Breakfast With Doug
Posted: March 30th, 2017 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 89 Comments »The NFL owners meetings were held this week in Phoenix. Jeffrey Lurie spoke to the media for about a half hour on Tuesday and Doug Pederson spoke to the media at breakfast on Wednesday for an hour or so. Let’s focus on Pederson and what he had to say.
First…there were no bombshells or nuggets of serious interest. You can watch the talk here at PE.com. I would advise you to skip that. If you want to watch something exciting that takes place in Phoenix, watch the movie Sicario. You’ll only get half-way through in an hour, but it is a brilliant film and you’ll happily spend another hour to finish it. The film is incredibly intense and you can think of it as offseason practice for watching Eagles games that come down to the final possession.
Back to Pederson. I thought he made one really good point about Carson Wentz.
“So for him to just be able to exhale, catch his breath, come into this offseason knowing that he’s the starter, not having to guess if he’s going to be the starter, it’s big for him. It’s part of his maturity. It’s part of the growth at that position and we definitely want to see incremental process. It’s not going to be an overnight change, obviously, but it’s going to be that each day we’re getting him ready to go for day one, for opening day.”
As simple and obvious as that sounds, I think there is real value in Wentz knowing he’s the starter. He will work with the first unit all spring and summer. He knows to carry himself as the leader of the team. He knows he has to be ready, mentally and physically. When you are third on the dept chart, things are more complicated. You don’t want to step on any toes. You have to be somewhat deferential. You also find yourself throwing a lot of passes to guys that will be washing Jimmy Bama’s car a few months from now. Being the starter changes your mentality and places you in the best environment.
Pederson talked about the need for a break from football.
“It’s like I tell every player. Get away. Relax,” Pederson said. “I don’t want to see you, you don’t need to see me. Get out of the building, go on vacation, heal up, rest, do all of those things that you need to do and be ready to come back fresh on April 17. Take some time for yourself. For him it’s hard because he wants to throw every day. You say take some time away and don’t touch the ball. Come back ready to go, and we’re excited.”
Compare that to Bill Belichick’s message.
Obviously Belichick doesn’t mean that to be taken literally. He even takes a few days off. But he wants his championship team to avoid relaxing or letting up so he is sending a strong message with the “No Days Off” chant.
When you compare that to Pederson wanting his 7-9 team to get away from football and come back refreshed, it looks awkward. They are very different situations so this isn’t an apples to apples comparison, but I just find the messages interesting.
From what Doug said, it sounds like the Eagles will be open to adding a player with character concerns, possibly a star like Dalvin Cook or Joe Mixon. Pederson didn’t get into specifics. He doesn’t want to give away the Eagles draft plans. He just said that something like this is possible, but there needs to be the right fit. I think he means the player has to fit the scheme, the player’s personality has to fit the locker room and the value of the pick has to make sense. We aren’t going to know anything for sure until late April.
Pederson was asked about going to Los Angeles, where the Eagles have two road games this year. He explained that the Eagles did request they be back-to-back so the team can stay out there. Will find out if that happens in a few weeks.
There was a strange moment when Jeff McLane asked Pederson about his scouting report on Alshon Jeffrey. Pederson basically said that is proprietary knowledge. McLane then asked for a few comments on the star WR’s game. Pederson awkwardly said a few things about him. Then he compared it to evaluating O-linemen and flew off with a list of key things to look for in a good blocker.
That was a softball from McLane, not a gotcha question. I have no idea why Pederson gave such an odd response.
McLane did ask a tough one about why the Eagles gave a high tender to TE Trey Burton with such a deep draft class of TEs. Why spend that money? Pederson talked about Burton as a key STer and overall good player.
Jimmy Bama asked about Halapoulivaati Vaitai as a future starter. Pederson said he showed “dynamic” potential last year. I thought Big V had a solid rookie season, but you have to put disclaimers around him. He played well “for a rookie”. He played well “under the circumstances”. I do think Big V showed the potential to develop into a future starter, but I didn’t see anything dynamic about him. To be fair, I haven’t watched tape of him in a few months. Maybe I’m overlooking something.
Pederson had plenty of praise for Isaac Seumalo. That’s a guy who doesn’t need disclaimers. He was impressive and did show the potential to become an outstanding starter.
*****
Les Bowen’s take on Doug’s talk
*****
This is great.
@JimmyKempski pissed that out of town guy's Chris Long question kept him from pressing coach on Big V! pic.twitter.com/87MoFNrclx
— Les Bowen (@LesBowen) March 29, 2017
_
Posted this on the old thread:
Heres a good primer for CBs in the draft. Could cross them off one by one as they go off the board:
http://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2017/3/30/15105062/nfl-draft-2017-ranking-cornerbacks-players-eagles-marshon-lattimore-sidney-jones
With all due respect, the source is a college kid with, zero qualifications… Not a pro in any sense whatsoever…
But a list it is…
Dunno, but I’ve liked some of his previous breakdowns. And it’s better than I could do…
Looking forward to D3’s list tho.
His brief synopsis on each player is better than some “pro” writers I’ve seen. It’s a solid working list.
Thank you for posting. An interesting read to add to some others.
This list mistakenly omits Rasul Douglas, if I’m not mistaken..
14th
Doug’s still just not great with the press. Says weird stuff sometimes. Doesn’t seem to be a bad coach, this just isn’t his strength.
Kinda like Tabor on anything other than practice or the playing field in games- can bring it when stakes are high, but testing isn’t really his strength.
If he’s there in the 3rd, he’s worth the risk. The kid can play football, but he tests like hell. You don’t suddenly lose that………. unless you do.
On the “knowing he’s the starter helps”
I don’t buy it, never bought it.
It sounds like good logic but I haven’t seen it have a demonstrable positive effect pretty much ever. Didn’t work for Kolb. Didn’t work for Vick. Didn’t work for Foles. And we all know McNabb got complacent to the point of being uncoachable. Vick plead all day long that Chip’s competition was dumb and hurting his preparation for the season. But he never practiced better. If not for his durability problem, he was having an up year.
I’m not saying Wentz will regress, I just think the idea that no competition will help is hollow coach-speak.
I thought it all the incredible tutoring of 1 year from Chase will be the cause for all the great things Wentz will do(insert rolling of eyes)….I’d imagine knowing he’ll be throwing to AJ instead of the ‘all thumbs club’ will also help his mental prep…
haha, yeah, Chase the QB whisperer.
Hey u guys are so hard on Chase. He’s a starter and he knows it….
Also he probably believes wresting is real
Tommy- While I agree on your premise about the difference in coaching styles, the fact that their quarterbacks are in two totally different stages of their career has to be considered. Brady, as we all know has been at this a very long time. Wentz just finished his first year in the NFL, not including the draft/evaluation season. It’s a grind.
Doug could be looking out for his pupil- take some time off, refresh, regroup. Go be you for a while. The professional aspect will be developed over time, not in one off season. Also, Wentz may have taken some time to recharge, but I guarantee that kid was working to become the best professional athlete that he can possibly be………. while maintaining the instruction of his profession at the same time.
Brady knows how to recharge, take time for himself, and get away. He’s used to the daily grind. “No days off” is a bullshit chant- that may be true for the coaches, but as you pointed out- even the craftiest take time for a Cav’s game once in a while.
For a first year NFL QB that started 3rd on the depth chart (as you stated), became a starter 8 days before the season, and started every game including all but 2 or 3 snaps on offense- getting away is probably the best advice a person could give him while he navigates his first off season waters.
I’m excited for the future, and I hope that Wentz progresses the way that his ability suggests that he can. While he doesn’t have McNabb’s athleticism (in his youth), Wentz has intangibles and leadership skills that Donny sorely lacked. Also, his football IQ seems to be extremely high- they will differ in career interceptions as McNabb chose to kill the worms of Lincoln Financial, whereas Wentz will probably pick off a pigeon or two with his desire to take shots down the field.
You draft pundits think Charles Harris will be available in the second? Also, is he going to be Vinny Curry 2.0?
Charles Harris 3 cone 7.47…..Bennie Logan 7.53….Vinny Curry 6.9… He has the agility of a DT at a DE’s weight…
Sure if you want to rely only on the numbers. He looked very good in LB drills at the combine.
Testing is important if it can be verified either way. His 3 cone was disappointing, but I think he is a better athlete than this enjmber indidcate
Performed much better at the pro day. Matched tape. Seems like he just had an off day in Indy. Added five inches to his vert and went 7.05 in the three cone (which would be 77th percentile for EDGE)
Re – Wentz knowing he is the starter.
Honestly, I don’t buy this makes a difference (positive or negative), particularly in Wentz’s case. For example, you wrote:
“When you are third on the dept chart, things are more complicated. You
don’t want to step on any toes. You have to be somewhat deferential. You
also find yourself throwing a lot of passes to guys that will be
washing Jimmy Bama’s car a few months from now.”
This doesn’t match Wentz’s experience last year at all. While sure, he was throwing to third string guys for a bit, Wentz’s attitude absolutely SHOULD have been trying to step on peoples toes and justify being the 2nd overall pick. Wentz as a competitor should have been trying to steal the starting spot. He wasn’t a bottom of the roster type third string QB that would fit what you are describing above. He was brought here with the hopes of being a franchise QB. So he already had the pressure of carrying himself as a leader and being mentally and physically prepared. He would have been a bust of a pick had he done anything else.
So I don’t buy the logic that it has a lot of value. Just like last year, there is a ton of pressure on him to perform at a high level. Just like last year, he is out there trying to justify being the 2nd overall pick. Just like last year, he is trying to prove he is a franchise QB. The only difference is he won’t have to compete with anyone to do that, but to me that shouldn’t have changed anything about his preparation from his rookie year. To me, that quote from Pederson is nothing more than coach-speak and saying nothing.
Do you know how hard it is to come up with a blog post every day? 🙂
Hahaha. Don’t get me wrong, Tommy is fantastic. But when meaningless coach speak is overemphasized, it is justified to call it out. But yea… not trying to take away from what Tommy does on a regular basis.
I disagree with your post above. Every rookie has to earn his place. Just like when u are the new person at work. U don’t just command respect , it must be earned just like trust
Yes and no. You can’t equate Wentz as a random new hire. He was the 2nd overall pick and is a QB on a team that had what was clearly a bridge QB (at the time). Using your at work analogy, it would be more similar to hiring a new CEO to a company. Obviously, they are not simply handed respect, but at the same time, that CEO isn’t just going to act like s/he has to be careful not to step on anyone toes. That CEO is going to immediately come in looking to be a leader from day one and prove they were a worthy hire. That doesn’t mean there won’t be growing pains and things that need to be learned, but the expectation from the rest of the group is that the CEO will ultimately be a leader so all those carrying yourself as a leader, and being prepared physically and mentally all apply from day one.
GEAGLE would like a word with you.
My screen is happy I wasn’t reading this first thing in the morning with my coffee.
Just hope he throws darts and not a huge 360 degree windup
Wentz can exhale knowing that he now has at least one wr who will hang onto his passes.
p.s. How much does ‘Bama pay to have his car washed?
“No days off!” chanted the crowd of fans…during working hours…on a weekday.
They would’ve all tried to lick their own elbow if Belichick told them to do it.
I read that if you lick your elbow and tastes like beer you should drink less of it.
We all should drink less elbows.
You’re good, man. LMFAO
I told you so:
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/03/30/chase-daniel-will-get-paid-plenty-by-the-eagles-to-play-for-the-saints/
BREAKING NEWS!!!
Bye Chase!! We hardly knew ya!!!
It’s more like Howie screwed that contract up…for a change!
Didn’t cost me a penny and he’s gone now. I’ll live. Howie has done far more good than bad when it comes to contracts so I’ll sleep just fine.
Of course he did. And I like to praise Howie whenever it’s due. This time, not so much.
I’m sure he’s reading your comments, and crying as we speak.
Nah he’s good. He did text me.
For future contract writing advice I’m sure!
Nah. For German beer advice.
That’s excessively flippant. Like nobody is allowed to have an opinion on what the team does?
I’m sorry! Didn’t mean to be flippant MM and GE! Apology accepted! 🙂
I don’t know how you’d do it or if it’s even possible but they shouldn’t have released him if he’d be able to sign for veteran’s minimum (or close). It creates the moral hazard where teams can get him for any price below 5mm, because he doesn’t care he’s getting paid that anyway.
They poisoned pilled themselves, and over estimated the back up QB market….it was still a smart bet that he would get a better contract…
Didn’t Delhomme do the same thing with the Browns had a 900K base salary because the Panthers were paying him 12 mill anyway…..
I think you are forgetting that we signed Chase to come and compete with Bradford for the starting job…Not to just be a backup which makes that a reasonable contract. But then Carson Wentz happened and no way was he going to be actually competing for the starting job thus making it a bad contract in hindsight.
lol, Chase was competing against Bradford the same way Sanchez competed against him. That whole competition bit was just put out there by the team to justify Chase’s inflated coaching/mentoring contract.
This.
With that being said, I am happy to have Foles back as a backup. I think if Wentz went down Foles has a better chance to be successful.
In fact, I really don’t care that Chase fleeced Lurie out of $12M. I would only be upset if he Nnamdi’d the team by taking a huge chunk of change and then laid an egg as a so-called superstar player. He did exactly what was asked of him when he signed.
And Foles cap number next year is 7.6M. It’s like we don’t want to capitalize on carsons rookie deal.
That absolutely sucks. I agree with the folks stating below how well Howie has done on contracts, but this stings a bit.
Think his call is that He WILL NEVER HAVE TO PLAY
“If you want to watch something exciting that takes place in Phoenix, watch the movie Sicario. You’ll only get half-way through in an hour, but it is a brilliant film and you’ll happily spend another hour to finish it. The film is incredibly intense and you can think of it as offseason practice for watching Eagles games that come down to the final possession.”
*raises can of PBR* Cheers Tommy, this was one of my favorite films of the last few years..I’ve watched it 4 times
Excellent movie- no matter where it is when it comes on, I watch it. Del Toro was perfectly cast for that performance.
Redbox. Amazon. iTunes.
It’s on Prime and Sling tv all the time, I love it
They making part 2 as well. Awesome movie!
Really?!
Yip thats what i read. Not sure if its a sequel or prequel
JimmyBama owns a car?
Guys from up North need to be careful driving in Bama
http://cineplex.media.baselineresearch.com/images/290212/290212_full.jpg
The Big V situation is interesting. Is he trustworthy enough to slide into the RT spot once they decide to move on from Peters or should we be in the RT market? I wonder what they really think of Dillon Gordon as well.
Im interested to see how much Gordon has improved this year or if he can make some noise. Eagles must have thought alot of him for keeping him on the 53 instead of PS.
Yup. I need to see a return on that investment.
If all he ever becomes is a usable depth piece it’s a homerun.
RT FA market next year is shit. It’s basically just Morgan Moses.
Vaitai’s probably best as a high end swing tackle but he could become an average starting RT. If they decide to go with Vaitai they’ll at least add a mid round pick next year to challenge him.
Look kids; a real life piece of human excrement.
https://twitter.com/SaintsCSC/status/847184106223837184
NO THANK YOU ON MIXON
Maybe someone more talented at googling can find me an actual reason for Mixon’s suspension in high school and not just assumptions. Other than that there’s nothing new and the article seems just like click bait to me.
Even if one thing is off, there is too much smoke around this guy. I can’t feel safe drafting him at the spot where he’s likely to go.
http://landgrantgauntlet.com/2017/02/09/police-release-interview-of-victim-in-joe-mixon-incident-mixon-accused-of-past-violence/
“Molitor’s lawyers told the detective that Mixon has a history of violence and was ejected from a high school game for punching another player and was suspended the next game.”
Well I could only find this after 15 minutes of googling.
I disagree.
With all due respect, we have all seen how you can go from zero to sixty (million) when it comes to opinions of players, and hold that forever.
I had to keep reading to find out whether you were referring to Mixon, Mercedes Benz, or both.
I just re-watched the video of Mixon’s 2014 assault on the woman. It was much worse than I had remembered. There’s plenty to be said for second chances, especially for things that are done in the heat of the moment and regretted later, but I seriously hope we don’t draft him.
You don’t have to go past last fall. With an NFL career just around the corner, he tore up a parking ticket, hit the lady in the face with it, and drove his car at her to make her move.
Well, if worst comes to worst and we do draft him, at least we can justifiably boo him 24/7.
Okay, I never heard of this guy. What can you tell me?
https://twitter.com/brandongowton/status/847605300081287168
I think people starting talking him up after the senior bowl and/or combine.
I’m cherry picking the negatives, but he looks to be kind of stupid playing deep.
“WEAKNESSES Leggy and gets feet bundled up when asked to turn and sprint. Lacks desired instincts and will play with slow eyes at times. Has to see ball in the air before charging over to help on deep throws. Inconsistent with coverage responsibilities from high safety. Takes time to diagnose play-action. Rub routes found him near goal line. Can take inefficient paths to the ball that get him there a step too late. Would benefit from high-pointing rather than waiting on throws.”
http://www.nfl.com/draft/2017/profiles/obi-melifonwu?id=2558189
And that stuff seems to be contradicted by better coverage shown at the senior bowl from what I’m reading here.
http://walterfootball.com/draft2017S.php
he’s 4th on their list.
So either a late bloomer that will benefit from pro coaching or a frustating bundle of athletic potential that will never come to fruition?
or maybe a shark in the water.
The latter if he’s drafted by us, the former if anyone else drafts him.
Sad but true. 🙁
Well his name is Obi if you didn’t know. I don’t think he plays at his tested times but I’m too dumb to know if he does.
Obi Wan knows to take the high ground. Or gain a strategic position against opposing wide outs. Or not.
Think George Illoka with freak athleticism.
At first I thought you were making a Nate Iloa reference.
学习使人进步,到此拜读!
There really wasn’t much of substance in anything that was said by Pederson or Lurie especially if you follow this team closely.