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Football at Four DiCecco Thursday: More on Hurts Plus NFL Draft Intel · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

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Speaker 1: Football four powered by the Inside of the Birds podcast.
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Speaker 1: It is brought you by the Fanatic Sports Book at
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Speaker 1: Oceanagasina Resort in Atlantic City. We will be there at
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Speaker 1: May sixteenth. Get your tickets at the ocean ac dot com.
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Speaker 1: Andrew to check go. He's a big music fan. I
1:01
Speaker 1: don't know if Lenny Kravitz or Aaron Lewis from Stained
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Speaker 1: is up his alley. Possibly he joined us now to
1:06
Speaker 1: talk a little football at four. What's going on, Andrew?
1:09
Speaker 1: How you been?
1:10
Speaker 2: What's up? Mike? Yeah, that song fly Away by Lenny
1:13
Speaker 2: Kravis was really popular with me when I was growing up,
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Speaker 2: So I consider myself with Lenny Kravitz. Guy.
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Speaker 1: Sure, all right, Lenny Kravitz would be in your wheelhouse then,
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Speaker 1: Andrew to check go of course, everybody Wilson's for the Birds,
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Speaker 1: that's in your wheelhouse as well. And you know, normally
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Speaker 1: we'd be getting ready for the draft and starting to
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Speaker 1: talk a lot of draft. But man, some bombshells over
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Speaker 1: the last twenty four hours regarding Jalen Hurts and obviously
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Speaker 1: Tim McManus and Jeremy Fowler, two very reputable guys. Are
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Speaker 1: you surprised you're around Jalen? You're around this team all
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Speaker 1: season long. Are you picking up the pieces and putting
1:45
Speaker 1: them together and seeing this jiving?
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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's not really a surprise, Mike. And that's why
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Speaker 2: I've always whenever I've been on with you or elsewhere,
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Speaker 2: I've always been really adamant that it was never about
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Speaker 2: one person, one coach, one scheme or anything like that.
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Speaker 2: It was always a collective. Whenever you see an offense
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Speaker 2: fall shorter meeting expectations that has that much invested in it,
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Speaker 2: it can't just be one person. And there were a
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Speaker 2: lot of variables here, and I think what that story
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Speaker 2: did was it provided context to Jalen Hurts's role in
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Speaker 2: the offensive shortcomings.
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Speaker 1: All Right, so a lot of the stuff uncoachable, poor
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Speaker 1: body language. When you hear that kind of stuff, those
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Speaker 1: are some red flags, are they not?
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Speaker 2: Sure? Yeah? I mean that's never a great thing from
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Speaker 2: your franchise quarterback. But you know, everything is in a
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Speaker 2: snapshot in time. When you're talking about body language and
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Speaker 2: things like that, I think what was more revealing and
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Speaker 2: stuff that we've gathered. If you're around the team all
2:45
Speaker 2: the time, you can't help but pick things up. You know,
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Speaker 2: his aversion to doing certain things, whether that's play action,
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Speaker 2: the under center, throwing inside the numbers, just common things
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Speaker 2: that we haven't seen Jalen Hurts do all that much
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Speaker 2: under Nick Sirianni, and he hasn't really been asked to
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Speaker 2: do it all that much. And to be able to
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Speaker 2: really immerse yourself in a new look offense, which we
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Speaker 2: can all agree is to be expected, Jalen Hurts is
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Speaker 2: going to have to change and embrace that change because
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Speaker 2: it's going to be a stark contrast from what he's
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Speaker 2: been asked to do in the past.
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Speaker 1: All right, So let's get into that a little bit.
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Speaker 1: You know, there is some reporting that basically that he
3:27
Speaker 1: did not want to make changes, that he has pushed
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Speaker 1: back against a lot of the changes, whether it be
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Speaker 1: offensive changes, resisting taking snaps under center, using more motion.
3:37
Speaker 1: I got some tools kind of designed to help some
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Speaker 1: beat zone coverages. Do you look at that then as
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Speaker 1: a fit for what Sean Mannion wants to do.
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Speaker 2: It's hard to say that right now, but I mean,
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Speaker 2: he's never been asked to do it, so everything here
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Speaker 2: is a projection. But I think if we're being fair
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Speaker 2: to Jalen, he's handled turnover pretty flawlessly. What he's on
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Speaker 2: a six coordinator right now, and he's built up enough
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Speaker 2: equity in this city. He's done enough. His resume shows
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Speaker 2: it that he deserves the benefit of the doubt. Now,
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Speaker 2: it's not a slam dunk that he transitions without any
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Speaker 2: kind of hurdles, but he in that story indicated that
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Speaker 2: he's more willing to change now more than he ever
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Speaker 2: has been. So I think that that is certainly encouraging.
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Speaker 2: And there's not a whole lot of cards left to play, right.
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Speaker 2: I mean, the NFL has caught up to the Eagles
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Speaker 2: style that had been very successful under Nick Sirianni and
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Speaker 2: Jalen Hurts. But it's time for the offense to evolve.
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Speaker 2: And one thing that we can all agree on, and
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Speaker 2: it's well documented, Jeffrey Lourie values high flying, dynamic offenses,
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Speaker 2: especially when it comes to the passing game, and what
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Speaker 2: we saw the last two seasons was not acceptable. They've
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Speaker 2: always prided themselves, the Eagles, I'm talking about, as being
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Speaker 2: a cutting edge organization, and this offense that they're expected
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Speaker 2: to roll in is in vogue and it's here to stay.
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Speaker 2: So it very much feels like the train at the station.
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Speaker 2: This is what they're doing, you know, kind of get
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Speaker 2: on board, or you know it's going to leave without you.
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Speaker 1: I'm talking with Andrew zechus football for Obviously, the coaches
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Speaker 1: in Stafford portally felt that Hurtz was sometimes closed off, uncoachable,
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Speaker 1: poor body language, and that was noticed by teammates, and
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Speaker 1: they felt that the you know, the Lori Roseman seriality,
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Speaker 1: was reluctant to criticize him, and that's usually you know,
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Speaker 1: it sounds like it would cause a divide. But it
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Speaker 1: doesn't seem that there was that divide between the offense
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Speaker 1: and hurt Correct, Like, it doesn't seem like they're just like, hey,
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Speaker 1: we can't play for this guy.
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Speaker 2: No, no, not at all. But perception can be reality,
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Speaker 2: And I think when you look at Jayalen Hurts, he's reserved,
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Speaker 2: he's guarded. He's always been that way. But what I
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Speaker 2: can tell you, Mike, from being there every day last season,
5:52
Speaker 2: I noticed a concerted effort from Jayalen Hurts to connect more,
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Speaker 2: to come out of the show and be more open
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Speaker 2: with teammates. It's not something that is probably going to
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Speaker 2: come natural, because when you're stoic and your guarden, you're
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Speaker 2: sort of an introvert. That doesn't come naturally. But I
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Speaker 2: did notice that he's making an effort to try to
6:12
Speaker 2: come out of a show a little bit. But as
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Speaker 2: the leader of an offense and really the face of
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Speaker 2: the franchise you have, you would like to see a
6:19
Speaker 2: little bit more. I guess you'd like to see a
6:23
Speaker 2: little bit more personality. To kind of put it.
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Speaker 1: Plainly, absolutely, I feel Andrew and see if you agree
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Speaker 1: or disagree. One of the hardest things with Hurts is man,
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Speaker 1: he is an unrelatable guy. He just does not connect
6:35
Speaker 1: for a guy who's had the success that he has had. Normally,
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Speaker 1: the franchise quarterback is the most popular guy in town.
6:41
Speaker 1: And that's not to say that Hurts is unpopular, but
6:44
Speaker 1: you would agree it sounds like that he is a
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Speaker 1: hard guy to connect with for the fans, and I
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Speaker 1: would imagine that means he's a hard guy to connect
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Speaker 1: with with teammates.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, but you know, a lot of the same things
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Speaker 2: were said about Donovan McNabb and Carson Wentz about how
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Speaker 2: they did maybe come off as relatable. And I think
7:02
Speaker 2: when you're in such a public facing occupation like quarterback
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Speaker 2: of the Philadelphia Eagles, naturally you're going to command a
7:09
Speaker 2: lot of attention, but you have to be solely focused
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Speaker 2: on the task at hand and you don't necessarily become
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Speaker 2: infatuated with the world of social media and doing all
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Speaker 2: these other things. He's very active in the community in
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Speaker 2: terms of doing things, you know, for charities and things
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Speaker 2: like that, but in terms of, you know, being someone
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Speaker 2: who you feel like you know a lot about, that's
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Speaker 2: just not jaywhen Hurts, But that also wasn't Carson Wentz
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Speaker 2: or Donovan McNabb. It's just a certain force field that
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Speaker 2: you have to break through, I guess, But I mean
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Speaker 2: I think that it's not necessarily abnormal to quarterbacks that
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Speaker 2: we've seen come through here over the years.
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Speaker 1: Talk with Andrew Decheco. He has a very big contract obviously,
7:52
Speaker 1: but that guaranteed money is coming to a close, and
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Speaker 1: some are suggesting the timing of this story would kind
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Speaker 1: of indicate that they are trying to get a message
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Speaker 1: out to Jalen Hurts to let him know that he
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Speaker 1: is on notice. Do you have that feeling?
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Speaker 2: Well, you know, it's kind of hard to fath him
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Speaker 2: because Jalen Hurts has won a lot of football games
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Speaker 2: for the photo off Eagles, But I would say put
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Speaker 2: on notice in the sense that, as I mentioned, this
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Speaker 2: is the offense that the Eagles are going to adopt,
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Speaker 2: and there's going to be some pause because you don't
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Speaker 2: quite know how Jalen's going to respond to change of
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Speaker 2: this magnitude. And before you dole out considerable amount of
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Speaker 2: amount of compensation to any player, you need to be
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Speaker 2: sure that they're going to be a fit for what
8:41
Speaker 2: you're trying to do long term, and you don't just
8:43
Speaker 2: want to go with the benefit of the doubt. I
8:45
Speaker 2: believe that he'll do this. I believe we'll do that
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Speaker 2: because he's responded to challenges and adversity in the past.
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Speaker 2: You need to see it. And when you're being asked
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Speaker 2: to do things that you really haven't had to do
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Speaker 2: in a large sample size throughout your career, Yeah, there's
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Speaker 2: going to call. There's going to be, you know, cause
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Speaker 2: for some skepticism there until you actually see it manifest.
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Speaker 2: So I don't I don't think the Eagles would be
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Speaker 2: in any rush, nor do I should think nor do
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Speaker 2: would they They shouldn't be in any rush to to
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Speaker 2: extend Jalen Hurts.
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Speaker 1: The other one of the other parts of this article
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Speaker 1: from Jeff McClain today, Andrew I thought was kind of
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Speaker 1: interesting was that he claimed that people who scout at
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Speaker 1: the Eagles said that Hurts will keep the teams will
9:26
Speaker 1: keep using the same looks, saying that quote, one out
9:29
Speaker 1: of ten games, he's going to play the way he
9:30
Speaker 1: did in the Super Bowl. The other nine, it's going
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Speaker 1: to be a mixed bag. If you're on the Eagles
9:36
Speaker 1: coaching staff and you're hearing a an opposing coach say
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Speaker 1: that about your quarterback, Does that put up some red
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Speaker 1: flags of maybe teams don't think this guy's all, you know,
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Speaker 1: as good as we're seeing.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, And that goes back to my perception is reality.
9:50
Speaker 2: And I can tell you a lot of times last
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Speaker 2: season Mike definitively that there were plays on the field
9:56
Speaker 2: to be made. So you can look at Kevin Patulo
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Speaker 2: and say the offense was good enough from you know,
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Speaker 2: from uh just from a schematic standpoint, and I'm not
10:06
Speaker 2: going to argue with that because it wasn't good enough,
10:08
Speaker 2: but he became the faith of the offensive inefficiencies, and
10:12
Speaker 2: I think a lot of that was unfair. I mean,
10:15
Speaker 2: there were a lot of other variables that contributed to it,
10:19
Speaker 2: Jalen Hurts being one of them, the health of the
10:21
Speaker 2: offensive line, and the inefficiency and the running game as well.
10:24
Speaker 2: But there were plays on the field to be made,
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Speaker 2: and there was some hesitancy there that I noticed from
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Speaker 2: Jalen and pulling the trigger. It almost seemed like unless
10:33
Speaker 2: a receiver was streaking wide open, he was a little
10:36
Speaker 2: reluctant to pull the trigger there. And also the running game,
10:39
Speaker 2: I mean, he hasn't run. He regressed in terms of
10:42
Speaker 2: how many times he was willing to pull it to
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Speaker 2: tuck it and run. And that is a dynamic quality
10:47
Speaker 2: that I think separates Jalen Hurts from many quarterbacks in
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Speaker 2: the NFL, and that's what makes them special. So I
10:53
Speaker 2: think for him to really be that triple threat because
10:56
Speaker 2: he looks at it through you know, passing running in
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Speaker 2: his mind, and you need to be able to tap
11:01
Speaker 2: into an essential function. And there's just a it wasn't
11:05
Speaker 2: a good season for Jalen I didn't think, and you know,
11:08
Speaker 2: there's a lot of there's a lot of questions as
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Speaker 2: to how he's going to acclimate to what is going
11:13
Speaker 2: to be a drastic departure in terms of in terms
11:16
Speaker 2: of scheme.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, there's no doubt about it. It sounded as if
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Speaker 1: right Andrew that Lori Siriani both indicated that there will
11:25
Speaker 1: be significant changes to this offense.
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Speaker 2: Oh yeah, change is coming and everybody many ask for
11:31
Speaker 2: change and you're going to get it, and it's it's
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Speaker 2: going to be pretty significant. All right.
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Speaker 1: We'll keep an eye on that obviously, And obviously there's
11:39
Speaker 1: been some big news around Jalen Hurts. He will be
11:41
Speaker 1: here this year, but we'll see what his future holds
11:44
Speaker 1: in terms of what he might have with them. They
11:47
Speaker 1: have signed a couple of new receivers. They brought in
11:49
Speaker 1: Elijah Moore, they brought in Hollywood Brown. AJ Brown is
11:52
Speaker 1: still here, Devontae Smith is here, Goddard is here. But
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Speaker 1: I want to talk about the draft and see if
11:57
Speaker 1: there's something around twenty three that you think they can
12:00
Speaker 1: add to the arsenal, whether it be a wide receiver,
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Speaker 1: possibly a tight end, or his offensive line the most
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Speaker 1: probable spot they would go in that area.
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Speaker 2: I think offensive line is probably the most probable, just
12:14
Speaker 2: given their history and knowing that you still have yet
12:18
Speaker 2: to identify a successor for Lane Johnson. There's going to
12:22
Speaker 2: be a couple of tackles, whether that's Monroe Freeling or
12:26
Speaker 2: Blake Miller from Clemson, who I really like, or Caleb
12:29
Speaker 2: or Caden Proctor from Alabama, who is a player that
12:33
Speaker 2: I also really like, though I think he probably would
12:35
Speaker 2: be a better fit had Jeff Stoutlin remained in the
12:38
Speaker 2: fold as the offensive line coach. But I also think
12:40
Speaker 2: there's some good skill players, and I'm talking about Omar
12:43
Speaker 2: Cooper Junior, the wide receiver from Indiana. I think that's
12:46
Speaker 2: a sweet spot for him anywhere from where the Eagles
12:48
Speaker 2: are picking to the end of the first round, and
12:50
Speaker 2: of course it always seems like as you trend towards
12:53
Speaker 2: the draft, Knight players tend to rise. But then there's
12:56
Speaker 2: case conception on from Texas A and M dynamic player.
13:00
Speaker 2: He does have some questionable drops last season that I
13:05
Speaker 2: think you know are caused for concern, But that's a
13:08
Speaker 2: player that I think can be a game breaker for
13:09
Speaker 2: your offense, and for an offense that's largely absent of
13:12
Speaker 2: explosive plays at least last season, I would think that
13:15
Speaker 2: that would be an appealing addition if given the opportunity.
13:19
Speaker 2: And then tight end would be Kenyon Sideek. He's the
13:21
Speaker 2: only tight end that I view as a as a
13:22
Speaker 2: first round talent, and he's someone that I think that
13:25
Speaker 2: he wanted. They would have to trade up to get them,
13:27
Speaker 2: because I do believe that the tight end is now
13:31
Speaker 2: becoming a position of value more than it has in
13:34
Speaker 2: the past. When you look at the recent success of
13:37
Speaker 2: Trey McBride, Sam Laporta, you look at Tyler Warren and
13:42
Speaker 2: how valuable those components are to an offense and how
13:45
Speaker 2: you can utilize them. Kenyon Sidek is a Swiss Army
13:48
Speaker 2: knife that I think is going to be a plug
13:50
Speaker 2: and play option who's going to have an early impact.
13:53
Speaker 2: So that would be a player that if the Eagles
13:54
Speaker 2: really wanted them, they're going to have to trade up
13:56
Speaker 2: to get him.
13:57
Speaker 1: He would be an interesting guy. We'll see, And I'm
13:59
Speaker 1: very intrigued to see how the tight end's role changes
14:02
Speaker 1: under Sean Manning as opposed to what we've seen before,
14:04
Speaker 1: because I think Andrew a lot of people felt that
14:07
Speaker 1: maybe there was even more to get out of Dallas Goddard.
14:11
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would agree with you, and I don't necessarily
14:13
Speaker 2: think that you're going to see an uptick in targets
14:17
Speaker 2: with the tight ends, But I think you're going to
14:19
Speaker 2: see a lot more creativity and how they're deployed and
14:22
Speaker 2: the route concepts that they're going to be asked to
14:26
Speaker 2: implement there or be asked to execute. I should say,
14:29
Speaker 2: because Dallas Goddard was criminally underutilized as a vertical threat,
14:34
Speaker 2: he has the ability to stretch and work the seams
14:37
Speaker 2: a little bit and create those type of unique mismatches
14:40
Speaker 2: with safeties and linebackers. And I don't think that the
14:44
Speaker 2: route concepts last season really did Dallas Goddard any favors,
14:47
Speaker 2: he made the most of his opportunities. But I think
14:49
Speaker 2: you're going to see a lot more creativity, and with
14:51
Speaker 2: Josh Grizzard coming on as the past game coordator, you're
14:54
Speaker 2: going to see a lot more spacing and innovation in
14:59
Speaker 2: terms of players being able to separate. Because let's not
15:02
Speaker 2: forget even last season, Mike, it seemed like every time,
15:05
Speaker 2: whether it was Defonte Smith or AJ Brown or Dallas Goddard,
15:08
Speaker 2: whenever they were targeted, it felt like they were catching
15:11
Speaker 2: the football and then taking the taking the hit. They
15:13
Speaker 2: weren't put in position to run after the catch and
15:16
Speaker 2: maximize what they're able to do. And so I think
15:20
Speaker 2: you're gonna see a lot more of that in this offense.
15:22
Speaker 1: All right, Andrew to check. Oh, of course, we are
15:24
Speaker 1: three weeks from the day from the NFL Draft. We'll
15:27
Speaker 1: zone in more on that as we get closer, and
15:30
Speaker 1: of course our draft party will be at the Balcony
15:32
Speaker 1: Barred Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, So listen for
15:36
Speaker 1: your chance to enter. And Andrew will talk some more draft,
15:38
Speaker 1: will talk some more Birds next week on Football at four.
15:41
Speaker 2: Thanks man, looking forward to it, Mike, talks soon.
15:44
Speaker 1: As always, Andrew to checko Football four powered by the
15:47
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15:50
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