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The DiCecco Daily: Eagles Surprising LB Rotation, Takeaways From Coordinator Pressers · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Hey, what's going on, everybody? Welcome into another episode of
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: DiCecco Daily. It's Andrew DiCecco, Eagles beat reporter for InsideTheBirds.com.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: And it's Tuesday, which means it's coordinator day. It was
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: coordinator day at the Jefferson Health Training Complex. So we
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: heard from defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, special teams coordinator Michael Clay,
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: and offensive coordinator Sean Mannion. Now, one of the big
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: talking points coming out of this presser, this availability centers
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: around the linebacker position because you have Jihad Campbell, who
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: Vic Fangio said is playing okay, but before the game
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: on the broadcast, they mentioned that Jeremiah Trotter Jr. was
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: slated to start. Now, Vic Fangio said that that is
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: an out-and-out lie. He never said that, but he did
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: mention that the plan was to share snaps between Trotter Jr.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: and jihad campbell and the reason being is when trotter
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: jr had to play against the rams he played well
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: and when you look at jihad campbell and the way
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: that he's played thus far you can clearly see that
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: he's athletic he's rangy he does some different things that
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: jeremiah can't do but the other side of that coin
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: is that you're seeing a player that isn't necessarily at
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: least in my estimation playing within the confines of the
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: defense it seems like sometimes He's caught off guard.
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: He's a little perplexed.
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: And he doesn't necessarily have the same instincts that Jeremiah has,
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: where Jeremiah can see it.
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: He reads and diagnoses things quickly. He's better at attacking downhill.
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: He does give up some opportunities, I think, in space
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: in terms of coverage. But if you're talking about what
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: Vic Fangio traditionally looks for in his linebackers, it's fundamentally sound.
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: assignment sound players that are consistent and you don't have
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: to have a lot of apprehension about or questions about
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: whether or not they maybe understand their assignments or whether
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: or not they're going to be a high variance player
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: on game day where everything counts, of course. And there
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: are moments where if you watch Jihad Campbell, it does
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: look like he seems to be swimming a little bit. Now,
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: without knowing the full context, that's just based off of
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: what I'm seeing watching the game live. Talking to Jahad
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: this week, maybe I'll get some more clarity as to
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: how he feels he's grasping the defense in year two.
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: And yet the other thing you have to wonder, and
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: Vic Fangio said no, he doesn't think that that will
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: be the case, is for a young player like this,
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: who's a first-round pick, he essentially gets benched for N'Kobe
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: Dean last year.
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: And when N'Kobe was healthy.
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: And I don't think that Jihad was playing poorly by
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: any means. And then in this case, while he's not
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: getting benched, you're having another player eat into your snap share.
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: So for someone who is seemingly trying to find his
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: footing in the NFL and you finally, if you're Jihad,
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: you got your starting job back. but it probably didn't
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: go according to plan or quite like you wanted. Now,
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: all of a sudden, you're having to share snaps. That
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: has to do something internally to affect your mental approach
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: or things like that.
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: You're only human.
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: At least for me, you have to wonder, from my
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: vantage point, you have to wonder if that would affect
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: his confidence in any way. But They're professionals, and they'll
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: go out there, and Vic Fangio's going to put those
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: out there who he feels are going to give him
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: the best chance. And the defense, most importantly, the best
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: chance of reaching their potential. And when I look at
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: Jeremiah Trotter Jr., yes, he had 15 tackles against the Rams.
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: He was very active.
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: Tackles are not always the greatest indicator of how a
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: player played, but what I'm looking for is... his ability
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: to process things quickly he sees it and he's sort
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: of a he's one of those linebackers that is so
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: fundamentally sound he has a good feel for what offenses
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: are trying to do that when you have a player
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: like that you're doing the defensive disservice by keeping them
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: on the sideline if you feel that there are certain
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: moments in a game where he may elevate the ceiling
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: or raise you know raise the ceiling a And that's
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: not me sitting here saying that I think Jihad has
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: been bad, because I just don't think that that's the case.
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: I think that there are moments that he would like
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: to have back. I think there are examples of a
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: young player working through some growing pains.
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: And I think a.
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: Lot of the criticism that's thrown his way from the
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: public is probably, I think it's fair to say, it's
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: a little bit piling on. It borders on excessive. But
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: if you have a player like that in Trotter Jr.,
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: that you think that his skill set complements what you're
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: trying to do, if it gives you an edge. And
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: that's not to say that you're taking Campbell off the field.
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: I think that that's an interesting development and something that
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: I believe will help the defense moving forward.
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: So that was the plan.
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: Apparently in the Jacksonville game, Vic Fangio said so, but
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: it was never able to come to fruition because Trotter Jr.
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: of course, was ejected from the game.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: So I'm really curious to see how they go about
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: this rotation is it going to be series by series
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: is he going to ride the hot hand now Vic
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: said if someone's playing well he's going to leave them
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: in and I kind of equate that though Vic doesn't
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: believe it's the same type of scenario when they had
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: Oren Burks and Oren Burks was kind of playing a
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: little bit there late in the year before he ended
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: up taking over that job but I and you know
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: obviously N'Kobi got hurt in the in the postseason there
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: in the Green Bay game But there was a little
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: bit of a rotation going on before that, but it
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: doesn't seem like it's going to be to this degree.
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: But it seems like he will ride the hot hand,
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: and against Carolina, we're going to get a better sense
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: of how he views this linebacker rotation. And of course,
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: you have the stabilizing presence there in Zach Vaughn, who
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: I thought was tremendous defensively.
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: Against the Jaguars.
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: And he really has been pretty steady all season long.
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: He won NFC Defensive Player of the Week coming off
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: that week one game. So I am really intrigued by
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: the inclusion of Trotter in a more prominent role defensively
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: and what that could mean for the defense, especially when
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: you're talking about stopping the run and doing some of
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: those things that I think he really does a good
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: job and I think better at this point than Jihad Campbell.
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: But If you're talking about playing in space and in
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: coverage and someone who has unique athleticism and measurables like Campbell,
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: you've got to find a way to get him on
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: the field and keep him in the mix because he
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: can help you. There's a lot of things that I
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: think he does well. But to be an effective linebacker
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: and a Vic Fangio defense, you have to be instinctual
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: and you have to be fundamentally sound.
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: And Jeremiah is that.
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: So that speaks to why you're going to be seeing
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: more of him. He also said it would have to
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: be pretty miraculous for JLX Hunt to be able to
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: play this week. So if you factor that into the
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: injury situation that the Eagles have at edge rusher, to recap,
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: Jonathan Grenard was listed as questionable and didn't play in
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: the game.
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: He's day-to-day with the ankle.
• 7:39
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  Speaker 1: I understand that Vic doesn't traditionally implement a heavy rotation
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: of edge rushers, but in this scenario, if you don't
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: have J looks hot, let's operate under the assumption that
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: he's not going to be available.
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: And Grenard is.
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: You still want to go a little heavier there because one,
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: Grenard could be on a pitch count, and two, what
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: happens if he gets dinged again and leaves the game early?
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: You have to have more than three edge rushers in
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: a game. And let's not also lose sight of the
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: fact that A.J. Epinesa and A.K. Ebikady have been taking on,
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: they have a pretty strong role in special teams, and
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: you saw that on kickoffs and things of that nature. So,
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: they're going to be on the field as well. And
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: you got to have more bodies available. So who, in
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: my estimation would make sense for a practice squad elevation
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: this week, Keyshawn James Newby, the Eagles seventh round pick
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: who they drafted. Um, and I like them, um, I
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: like the player. I think he is undersized. He's more
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: of a speed rusher. He did some good things in
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: camp before he missed a lot of time with an injury.
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: But this is someone that was productive, whether he was
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: at Montana Tech or Idaho.
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: And he's someone that, to.
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: Me, is a player that is, one, he's on the
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: practice squad, so he's developing right now. But I would
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: make the argument that had he not gotten hurt, maybe
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: he makes the roster because I view him as sort
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: of the Patrick Johnson type of impact on special teams
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: where he runs a four or five and he does
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: have some good athletic qualities. So yes, he's well-traveled. He
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: began at Montana Tech. Then he went to Idaho and
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: he finished at New Mexico and he's 6'1, 240 pounds.
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: So not a big guy, but at this stage of
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: the game, if you don't have Jay Wilkshunt, you need
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: another body to help get you through the game And
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: he's someone who has been working on the practice squad.
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: He lockers alongside Cole Wisniewski. They seem to be striking
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: up a pretty good friendship. I often see them talking.
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: And what's really interesting about James Newby, and I talked
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: to him about this on Friday, he was really excited
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: about going to London. And when I asked him what
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: you're most excited about, what you're going to be really
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: focusing on apart from the game, It was the building
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: and the structures around, you know, around the area. And
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: this is someone who at Montana Tech was a civil engineer,
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: like was majoring in civil engineering. And he wanted to
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: really focus on. On that, he focused on the engineering degree,
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: and I talked about the building and the constructions with him,
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: and he was sort of– he takes an interest in that.
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: And this is a sharp-minded guy.
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: You get that from talking to him, and I just
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: thought that that was an interesting nugget there to throw
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: in when talking about James Newby. And I can't help
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: but wonder if circumstances would have been different if he
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: had been healthy– Because he did do some good things
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: in the preseason finale.
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: And he's a draft pick.
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: I think he gives you, at least as a developmental prospect,
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: some promising attributes to work with.
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: But again, I know we're early in the week.
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: But these are things that I start to think about
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: as the week progresses.
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: And if you're not going to have Jay Wilkes Hunt potentially... getting.
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: James Newby to add another body, and you're guarding against
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: the possibility of Grenard either, one, being on a pitch count,
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: or two, leaving the game early.
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: You just have to have more bodies there.
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  Speaker 1: And.
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: The running back situation, we'll get some more clarity. We'll
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: get more clarity on the offensive line situation, namely Drew Kendall,
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: as the week progresses here. But the Eagles are going
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: to have to get creative. Their safety position is another
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: interesting scenario this week when you look at Michael Carter
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: leaving the game and not returning with an abdomen injury.
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: Kenny Moore was pressed into service at safety for the
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: first time. And Vic Fangio seemed pleasantly surprised with how
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: he performed. So that's a name to keep an eye on,
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: both Kenny Moore and Michael Carter. I will be keying
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: in on their availability this week in practice. played 44 snaps,
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: I think, and he left the game healthy. But Michael Carter,
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: because the Eagles are so light at the position, is
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: someone that I will be really watching. And Marcus Epps
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: as well. He's been out for a couple weeks with
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: a groin injury. And you also have Cooper Dejean there
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: along with Drew McCuba. But that's a pretty light room
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: right now. So going into the week, I can tell
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: you that that is a position group that I will
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: be keying in on along with Ed Rusher and how
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: those developments really go along in the coming days. We
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: also heard from Michael Clay and he talked about not
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: executing on that kickoff and said that they got too
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: deep into their coverage, didn't get off blocks and.
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: And things like that.
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: Nick Sirianni, you know, it's really took the bullet and
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: he said he appreciated that, but they didn't go out
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: there and, and, and do their jobs as a unit.
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: And he got into the different intricacies of the thought
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: process and, and everything into it. But, I thought he
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: was very transparent, as he always is, very honest and
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: took full accountability. Michael Clay has always done that. He's
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: always been about that since he's been the Eagles special
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: teams coordinator. And that's a play that's going to hang
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: around for a while with this team. And you're always
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: going to think about the woulda, coulda, shoulda. But the
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: bottom line is that they just didn't execute. They executed
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: on the previous three kickoffs. I'm not counting the run
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: back that Cameron had to start the game because it
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: didn't count. But that was a game in which they
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: were really undermanned as a personal protector. That's normally Will Shipley,
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: for example. They had to go to Cole Payton, the
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: third string quarterback. I believe Marcus Epps is the backup
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: personal protector and he was out. So it's really an
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: all hands on deck scenario when you're talking about special
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: teams and trying to get different guys in there that
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: maybe haven't done it a whole lot or some in
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: some cases at all in an NFL game. And you
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: make the best of it. And that was a bad
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: time to have a blunder. And that's kind of what happened.
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: And it is what it is. I don't necessarily.
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: Question that as much as I do the sequence before
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: that kickoff even happened leading up to the field goal.
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: And I'm not going to relitigate this whole thing.
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: We've talked a lot about it. over the past couple podcasts.
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: But I just wanted to add a little bit of
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: an insight there for what Michael Clay had to say.
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: Sean Manning was asked if he would like to see
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: Jalen Hurst run a little bit more and what factored
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: into it. And he mentioned that every game plan is
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: a little bit different. Every week presents different challenges. And
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: this week they wanted to be more pass-oriented. So it
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: didn't really... factor into the offensive game plan this week
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: but that's not to say that it won't maybe another
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: week but that was basically my read on what he
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: had to say he also mentioned that He didn't think
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: that Jalen Hurts' calf injury, and let's not forget on Friday,
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: he popped up as a full participant in practice, but
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: was listed with a calf injury, and he had no
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: game day designation. And it's easy to kind of draw
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: a correlation that maybe that factored into him not running
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: as much or being as mobile or maneuvering the pocket.
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: And Sean Mannion didn't really think that that played much
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: of an impact in that. So that kind of answers
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: that question. And Obviously, I'll be keeping an eye on
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: seeing if that pops up again this week coming off
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: that game there in London. But Jalen Hurts has to
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: run a little bit more in order to really make
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: this offense a little bit more dynamic.
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: That is something that is sorely lacking.
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: His ability to create yards with his legs and force
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: defenses to play. the Eagles a little differently is such
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: a critical piece to this offense right now where they're
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: really searching for answers and trying to find their way.
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: And Jalen being a triple threat, he includes his mind
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: in that, it's an element that makes this offense potentially special,
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: or at least in the past it has.
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: And to deprive.
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: The offense of the lack of mobility and not running
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: the football, I think is taking away a really, really
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: important piece that separates it or could get things rolling
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: a little bit. Being that plus one in the running game,
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: all of a sudden it changes the game. It changes
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: the way that defensive coordinators play you. They have to
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: honor that, and I think to a larger point, it
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: helps the running game that much more. Those are just
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: some of my Tuesday takeaways. I'll have plenty more for
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: you throughout the week as the Eagles prepare for the
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: Carolina Panthers at Lincoln Financial Field. But for now, that's
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: going to do it for this episode of DiCecco Daily.
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: I'm Andrew DiCecco, and I'll catch
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: You all on the next one.