Posted July 25th, 2023 | Comments Off on Let’s Go Camping!
The Super Bowl is a distant memory. Free agency came and went. The draft as well. OTAs are long forgotten. It is late July and that means one thing…Training Camp is here. The Eagles will spend the next five weeks practicing so that players can improve and so the organization can figure out who the best 53 players are.
The old days of brutal camps are over. Check out this comment from Bill Belichick to really appreciate how things have changed.
“My first year in the league we went to training camp July 5, first regular season game was September 24. We had six preseason games and three preseason scrimmages. So of course it’s different. With the Giants we had fifty-some practices before our first game. Padded practices. It is what it is. Things have changed so we change…”
His career began in the mid-70’s so that’s a whole different world. Here is a good story from Jason Kelce that helps you understand how things were under Andy Reid.
The Eagles only have 9 scheduled training camp practices (plus 5 walkthroughs), then likely 2 joint practices with the Browns and one with the Colts. That’s only a dozen practices during training camp, which would be the lightest camp I have ever covered. I assume there will be no more quibbling with Nick Sirianni’s and the front office’s cautious approach to camp, given the team’s low number of injuries the last two seasons, not to mention a pair of Week 1 wins.
It would be easy to rip Sirianni and the Eagles if the team was struggling, getting banged up or not physical. None of those areas are issues. The Eagles were the best team in the NFC last year. They stayed incredibly healthy. And they are one of the most physical teams in the league. Whatever Sirianni is doing, it is working.
You should read all of Jimmy’s piece to get his TC preview (or in case you have insomnia…zing!).
I’m curious to see where the team is overall. I’ve followed two post-Super Bowl teams. The 2005 Eagles did not have a normal camp because of the TO situation. Things were just insane. It was impossible for the players and coaches to have a cohesive camp with so much divisive drama. That was a bizarre summer and an even weirder season.
The 2018 team didn’t have anything to that extent, but Carson Wentz’s injury made things awkward. Nick Foles was the starting QB, but he knew that was only until Wentz got healthy. That created a bit of an odd dynamic. Other injuries started to pile up and that simply meant too many good players were missing. Everyone was excited to see what the team could do since they were coming off such a special season, but you started to think the magic of 2017 might not be happening again.
There are no controversies heading into this TC. There are no crazy injury situations. The Eagles have arguably the best roster in the league and enough coaching talent to get the most out of the players.
“Our goal every day isn’t to come in here to chase the Super Bowl,” Sirianni said. “You hope it gets to that, but it’s to look at the daily increments, right? And how we get better, how we get better, how we get better. … You got to be really good to win. You got to be really good to get to the playoffs even, right? Then you’re gonna have some luck involved in it. So are we doing the things that we can control every single day to put ourselves in position to go win another?”
Live in the moment. Focus on what’s in front of you, not what’s behind you.
Knowing that is easy. Getting players and coaches to buy in is tougher. One thing that will help is that the Eagles will have young players taking over key roles. Nakobe Dean was a backup last year. He’s going to be hungry and driven this year. There will be a new RG, either Cam Jurgens or Tyler Steen. Both players will have a lot to prove. There are new RBs who will have a chip on their shoulder. There are plenty of young DL who will be hungry.
Most importantly, Jalen Hurts is the QB of this team. He is one of the most driven players I’ve ever seen. Getting so close will only make him hungrier. He will be a man on a mission and will be the kind of leader this team needs to stay focused.
While it feels like the team has the right mix of players to make another deep run, history shows that teams can struggle to make it back. Heck, just repeating as NFC East champs is hard. The last team to do that was the 2004 Eagles. If things go right one year, there is a legit chance they’ll go wrong the next year. This could be injuries, lucky bounces, close calls by the officials and any number of miscellaneous factors. And we know the Eagles will be targeted this year. Everyone will want to take out a Super Bowl team from last year.
I’m excited to see what this team can do. Sirianni has been masterful at pushing the right buttons to keep his team focused and motivated. This will be his biggest challenge so far. If the Eagles are going to go on a special run in the next few years, they need Sirianni to show he’s not just a builder, but is the kind of coach who can keep a team playing at a high level.
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Eagles have signed OL Dennis Kelly on a 1-year deal and placed DE Matt Leo on the Reserve/Retired List. pic.twitter.com/lwoC9xV9OU
The Eagles will beging Training Camp this week. This is a time of teaching and learning, of practicing and improving. The Eagles aren’t a finished product. All of the players, even proven veterans and stars, have something to work on.
Former DC Jim Schwartz told a great baseball story to help explain TC. He grew up an Orioles fan and shared a classic Jim Palmer tale. Palmer won more games in the 1970’s (186) than anyone else. One year in spring training he was getting shelled. Someone in the media asked Palmer about it and if he was concerned. Palmer explained that he threw only curve balls in the game. Hitters knew what was coming and hit some of them. Palmer didn’t care about the results. He wanted to improve his curve ball by throwing it over and over in a live setting.
Don’t obsess on results in camp. Players may be working on something to get ready for the regular season.
Nick Sirianni and his staff do a great job of getting the most out of practice. All coaches talk about being detail-oriented. Sirianni and his staff put meaning in those words. They are great teachers. Sirianni talks about how all NFL players are talented. The thing that separates them is good technique. That comes from a combination of practicing by the player and teaching by the coach.
Think about the player development we’ve seen under Sirianni.
Jalen Hurts – The 53rd pick of the 2020 draft is now one of the best QBs in the NFL. He showed some flashes as a rookie, but was 1-3 as a starter and only completed 52 percent of his passes. Hurts led the Eagles to the playoffs in 2021, but still needed to improve as a passer. He took a huge step forward in 2022. He led the Eagles to the Super Bowl and was in the running for league MVP. A player who was a mediocre passer at Alabama just finished 4th in the NFL in passer rating. Hard work and good coaching have helped Hurts develop into a special player.
DeVonta Smith – First round receivers are far from a sure thing. Smith came to the NFL with a great resume, but was rail thin and there were questions about whether he would handle the physicality of the league. The answer is YES. He set a franchise record for catches by a WR (95) and caught 69.9 percent of the throws that came his way. Jeremy Maclin never got above 65.6 percent as an Eagle. Smith doesn’t have special size or speed so he must focus on the little things to play at a high level. He’s a perfect match for Sirianni and his staff.
AJ Brown – The Eagles wanted a stud receiver to add to the offense so they traded for Brown. He came in and had the best season of his career. He had career highs in catches, yards and TDs. His drops went down and he had the second highest yards/target figure of his career. Sirianni and his staff were handed a star player and got him to play even better.
Javon Hargrave – In his first five seasons, Hargrave had 19 sacks. Since Sirianni and his staff took over, Hargrave had 18.5 sacks in two years. The potential had always been there, but not the production. It will be interesting to see how he does in SF.
Josh Sweat – A great example of player development. Sweat barely played as a rookie. He became a backup the next year and then started three games in his third season. He’s started 29 of 34 games under Sirianni. Sweat had 11 sacks, 15 TFLs and 23 QB hits last year, all career highs. He came to the NFL with size and athleticism, but was raw. He’s gotten better each year in the league. His positional skills finally caught up to his natural talent in 2022.
Crafty Josh Sweat showing counters to the snatch & trap technique Tyler Smith used against Sweat's long arm. Play 1-Smith executing snatch & trap Play 2-Sweat flashes long arm to set up ghost technique Play 3-Sweat replacing arm like Myles Garret shows at 3:30 of the quoted video https://t.co/QCqfURRnwnpic.twitter.com/nN5f2hrw7a
Brandon Graham – The oldest Eagle ruptured his Achilles in Week 2 of 2021. We all wondered what that meant for his future. BG worked hard to get healthy for 2022, but had to come off the bench for the first time since the middle of the Chip Kelly era. BG responded with a career high 11 sacks. He added 11 TFLs and 16 QB hits. Graham played almost 300 fewer snaps than recent seasons, but his production went up. That’s incredibly impressive.
Milton Williams – The Eagles used a third round pick to draft the DE/DT tweener out of La Tech. Williams made plays with a combination of outstanding athleticism and relentless effort. He was raw in terms of technique. Williams showed flashes as a rookie. He played really well down the stretch in Year 2, offering a lot of promise for the future. He’s still a gifted athlete and still has a great motor. Now he’s got an idea of how to play DL from a technical standpoint.
CJ Gardner-Johnson – The Eagles needed help at safety last summer. They took a chance by trading for CJGJ, who had mostly played in the slot for the Saints. The Eagles brought him to Philly and plugged him in at FS. CJGJ responded by leading the league INTs and setting a career high in tackles. And he did all that despite missing five games due to injury. The coaches figured out how to get the most out of him and CJGJ delivered in a big way. It will be interesting to see how he fares in Detroit. The talent is still there, but the coaching will be very different.
One of the things that helps Sirianni and his staff to bring out the best in players is their focus on situational football. This was a very telling quote from newly signed LB Nick Morrow.
“Since I’ve been here for six weeks … this is the most that I’ve learned situationally,” Morrow said. “We’ve really emphasized situation awareness, and this is probably the most I’ve learned in my seven-year career.”
“I don’t want to give away too much, but in the team meetings, [we are] constantly going over [situational football],” Morrow said. “Every time we have a team meeting, we bring up situations.
“And everyone’s up. Anyone could be asked a question, and everyone’s responsible to understand what’s going on in a game.”
The coaches are as specific and detailed as possible. They coach everyone, not just the starters.
The coaches don’t just lecture. They are hands-on teachers.
Nick Sirianni says he has specific drills to teach guys how to catch the ball in traffic: "Whether we put a towel around their arm, yank at it when he catches it. We also have a thing where we slap down on his hands when he catches it." #Eagles#FlyEaglesFly
They also tell stories as a way to illustrate the value of details. And of course Sirianni has his teaching tapes that he is constantly updating. He shows specific plays from games or reps from practice so they can see what he wants in action, not just theory.
The next month will give the coaches a chance to do more teaching and developing. That will be crucial for a roster with so much young talent. When you lose guys like TJ Edwards, Isaac Seumalo, Hargrave and CJGJ, you need young players to step up. Howie Roseman and the scouts have done a good job of finding the next wave of talent. Now it is up to the coaches to get the most out of the players and for the players to play up to their talent level.
Don’t live and die with the daily reports out of camp. They’re fun to read, but remember that the players are working on skills to get ready for the regular season.
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Here is a good piece on Eagles legend Al Wistert, who should be in the Hall of Fame.