Super Bowl Winning Coach & Owner Speak to Media

Posted: March 27th, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | Comments Off on Super Bowl Winning Coach & Owner Speak to Media

Is that a good headline? Probably not. But boy is it fun to write.

The NFL owners meetings are going on down in Florida. That always gives us a chance to hear from team management. Howie Roseman spoke to the media on Monday. I didn’t think he said anything all that significant. He’s in the middle of the offseason so he can’t really do that. You can’t give away plans and every comment could give a hint of  something the Eagles might want to do.

Doug Pederson spoke to the media for an hour on Tuesday morning.

Pederson had some interesting thoughts to share. The item that stood out to me was his take on Darren Sproles. In case you’ve somehow forgotten, Sproles is a free agent and is rehabbing from multiple injuries. He will turn 35 in June and I thought the Eagles were done with him. Sproles is still talented, but you have to move on at some point.

Pederson said he wants Sproles back and that he thinks Sproles wants to come back. You can make an argument for that, but the one factor Pederson didn’t talk about was money. Sproles made $4M last year. I can’t see any way the Eagles would pay him that this year. Is Sproles willing to pay for less?

We’ll see what happens, but don’t count on this. There is a really strong group of RBs in the upcoming draft. I would focus on adding one of them. If that doesn’t work out, maybe then you talk to Sproles and see what you can work out.

Pederson explained that a key concept in the Super Bowl actually came from Chip Kelly’s playbook. Pederson brought it to Philly as a similar play, but Sam Bradford told Pederson and the other coaches how Chip ran it and the QBs actually preferred that version. Pederson, being as open-minded as any coach I can remember, went with Chip’s version. Pederson’s lack of ego is just astonishing at times.

Pederson talked about how the offensive coaches look for plays all over the place. As they study draft prospects, they keep an eye out for interesting plays. He’s not afraid to borrow from anyone.

You really ought to watch the whole interview if you get a chance. There are plenty of items that are obvious, but Pederson does share some thoughts that are of interest on a variety of subjects (Wentz’s return, coaching changes, analytics, what’s going on at CB, the future of the Philly Special, etc.).

*****

Jeffrey Lurie also spoke to the media. He talked for about 30 minutes.

Lurie said he’s watched the Super Bowl seven times and still gets nervous (Pederson said something similar). I can absolutely relate to that.

Lurie talked about a variety of subjects: Eagles fans, Michael Bennett, kelly green uniforms, shaping the roster for the present and the future, rules changes, embracing digital/social media.

You can tell he feels validated by finally getting the team over the hump and winning the big game. He should be proud and happy. It took longer than we wanted, but it wasn’t for lack of effort. And Lurie helped deliver a championship that everyone can feel good about. The Eagles beat a legit team with Brady and Belichick, and did so with smiles on their faces. This was the most fun Eagles team I’ve ever watched and seeing them win made it all the more rewarding.

*****

Sheil Kapadia offered his Cliffs Notes on both.

Great, as always.

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