The New Way

Posted: August 11th, 2021 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 1 Comment »

Tuesday was the final camp practice before Thursday’s preseason opener. The practice was short and sweet, as most of Training Camp has been.

To some, this means camp has been “soft”. Maybe. The old ways of two-a-days and hours-long physical practices are gone from a lot of organizations. Coaches now are careful about keeping their players rested and healthy. That all makes sense, but it is fair to question whether the players will be ready for game action.

We’ll get some idea of that on Thursday night in the opener. It will be interesting to see if the Eagles play physical football and have a lot of energy or if they get pushed around and struggle wih the physicality of the game.

The key is playing good football and winning games. If Sirianni can do that, people won’t question his camp schedule. If the Eagles stink, Sirianni will be questioned about everything, whether it had any real impact or not. People love to pile on.

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Nick Sirianni said the first couple of weeks of Training Camp were all about getting the offense installed. Coaches were focused on having players get a feel for how the playbook looks in action. Watching on tape is different that running a play in person.

That focus limited some of the effectiveness of the QBs. They weren’t repeating a lot of plays. They were doing as much learning as anything. That’s not conducive to QBs getting into a good rhythm and playing at a high level.

Installation is over and the coaches are calling different plays now. That has helped the QBs to look a bit better. Both Jalen Hurts and Joe Flacco had some strong moments on Tuesday. Ben Fennell from PE.com shared his thoughts.

• Flacco made two impressive throws in the middle of the field in this session, ripping a dig route to Quez Watkins and finding Greg Ward over the middle on a slant for a big catch-and-run. The veteran quarterback really knows how to work the middle of the field, where some of the toughest throws can be found. – Ben

• Those Flacco tosses weren’t the best of the day, though, because Hurts was on absolute fire today. I thought it was one of his best overall days of practice. He stroked a beautiful throw to Dallas Goedert on an over route in the intermediate area of the field for a big play in the next period. Later, the two would hook up again on a similar type of pattern. On both plays, Hurts had to “layer” the throw, meaning he had to throw with enough touch to get it up over the linebackers but with enough velocity to beat the safety over the top. Both plays created some yards after the catch as well, further showing the timing and accuracy from the second-year quarterback. Those were two dynamite throws, and it was great to see coming off Sunday’s practice where Hurts hit a number of big pass plays downfield. – Ben

The QBs have been very up and down this summer, but it is encouraging to see signs of improvement. This still doesn’t mean Hurts or Flacco is going to be 2004 McNabb, 2010 Vick, 2013 Foles or 2017 Wentz, but at least they are headed in the right direction.

That’s a good start.

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We have injury updates. Andre Dillard has a sprained knee and is Week-to-Week. Terrible news for him. The big hope for Dillard was to get into a preseason game and look good. He’s been struggling in practices against the Eagles talented DL. Now he’s hurt and will miss valuable practice and preseason time.

The LT competition is over, if it wasn’t already. Jordan Mailata will be the LT. The Eagles do need a plan for what to do behind him, in case Dillard isn’t ready for the season opener.

K’Von Wallace also got hurt. He’s got a groin strain. This hurts him and the team. Wallace was likely to start opposite of Anthony Harris. Now he’ll have to see if he’s healthy for the opener. The Eagles aren’t exactly deep at safety so this makes things wide open for Marcus Epps, Andrew Adams and Elijah Riley. Not exactly Reed, Polamalu and Dawk.

Let’s hope Wallace gets healthy. At the least, we need to see if he can be a long term solution. The more he plays, the more we’ll know.

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J.J. Arcega-Whiteside made some good catches on Tuesday. Thursday night’s game will be huge for him. JJAW has a chance to make this team, but he has to stand out on offense and/or special teams. I hope he gets a lot of reps. I want to get a better feel for where he is after two incredibly disappointing seasons.

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It sounds like Alex Singleton is in good shape and ready to play. He’s had some highlight moments on defense and has made his mark on STs as well.

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Camp bodies needed.

Both players are returning to the team.

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One Comment on “The New Way”

  1. 1 The Linc – Andre Dillard and Jalen Reagor lead training camp ‘stock down’ poll – Therapy Box said at 9:17 AM on August 11th, 2021:

    […] The New Way – Iggles BlitzTuesday was the final camp practice before Thursday’s preseason opener. The practice was short and sweet, as most of Training Camp has been. To some, this means camp has been “soft”. Maybe. The old ways of two-a-days and hours-long physical practices are gone from a lot of organizations. Coaches now are careful about keeping their players rested and healthy. That all makes sense, but it is fair to question whether the players will be ready for game action. We’ll get some idea of that on Thursday night in the opener. It will be interesting to see if the Eagles play physical football and have a lot of energy or if they get pushed around and struggle wih the physicality of the game. The key is playing good football and winning games. If Sirianni can do that, people won’t question his camp schedule. If the Eagles stink, Sirianni will be questioned about everything, whether it had any real impact or not. People love to pile on. […]