More Moves

Posted: September 5th, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | Comments Off on More Moves

The Eagles made more personnel moves on Tuesday.

Doug Pederson said in his press conference that Alshon Jeffery and Mack Hollins would miss the season opener. The team obviously felt like they needed a receiver to help make up for their absence.

Wheaton struggled to stay healthy in August after playing well in the spring. He is a veteran receiver with deep speed so the Eagles might not have the biggest set of wideouts, but boy will they have speed. Wheaton, Mike Wallace and Shelton Gibson are all legit burners. Nelson Agholor isn’t exactly slow. It will be interesting to see how the team uses all of that speed.

Rodgers going to IR isn’t ideal. He played well this summer and seemed like the perfect #3 TE. With him out, Josh Perkins will have that job. The Eagles could make a move after the opener if they decide they want a more proven veteran.

I’m glad the team was able to add Walker to the practice squad. Nothing against Asantay Brown, but Walker can play in the middle or outside. That versatility makes him valuable. He’s only a phone call away should anyone get hurt.

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Speaking of injuries, there was a little bit of a scare when DE Michael Bennett wasn’t at practice.

Glad to hear that. Brandon Graham missed most of the summer. The Eagles may need to limit his reps so as not to wear him out. That could mean plenty of work for Bennett.

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Howie Roseman said something very interesting on Saturday when talking about roster moves. He explained that the team viewed Jordan Mailata as a two-year project when they drafted him. They didn’t trade up in the seventh round for the heck of it. This was a player they believed in and were going to patiently work with.

I loved this quote from Roseman.

“We would rather see him fail in Philadelphia than succeed somewhere else.”

That is frickin’ perfect. They embraced the risk of drafting a player with Mailata’s unique background. And it was a group move. Sometimes you have a split between the coaching staff and the personnel staff. There can be two different agendas. That wasn’t the case with Mailata. Doug Pederson, Jeff Stoutland, Howie Roseman and Joe Douglas were all on board. I assume Jeffrey Lurie as well.

One of the reasons I feel so good about this organization is stories like this. No egos. Just people coming together to roll the dice on a great talent.

Jimmy Johnson and Jerry Jones fought for credit and control when Dallas was in the middle of being a dynasty. That clash hurt the team. Jon Gruden fought for control in Tampa after he won the Super Bowl in 2002. He got it and slowly ripped apart a title team.

Heck, just look at Gruden now. He and GM Reggie McKenzie weren’t on the same page about what to do with star DE Khalil Mack. And that should have been a no-brainer.

There are no guarantees the Eagles will keep winning, but I take this kind of unity as a very encouraging sign.

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That’s Cox and Malcolm from the defense. Carson and Kelce from the offense.

Kamu Grugier-Hill from STs. Oh wait…he’s also defense this year.

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