Training Camp Eve
Posted: July 23rd, 2017 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 15 Comments »Rookies and select veterans have reported. Training Camp officially starts on Monday. The first few days are somewhat of a refresher course for the young players. They are still learning the scheme and adapting to life in the NFL so getting reps before the full team arrives can be helpful. Doug Pederson met with the players, but didn’t give any big speeches since this is only part of the group.
“Tonight’s message is very minimal with the rookies and quarterbacks here. It’s about ownership, which I talked about in the spring,” Pederson said. “I want these guys to understand what they’re getting into. Competition is good at every position. Howie Roseman and Joe Douglas do a great job of bringing in guys at every position. That’s what camp is all about. These next few days are about teaching these young players and getting these young players caught up from where they were in the spring.”
Pederson did have a few interesting things to say. He addressed Jordan Hicks’ injury status.
“He injured his hand and he needed a minor procedure to fix that. He shouldn’t miss any time. We’re going to keep on top of it and take it day by day with him. We may limit him a little bit, but he should be out there every day.”
That is certainly good news. Being limited for a few days shouldn’t affect Hicks.
Someone asked Pederson if his recent comments about the talent level of the Eagles (being better than the terrific Packers teams of the ’90s) puts extra pressure on him.
“I hope so. I love the pressure. I didn’t get into this business not to have pressure. I’ve got a great coaching staff around me. I’m confident in the things that we can get accomplished.”
I still think that is a crazy statement, but I like his attitude. Coaching the Eagles is a tough job. Fans and the media are demanding. It is better to embrace the pressure than to hide from it or pretend it isn’t there. Just don’t go making definitive promises. Those rarely work as intended.
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Roster Moves: #Eagles release CB Dwayne Gratz, place DT Beau Allen and CB Sidney Jones on Active/NFI, officially sign QB Dane Evans. pic.twitter.com/uE4bIqxE35
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) July 23, 2017
So Dwayne Gratz isn’t good enough to even make it to TC, despite the Eagles having probably the weakest CB group in the NFL. That’s not good. Better get out that resume, Mr. Gratz.
No surprise on Allen or Jones.
Eagles training camp is opening, so what's up with Ryan Mathews? Neck surgery recovery won't be evaluated until sometime in August, I'm told
— Les Bowen (@LesBowen) July 23, 2017
Go read Les’s story for all the details.
Basically, Mathews has to get healthy enough so that the Eagles can cut him.
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What do the NFI designations mean for Jones, Beau rejoining the team? Is there a mandatory timeline?
I think it’s the same as the PUP list. There is no mandatory timeline during the preseason. If they are still on it when the season starts, it’s minimum six games out, then some weeks (used to be three, but I think is 6 in the new CBA) to decide to start practicing, then up to three weeks of practicing before they either need to be added to the roster or put on IR.
I think the only difference between the two lists is that teams can choose to not pay players on the NFI list. But I’m sure they are still paid most of the time (unless maybe if the player was doing something dumb and against their contract and got hurt).
For super expensive players a team often takes alittle of the money (the Eagles reduced Jason Peters pay when he had the achilles).
Also a player needs to be on the PUP/NFI list to start TC or else they cant get on it once season starts. Even if they have been off the list for like ½ sec, they can only enter normal IR.
So it’s good news that Hicks had to have surgery on his hand?? I don’t think so…
Its always better if you do not need surgery. A broken wrist is about 3-4 weeks healing in cast.
That’s not the part of the quote that Tommy was referring to…
Yes it is… suggest you re-read
“He shouldn’t miss any time….he should be out there every day.”
That is the part that Tommy was referring to.
See it now?
Yes, but I was referring to the bigger picture – an offseason accident that results in an injury that requires surgery is not good news, regardless of how little time he misses in terms of training or practicing. Bear in mind that we didn’t know he actually had to have a procedure – that was ‘news.’ It’s not the end of the world, obviously, and hopefully we never hear another word about it, but I object to the way it was reported as it is consistent with Tommy’s overall rose colored glasses approach to analyzing the Eagles.
Ha, well I’m usually a “tommy glasses” type myself. I think that you and I literally just went down a wormhole of (those)glasses versus your “poop colored” glasses.
To me, thinking in “the big picture” – this is a relatively minor thing that is not expected to have any effect on Eagles games this year. To me, that’s a positive, not a negative.
Your “big picture” seems to be in a world where injuries don’t happen and there are no road bumps. This is life and football, not ideal world.
I see… well, thanks for the lecture
So many people are crapping on Doug because he wasn’t extremely lucky like Chip was when he inherited a far more talented team (yea bite me you people who thought 4-12 wasn’t a fluke for a talented team). It’s like Doug has done nearly everything wrong since he was hired. He took an inept offense/defense and despite the lack of talent, he won 7 games (perhaps a couple more if he had more experience). Remember just before the start of the season last year? No? Doug goes ahead with his decision of starting Wentz and lets Howie know he needs to find the best deal for Bradford. Which turned out to be Derek Barnett, a TBD mid round pick next year, and more cap space in the future. The last time I checked, the last coach we had did the complete opposite of what Doug has done so far. Overpaying mediocre FAs, driving away our best offensive players for nothing, ignoring key positions that had to be addressed and hiring an inept defensive coordinator. Doug deserves at least another year before getting obliterated by fans and the media. And when he does fail, I’m going to pretend this never happened because I too am a hypocrite ¯_(ツ)_/¯
On a off-note, thank god football is almost back. I’m getting back into watching the Sixers and started following the NBA stuff again. It’s like TMZ over there compared to the NFL most of the time.
The funny thing is, people wanted Kelly because he was suppose to be anti Reid in terms of aggressivsnes and play calling and he clearly wasnt and then Doug comes in and is the most aggressive coach and fans wants to fire him after 8 games
The NBA is a total joke. Their cap system is a mess, the players rule the league, 85% of the league has zero chance of winning the title and on and on.
Love the 76ers, but they got killed for rebuilding the most effective way within the NBA structure and are now being celebrated by the same NBA league morons. Locally too, the media hammered Hinkie relentlessly and now that the process is working they are falling all over themselves to celebrate the team and rewrite history that they supported this from the start. It is pathetic to watch.
I do not trust any Eagles pronouncement on injuries – the track record is spotty at best and Pederson continues to give medical predictions he likely has no clue about. Just say he’ll be back when healthy and let it go.
If Hicks did have to have surgery on his wrist, I’m not sure how that is a good thing. I would keep Hicks out as long as necessary to get 100% healthy. We badly need him to stay on the field.
Hopes are high however for the start of TC, fun time of year.