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Football at Four: DiCecco's State of the Eagles For 2025 · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

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  Speaker 1: And Football at four is powered by the Inside of
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  the Birds podcast. It is brought to you by the
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  Fanatics Sports Book at Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City.
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  We'll be there tomorrow and on Monday recapping the Eagles
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  and the Cowboys. It is game Day. It's a game
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  day edition of Football at four here on the Sports
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  Past live on ninety seven to three ESPN. Eagles and
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  Cowboys tonight, and we're gonna get the inside scoop from
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  Inside the Birds contributor Andrew de Checko, who of course
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  is going to be down there at Lincoln Financial Field tonight.
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  Don't forget Lincoln Financial Field is the home for the Eagles. Tonight.
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  We are the home of Eagles Football ninety seven to
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  three ESPN, and of course the Eagles take on the Cowboys.
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  We're gonna take a look at it with Andrew to
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  Checko right now for today's Football at four. Eagles Game
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  Day is here. And Andrew, you've been a part of
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  this obviously since the beginning of OTAs in training camp,
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  all the preseason games. It is finally kickoff night and
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  the vibes are on this team seem pretty interesting. I
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  want to kind of get your perspective is, you know,
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  they're kind of moving the page. They've turned the page
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  from last year, and that has been the messaging here.
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  But overall the vibes around this team, does it feel
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  a lot like last year's team entering the season or
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  is just a completely different vibe around the twenty twenty
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  five Eagles as opposed to the twenty twenty four Eagles
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  when they start their season in Brazil.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it feels a little bit different, Mike, in the
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  sense that last season the Eagles knew they had a
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  good team. You bring in someone like a Saquon Barkley,
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  you have Vic Van Joe joining the coaching staff, so
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  there are elevated expectations and you get the sense that
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  they're going to make a deep run. But there there
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  was intrigue there. This season, there is more of a
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  business like approach. They've accomplished this before, but they're not satisfied.
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  They're trying to be where their feet are, take a
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  day by day approach and work on continuous improvement. And
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  they're not even acknowledging the fact that they won the
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  Super Bowl and they're just trying to look at this
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  as a clean slate. What you've done in the past,
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  isn't relevant. That's kind of how they're viewing it. And
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  I'm just seeing a laser focus from this group, and
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  that all starts at the top with Nick Sirianni and
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  Jay when hurts.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it seems like it. They say we are the
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  twenty twenty four world champions. That is in the past.
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  They are ready to move on. They're moving on. They're
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  gonna play Dallas and a couple of questions Andrew, get
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  your feel on. They won't answer the questions, but let's
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  see if you can. Is it pretty clear that it
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  will be a Dori Jackson Sydney Brown playing safety tonight
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  and sit and the Dori Jackson playing corner.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean that's an accurate assessment anyone who's been
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  if you talk to any one of us who've been
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  there for all eighteen training camp practices or just have
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  an idea of the inner workings of it. Dori Jackson
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  started the last three practices to end training camp with
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  the first team opposite Quinion Mitchell. They didn't dress them
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  in the preseason finale. That right there indicates that they
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  like what they see. And then actually, oh, I believe
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  it was maybe Monday, it was Quinya Mitchell and Adori
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  Jackson working off to the side with defensive backs coach
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  Christian Parker, and you had Keelei Ringo, Mac McWilliams and
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  Jacoreyan Bennett working with the kickoff team. So you look
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  at the breadcrumbs there that really shouldn't be a surprised.
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  And then for Sidney Brown, he's simply just taken more
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  of the first team reps this summer. He's gotten more
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  opportunity to work through some things and really fine tune
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  the details of a Dick Fangio defense. So mccouba is
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  the superior player, he's a better fit ultimately in this defense,
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  but he hasn't had enough reps to suggest that he's
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  ready from week one, day one to be in there
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  as the safety. It is going to take the healthy
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  share of the snap, So I imagine it's going to be
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  Sidney Brown to start, and then it just feels inevitable
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  that Drew mccoba will eventually leapfrog him and become that
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  starting safety opposite Red Blanket Ship.
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  Speaker 1: All right, let's get your thoughts in on how those
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  two players, Jackson Sidney Brown factor into the game tonight.
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  You look at Ceedee Lamb, George Pickens, Jake Ferguson, they
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  do have a pretty powerful passing opportunity here the Cowboys.
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  If they're gonna do something well this season, it's probably
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  gonna be in the past game. What do you see
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  in that matchup tonight?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm expecting them to really try to get things
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  rolling with tight end Jake Ferguson. When you have a
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  rookie linebacker like Jahad Campbell and an inexperienced safety like
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  Sidney Brown who played seventy nine defensive snaps last season,
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  and there's not a lot of tape on him, you're
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  going to try and test him and Pepper the short
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  to intermediate levels of the field. And if you're the Cowboys,
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  you're gonna hope that you're gonna catch the Eagles in
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  some coverage lapses. But you look at the other side
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  of Quinnyon Mitchell and I assume that Jory Jackson's going
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  to see a ton of George Pickens, and from a
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  body type perspective, there's a big mismatch there. George Pickens
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  is more of the physical, big body to bove the
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  rim style receiver and the doriy Jackson is on the
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  more diminutive side as a corner, and I'm expecting him
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  to sort of play off coverage, probably give up some
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  things underneath, with the emphasis on not giving up anything
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  down the field. But whoever lines up opposite quinnyon whether
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  it's the Dorry Jackson to start and maybe eventually ja
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  Corean Bennett, They're going to get peppered and targeted heavily
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  on that side. So I think George Pickens is going
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  to see a lot of volume tonight. Ceedee Lamb is
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  the top receiver on this offense, and ordinarily I would
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  suggest that Quinnon Mitchell is going to travel with the
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  top receiver, because that's what vic Vango indicated. But Ceedee
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  Lamb reps an awful lot in the slot, and the
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  Eagles have a pretty good one in Cooper dejen So
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  I think you liked that matchup as well.
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  Speaker 1: All right, to obviously, Andrew, a lot of the questions
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  about the Eagles have been on the defensive side of
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  the ball throughout training camp to hear, but they got
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  joh Had Campbell in the first round. Let's ask a
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  question about him and how he makes this defense different
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  from the defense that had Na Kobe Dean lee year.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a great question. So Nakobe Dean and it's
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  important not to undersell what he did for this defense
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  last season. Linebackers coach Bobby King said that the Eagles
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  don't do what they did defensively last season without seventeen,
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  and I wholeheartedly agree with that. But he's more of
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  a tone setting, run defending downhill linebacker who improved in coverage.
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  But now with Jahad Campbell, he arms the Eagles with
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  another rangy, athletic, second level defender to pair alongside Zach Vaughn,
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  and he covers a lot of ground. He has the
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  length that I think should be able to narrow throwing windows,
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  and he's a physical player. But I think it's the
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  athleticism and the ability to have that sideline the sideline
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  range that separates him from Nakobe in that area. Now,
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  Nakobe's one of the smartest Eagles defensive players that they have,
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  and he will have a role in my opinion, when
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  he returns. But you're asking what separates the two, It's
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  just the all encompassing skill set that you get in
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  a Jahad Campbell, which I think that he and Zach
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  Bonn really compliment each other, ideally.
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  Speaker 1: Football for Andrew to check out from the Inside of
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  the Birds podcast Inside the Birds dot Com Eagles and
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  Cowboys tonight. I want to get your take, Andrew on
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  if you've got to hold on what this offense will be.
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  Is it going to be different? Is it going to
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  have a different kind of feel and look to it,
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  or is it going to be Hey Sakwem Barkley the
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  Belcal big year for him and the past game is
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  what it is.
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  Speaker 2: I'm not so sure that I have a charm grasp
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  on what the offense is going to look like, nor
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  do I think that anyone really can, because training camp
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  is not the ultimate indicator of what it's going to
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  look like come Week one when everything's live. But if
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  I'm to kind of connect the dots and look at
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  some of the background, like Chan Gaily, a forty six
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  year coach who had a forty six year coaching career,
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  was a mentor at Patullo and some of the other
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  coaches that Kevin has been around in his career, I
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  think it's fair to surmise that you might see something
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  of a West Coast style offense that's timing based and
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  predicated on getting the ball out of the quarterback's hands
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  quickly and the short to intermediate passing game. I do
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  think you're going to see them push the ball down
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  the field a little bit more because to evolve suggests
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  that you take a next step forward and expand on
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  something that maybe you didn't get a chance to fully
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  showcase last season. So to me, that's the passing game.
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  Perhaps you see the running backs a little bit more
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  incorporated in the receiving game, but that's kind of my
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  read on it right now. We're all going to kind
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  of learn about what this offense looks like in the
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  coming weeks, especially what they roll out there tonight. But
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  I have full confidence in Kevin Patullo, just based on
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  being around them, talking to him, listening to what he
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  has to say, and seeing how he coaches on the
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  field and how he engages with his players. He's been
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  in the building for a number of years. He's entering
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  his fifth year with Jalen Hurts. So until proven otherwise,
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  I think a lot of folks should be optimistic about
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  the Kevin Patulo era.
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  Speaker 1: As our guy on this often, you know, as you
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  had Barkley Brown and obviously Smith Goddard. You know he
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  has his role too, but is there somebody else this
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  year that you're going to have yours eyes on that
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  can add another layer to this offense.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. To me, it's simple. It's second year of running
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  back Will Shipley. You talk about the receiving element. In
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  my opinion, he's the Egal's most natural pass catching running back.
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  He's a work in progress in pass protection, but he
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  adds another dimension to the offense. He's twitchy, he's explosive,
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  he's good in space, and I think more importantly, Mike,
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  is that the Eagles, specifically Jaywhen Hurts, trusted him as
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  an outlet option on many occasions this summer. And what
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  we've learned from Jaywen Hurts is that if he doesn't
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  have a lot of reps with you, if he doesn't
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  fully trust you, or he's trying to really establish that
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  rapport and that's a work in progress, he's not going
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  to look your way all that much. Johan Dotson's probably
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  a really good example because it wasn't until later in
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  the season where Jaylen started to turn to him in
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  critical moments. So I think Will Shipley because he's the
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  ideal in game change pace option to say, Kwon Barkley
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  and can be that Kenny Gagwall role and serve as
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  that two and four minute running back that the Eagles
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  so highly covet. That's where I could see him carving
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  out a role.
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  Speaker 1: All right, Andrew to check o, let me get your
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  take then on where you know Michael Parsons no longer
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  here big pass rushing loss here? Where do you attack
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  this Dallas defense tonight? If you're Kevin Batula game one,
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  you're looking over this defense, I'm going after what.
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  Speaker 2: I would say, it's the secondary. You attack the secondary.
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  They're going to have trouble covering. I know they just
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  paid to Ron Bland and tray Von Diggs is there
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  Their safeties leave a little something to be desired, and
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  Malie Hooker and Donovan Wilson. This could be a big
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  Dallas Godter game where he threatens that second level and
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  really starts to make plays between the numbers, which is
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  something we haven't seen an awful lot of. But I
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  also think that the inside zone runs tonight for the
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  Eagles should have a lot of success because osa O'deigi
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  Zua their defensive tackle. He's undersized. Kenny Clark's a new
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  addition there, and you have to wonder about the other
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  players behind them in terms of who's swing in for
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  Micah Parsons, and they have some undersized players like Donavanza Raku.
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  I feel like the Eagles should be able to kind
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  of bully them in the running game, all.
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  Speaker 1: Right, Andrew. The other thing is here, Obviously, when you
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  look at the Eagles, we think about that offensive line
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  and how good and how deep they are. Tyler Steen
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  is the one newcomer there. Obviously Landon Dickerson. There were
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  some questions whether he would play. It looks like he
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  will play tonight. But is Tyler Steen going to be
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  an issue this year where Makai Becton was last year?
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  Do you think that that spot is solid and secure?
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  Speaker 2: I don't think that Tyler's Stein is going to be
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  an issue this year. And anyone who of any member
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  of your audience who's listened to me, anyone who's read
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  my work or heard me elsewhere, knows that I've been
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  bullish on Tyler's Steen, even dating back to last season.
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  I've had a lot of conversations with him, and what
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  I've observed from him is a player who when he
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  started a stack days in training camp productive days. That's
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  where I saw the confidence really start to manifest. He's
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  a quiet guy by nature, but I'm starting to see
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  the way that he carries himself in a much more
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  confident manner. And that's what happens when you're out there
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  and you're executing your coaching from Jeff Stoutland. You're hearing,
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  whether it's Lane Johnson, Landon Dickerson, Jeff Stoutland offer ringing
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  endorsements for him, or even defensive players that are singing
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  his praises. I think there's something to be said for that.
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  And he spoke, I guess it was late last week,
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  and he was very transparent. He doesn't want to be
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  the guy that is perceived to be the weak link.
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  There's all pros, there's household names on that offensive line,
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  and then more or less there's him, and he just
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  wants to be able to do his part. And he said,
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  feeling very confident.
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  Speaker 1: Give me a thing from you that you're looking tonight
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  and worried about, like Dallas does this well, I want
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  to see how Philly responds.
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  Speaker 2: I think just Dak Prescott being a veteran quarterback, knowing
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  where to take advantage of deficiencies on the back end,
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  So just throwing it up there and throwing some toutasses
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  and with George Pickens and trying to capitalize on the
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  Eagles the second cornerback and maybe some inexperience there at safety.
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  Just when you have a savvy veteran quarterback like that,
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  that really is their hallmarkets certainly not in the running
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  game Withyvonte Williams and Miles Sanders. I think when you
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  look at the Dallas Cowboys, the only way that they
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  can sort of threaten the Eagles is via the passing
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  the game, and that's what I'm expecting, all.
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  Speaker 1: Right, Andrew. Obviously you take a look at what the
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  Eagles and Cowboys bring to the table game, one banner, passion, energy,
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  coming off the championship, you've seen them all. Is this
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  a tough spot to play Dallas or is this the
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  perfect team to kind of start this season off with.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's the perfect team because, as if
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  you need any other motivation, it's the season opener at
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  home in front of a raucous and passioned crowd. But
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  you're going against a division rival, so you have to
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  be hyper focused because you want to get off to
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  a good start in that case, and it's also an
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  opportunity for the Eagles to go out there and I think,
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  really not a measuring stick because they're they're head and
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  shoulders better than the Cowboys, but but really start to
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  showcase who you are and start to establish an identity.
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  And when you look at it in those terms, I
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  think that there's all that's all the more reason for
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  them to be fully dialed in, and I think it's
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  a really good spot, a perfect opponent for them to
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  be playing Opening night.
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  Speaker 1: All Right, Andrew checko at link at Financial Field tonight.
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  He'll be there the coverage over at Inside the Birds
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  dot Com, the Inside the Birds podcast, and all week
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  long of course during Football at four here on the
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  Sports Past Live on ninety seven to three ESPN. Andrew,
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  enjoy the game tonight. We're looking forward to your coverage.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks man.
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  Speaker 1: All right, and you to check out Football at four.
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  It is powered by the Inside of the Birds podcast.