, and he responded, “Im trying to start!”.. Not going to happen, but THATS EXACTLY how you wamt that kid to think and talk no matter who is in front of him… And you can tell Marcus is a different man by the confidence he is speaking with… Last year he sounded nothing like this.. Even when he said the right things, it wasn’t believable, he couldn’t hide the wide eyed deer in the headlights in him.. This year, when he says things like “I’m here to Ball”, “Im Trying to start”.. “I have Big hands, when I smack you, it will hurt”.. That deer in the headlights look is gone… You can almost see a kid who is jacked up to the point he is trying to keep it under control…. LOVED how he sounds, and was very pleased to see how he backed it up today.. He didn’t make a bunch of plays all over the place, but when you watched you can tell he was trying to get after it, get as violent as he can against JP and Lane without going overboard in our practice parameters of trying not to hurt each other,.. Really liked what I saw… The best part, is when you see this new physical, more violent Marcus, he is still moving around just as well as he did last year, which is very important, showing that he is carrying this new added Bulk well.. He said he was up to 265lb for OTAs, but is now down to 260lbs, but much stronger and plans to stay at 260lb… can’t wait to see Marcus in the preseason when he can let loose against the tackles and try to batter QBs.
Good to hear. One of the knocks on him was the lack of violence. Maybe Azz yelled at him all summer to get more violent. 🙂
He’s got a great opportunity this year to get some more meaningful snaps, and maybe playing ILB helped his game on the outside (at least that what we hope).
I’ve read it’s noticeable how much faster Bradford gets the ball out. If he stays healthy, CK pulled off a coup.
I just don’t think he had the body last year to be violent.
Good stuff!! Thanks for sharing GEAGLE!
Very encouraging. Confidence can be everything. You can be a great talent but if the confidence isn’t there you can fail. I run a sales room (yes much different then football) and there are times when my worst reps will out do my best reps simply just because they walked in that day with pure confidence.
A common theme amongst late round picks or UDFAs that do something in this league is that they truly believe in themselves and that carries them to work hard, be decisive, and become better then anyone thought they could be.
Chip is such an arrogant ass, thinking he can just make things work with anyone like college. This isn’t college any more, how is this offense going to succeed without guys like Davonte David, or Davis, or whatever? Does he think he can just scheme Josh Reese into being as successful. Pompous ass.
That explains it. Marynowitz(over his cell, going through a tunnel, so he was a little garbled) asked him “Hey, do you want to sign DeVante Davis? He’ll take the minimum.” Chip: “LaVonte David for the minimum? When did Tampa cut him free?! Well, he’s not the best scheme or measurement fit, but for the minimum, I’ll make it work. Can never have too much ILB depth. I have to not give myself the temptation to re-sign Casey Matthews. Yes, sign him!”
Well done.
If you haven’t seen this, Mike Tanier posted the best reasoned, and most comprehensive write up on Chip I’ve read this season:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2511711-chip-kelly-and-his-relentless-assault-on-the-status-quo
And this is just scratching the surface…
Yeah, this was a tremendous piece.
Everyone should read it. Seriously.
mksp, I took your “seriously” seriously and read this. Glad I did. I initially thought, “Oh great, another piece by a writer who hasn’t anything better to do during the off-season.” This is different; the fullest analysis of Chip and his strategy I’ve ever read. My understand and appreciation of Chip has jumped to a new level. Everyone should listen to mksp and read this. For real.
I agree mksp, this piece should be read by every Eagles fan. This is the real deal about Chip’s grand experiment.
awesome read, and the title picture is the one that should probably replace the one here up top.
Thanks.
Wow, that is required reading.
My favorite part of all of this Chip stuff is that if the Eagles win with their high character, right attitude players and Washington and Dallas lose with their thugs, criminals, and head cases, it might start a change across the league. And that might spill over, just a little bit, into real life.
That article starts really slowly, recanting what we have been reading for months. Stick with it… Best eagles article I may have ever read.
When we heard that DeMarco was limited in the first practice due to improper hydration, it clicked for me that this is simple, solid science – rather than wait for a player to pass out on a hot day on the field, they make the determination in advance that he shouldn’t go until he has the right fluid balance.
Best explanation of the truly holistic approach. Also the best explanation of the demeaning, belittling, smug commentary of too many stagnant people.
Andy Studebaker’s low 40 time was 4.45.. he generally times a 4.5-4.6, faster than Graham, Marcus Smith, and Vinny Curry.
almost as fast as a regular Studebaker.
In a straight line? Or running lateral while shedding blockers?
Is it strange that I am most excited not for our 1st or even 2nd round pick. I’m most excited about Shepherd. I challenge you to watch some of his tape and come up with a player that has better anticipation and skills when the ball is in the air not picked in the first round, coming out of college.