Latest / Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast / The DiCecco Daily Post Postgame Show: Birds Lose More Players To Injuries, Lose Momentum, Lose War Of Attrition Vs. Rams

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The DiCecco Daily Post Postgame Show: Birds Lose More Players To Injuries, Lose Momentum, Lose War Of Attrition Vs. Rams · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Hey, what's going on, everybody? Welcome in to another episode
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: of DiCecco Daily. It's Andrew DiCecco, Eagles beat reporter for InsideTheBirds.com.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: The Eagles fall to the Los Angeles Rams, 24 to 20.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: They were unable to take advantage of a pair of
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: takeaways and really turbulent play from the Rams for much
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: of that game, sans the last seven and a half
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: minutes or so. They had a 10-point lead that they
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: carried through much of the second half, and they weren't
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: able to hold on and the attrition on both sides
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: of scrimmage, I think that greatly impacted the Eagles. I
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: don't think it was apparent watching it, but among some
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: of the players, and we'll get into more of this
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: in this podcast, they lost running back Saquon Barkley with
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: a hamstring injury early in the contest, and they lost
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: Quinion Mitchell with a knee in the second half. They
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: also lost their top pass rusher in Jonathan Grenard with
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: an ankle injury in, I think it was the third quarter,
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: but It all blurs together right now. But the offense,
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: it came up empty on third downs. They went 0
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: for 12. And they again buckled coming out of the break.
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: And to recap, the six second half drives for the
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: Eagles was punt, punt, turnover on downs, turnover on downs, punt,
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: turnover on downs. And so the defense, it did generate
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: a pair of first half interceptions. It kept the Eagles
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: in this one as long as it could, but the
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: dam would eventually break. And for perspective, in the waning
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: stages of this game, the Rams produced touchdown drives of
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: 98 and 75 yards respectively, and the latter of which
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: proved to be enough to outlast the team that, as
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: I mentioned at the top here, led by 10 for
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: much of that second half. On the Rams' game-winning touchdown march,
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: The offense received the ball with 255 remaining, and quarterback
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: Matthew Stafford delivered strikes to wide receiver Puka Nakua and
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: tight end Tyler Higbee for gains of 16 and 13 yards, respectively.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: And that really kick-started the drive. Then running back Kyron
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: Williams touched the ball in the final three plays, punching
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: in the final touch for a touchdown off the left
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: side to.
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: Take the lead 24-20 that they would not relinquish.
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: This left the Eagles with just over a minute to
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: work with, but the offense stalled on a drive that
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: began with a Byron Young sack of Jalen Hurts for
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: a loss of seven yards as the Rams defeated the Eagles.
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: And this is a team in the Rams that the
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: Eagles defeated in the previous four matchups, but they hold
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: on on Sunday afternoon as they preserve that lead.
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: Just some quick numbers here.
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts completed 12 of 27 passes for 93 yards
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: and two touchdowns. The leading rusher was Tank Bigsby, who
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: headed to the locker room with a few minutes remaining
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: after sustaining an injury. While Tank carried 14 times for
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: 55 yards, second-year wide receiver Darius Cooper led the Eagles
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: in receiving, producing 33 yards and two touchdowns on three receptions,
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: seven targets. On the defensive side, Jeremiah Trotter Jr. led
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: the Eagles in tackles with 15 and while Nolan Smith
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: accounted for the unit's only sack. Defensive backs Drew McCubin
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: and Cooper DeGene secured both of the Eagles' turnovers with interceptions.
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: The inactives for the Eagles.
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: Wide receiver Hollywood Brown, wide receiver Devontae Smith, quarterback Cole Payton,
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: safety Marcus Epps, linebacker Zach Bowen, right tackle Lane Johnson,
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: offensive lineman Fred Johnson, and tight end Dallas Goddard. So
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: the team announced roughly 30 minutes ahead of inactives that
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: Lane Johnson would be questionable due to personal reasons. It's
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: worth noting that this was clearly a game day development,
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: as the Eagles obviously would have. Most certainly elevated one
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: of their practice squad tackles, John Ajuku being one of them,
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: who was with the Eagles for the whole offseason and
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: training camp, ahead of Saturday's deadline and anticipation. But when
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: Nick Sirianni was asked postgame whether he expects to have
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: Johnson back, he replied, we'll see where we are. I'm
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: not going to expand too much on this situation. It
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: would be malpractice to do so without gathering more information.
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: But you just hope that everything's OK with Lane. And
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: I'll kind of just leave that there. But that put
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: rookie tackle Markel Bell in a tough spot because you
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: go through the practice week and you're not repping with
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: the first unit because why would you?
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: Lane Johnson's there. So now quickly before the game, you're
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: told you're up.
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: Which is essentially what Jordan Mailata said after the game
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: that he told Markel Bell. And he had to go
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: in there and start at right tackle. And that's an
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: offensive line that was already having some protection issues as
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: they have some new pieces there. You have a new
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: center in Drew Kendall who made his third start of
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: the season. Left guard Cam Juergens, he's new to that position.
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: They're still kind of finding their way and acclimating. And
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: then you're adding a new right tackle to the mix.
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: And you can see by the pass protection in this
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: game that it just wasn't... It just wasn't holding up.
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: And so that's something that the Eagles... I think right
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: now they're fielding their best five with who's available. And
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: there's not a lot of options. I mean, yes, there's
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: Willie Lampkin. There's Micah Morris. Fred Johnson didn't play in
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: this game. He was out with a knee injury. So...
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: I personally believe that they're fielding the best unit. And
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: I guess if you're an Eagles fan listening, the best
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: you can hope for is that they improve the more
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: that they rep together because it is a new line.
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: And when you're talking about two new.
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: Interior guys, a lot of those players, all of those
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: players were working together all summer as a starting unit.
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: And so you have to build that chemistry. And right
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: now they're doing it on the fly in a really
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: difficult spot. You just lost two games. You have a
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: difficult opponent. You're playing the Jacksonville Jaguars in London. So
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: the urgency has to be there. And you can talk
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: about execution. You can talk about all those things. Just
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: they're one block away. They're one step away, this and that.
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: But a quarter of the season is over. And so, yes,
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: they deserve the benefit of time, especially on the offensive
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: side with Sean Mannion being a first-time play caller. But
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: I don't know how much more time you can say
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: that you.
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: Got to be patient.
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: You got to be patient because when you just have
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: a two-game skid, and I understand the Eagles were 2-2
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: when they won the Super Bowl in 2024, but I
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: don't know. I don't know what this Eagles offense is.
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: From an identity perspective, it's a very disjointed offense. They're
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: not able to really marry the under center play action
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: with a lot of the things that they've that they've
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: that they're carrying over from the previous offense. The run
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: game has really struggled. And I mean, you're just seeing
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: the the stark contrast from half to half. And I
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: can't exactly put my finger on what it is, but
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: I know that they need to be better on third downs.
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: And you can look at Nick Sirianni in this game.
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: For some coaching, questionable coaching decisions. Look, there was the
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: fourth and two from the two that the Eagles did
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: not convert. That would have put them up three scores
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: and a true backed up situation, as Nick Sirianni said
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: after the game.
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: I probably would have went for it as well.
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: I didn't have a lot of problems with it, and
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: I understand that you can make the argument, well, they're
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: undermanned and they don't have this, they don't have that.
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: You already had a lead. You're trying to extend that lead,
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: and you work with what you have. Jalen Hurts has,
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: in the first two weeks of the season, won with.
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: Hero ball, with a hero ball style. I mean, it's
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: not really an excuse.
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: You had the lead and you want to try to
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: build off of that and you roll with who you have.
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: Darius Cooper was the target on the play that was incomplete.
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: He had a pretty good day for the limited opportunities
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: that he had. And so I don't necessarily fault Sirianni
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: for going with that. I did not agree with going
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: for it on their own 38. It was a fourth
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: and one. They went for the push play. They brought
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: Willie Lampkin on for that. and they didn't convert, they
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: got stopped for no gain. And that right there, I,
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: I would not have, I would not have done, but, uh,
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: you know, you'd like to see just a little bit
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: more consistency and stability at this stage of the season.
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: And naturally you're going to look at the head coach first.
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: I know Sean Mannion is going to have a really
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: tough week, um, with a lot of, uh, sports radio. Um,
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: In terms of sports radio, he's going to be getting
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: a lot of calls. I don't think the offense in general,
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: and I'm not one to assign blame. All I do
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: is highlight their shortcomings. The offensive line needs to be better.
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: The offensive coordinator and the sequencing and all the things
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: that come with that job needs to be better. Nick
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: Sirianni needs to be better. And Jalen Hurts, you can
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: say what you will about being shorthanded, but you're a
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: franchise quarterback. I mean, his contract, the next contract that
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: he gets is going to put him among the upper
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: echelon of quarterbacks, and he's viewed as one of the
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: best in the NFL by those who actually watch the games,
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: not nationally, who have an agenda. And so when you
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: take all that into consideration, you have to elevate the
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: talent around you and you have to make the most
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: of the situation.
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: And so.
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: I hate to go back to what I was saying
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: last year, but it is a collective offensively, and they
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: need to get that rectified, and that includes the quarterback
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: in this, who I thought for the first two weeks
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: of the season, yes, he played well, but a lot
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: of it was doing things outside of structure. It was
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: playing hero ball, not necessarily playing... the quote-unquote Shawn Mannion
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: offense that we were expecting to see. It just is
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: a really disjointed offense. That's the best way that I
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: can put it. I don't know exactly what they're trying
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: to accomplish. They're sort of merging two different offenses, and
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: it doesn't have a lot of rhythm or flow to it.
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: There's no synchronization. And you're now facing another good team
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: in the Jaguars. You have the Carolina Panthers after that
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: coming to Lincoln Financial Field. So you're going to have
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: to start to get things headed in the right direction or...
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: You know, it could get ugly. There's always so many
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: times you can say you have to execute better. And
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts said poor execution in his answers in terms
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: of the third down woes and things.
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: Of that nature.
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: But, I mean, you got to start generating some positivity.
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: What you would like to see is progression, even if
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: it's gradual week to week.
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: I can't say that I've seen that.
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: You saw glimpses in the first two weeks of of
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: a lot more under center play action middle of the
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: field utilization a lot more motion and things against the
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: bears they were in shotgun a lot more it seems
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: like they sort of veered off from that path a
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: little bit more and they're reverting back to some of
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: the previous stuff i i i mean right now they're
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: going to have to really go back to the drawing board,
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: figure out what they want to be as an offense
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: and establish an identity because right now they don't have one.
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: And I understand that they deserve the benefit of time.
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: But when now you're looking at week five and you're
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: still having some of these questions, I think it's fair
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: right now to start saying, okay, well, when is it
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: going to start to get going here?
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: Because I'm just not seeing it.
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: I also think that for Sean Manning to run the
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: offense that we're expecting him to run is, Does he
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: have the requisite personnel to be able to do that?
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: I mean, clearly not.
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: You look at the tight end position and some things
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: like that, and it's easy to say, well, probably not.
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: But you still have to produce, and you still have to,
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: I mean, you should never go 0 for 12 in
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: third down situations. I mean, this Eagles team has had
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: 20 penalties over the past two weeks combined. I mean,
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: that's not a hallmark of a team that's traditionally disciplined.
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: They certainly really emphasize the importance of discipline and toughness
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: and details. Well, it seems like in that aspect, they've
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: slipped a little bit there. But.
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: Let's get to some of my takeaways from the game.
• 12:59
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• 15:59
  Speaker 1: While the Eagles' defense had experienced a three-game turnover drought.
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: The streak ended on the first defensive series on a
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: first-and-five from the L.A.
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: 30s.
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: Stafford faced pressure off the edge with Jonathan Grenard bearing down.
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: Stafford lofted a throw over the middle to wide receiver
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: Kanata Mumfield. That safety Drew McCuva dove to corral and
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: had returned possession to the L.A. 28 following a 23-yard return.
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: It was certainly timely. And then Cooper Dejean sniped a
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: Stafford pass, returning it 25 yards to the LA 35-yard
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: line in the second quarter. Three plays later, Jalen Hurts
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: found wide receiver Darius Cooper for his second touchdown of
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: the afternoon. Fangio's unit has been close at times over
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: the past few weeks, but perhaps now the tide turns.
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: I mentioned the pass protection struggling to contain the Rams' rush.
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: Byron Young, in particular, was a force there. Jalen Hurts
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: faced considerable amount of pressure. But context is important here
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: because I mentioned the whole Lane Johnson scenario and Markel
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: Bell replacing him. But there's a new center still acclimating
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: and a former center moonlighting now at left guard that
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: has experienced some challenges. But there's always so much that
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: an offense still finding its way can do without adequate
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: protection and leaky pass protection that It's sort of exacerbated
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: when missing two of the Eagles' top three receiving options.
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: And no, there isn't much the Eagles can do to
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: shake things up. I think that this is their best five.
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: So speaking of Markel Bell, I thought he held up
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: decently upon first watch.
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: I'll have to go back and rewatch.
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: But I thought he held his own, especially when considering
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: his lack of first team reps leading up to Sunday's game.
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: What was Jordan Mailata's message to the rookie once receiving word?
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: You're up, baby, he said. This is what you were
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: here for. This is what you were born to do.
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: This is why you came here.
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: You're up.
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: It's as simple as that. No need to complicate it.
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: Nick Sirianni also spoke about Bell's first start. Sometimes it's
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: hard to see exactly what's happening with an offensive lineman
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: unless it's going really bad. I feel like sometimes I
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: didn't feel like, hey, that one was on Markell.
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: We'll see.
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: We've got to watch the tape, but I thought he
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: battled and went in there and played his butt off.
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: I know he was coming off the field every time,
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: just having given it his all. He was ready to play,
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: and you love that about him. We'll have to look
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: at the tape, but I think he battled and played
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: his butt off. Some Eagles offensive numbers from Sunday to
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: put in perspective. 0 for 12 on third down, 12
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: first downs compared to 24 for the Rams, 172 total
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: night yards compared to 415 for the Rams. The offense,
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: as I mentioned, has been disjointed and lacks synchronization. Jalen
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: Hurts referred to the execution as quote-unquote poor. Jalen Hurts,
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: after the game, said, we're going to forge together. We're
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: going to figure out a way. We're going to grow
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: and we're going to reflect on these things as we've
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: done following any and every game and come together and
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: continue to get better as a team. There wasn't much
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: offensive production in terms of the receiving game. But you
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: have to tip your cap to Darius Cooper, who is
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: a consummate team first guy and a professional, and whenever
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: his number's called, he seems to deliver. He relishes whatever
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: role he's in, whether it's special teams, running down the
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: field as a gunner, kickoff, blocking on the perimeter, or
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: in this case, catching touchdowns. He has three touchdowns on
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: the season and just a handful of catches, and but
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: the catches that he makes, it really showcases his body control.
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: And on that first one, it looked like he was
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: trying to play defense there a little bit. He ends
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: up reeling it in, but that was, that would have
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: been a heads up play had he batted it down,
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: but he ends up in position to make the grab.
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: And it was kind of a circus catch, but he
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: stepped up for this team. Talk about the game winner
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: in Tennessee. And he stepped up again today. And it
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: helped give the Eagles enough of a cushion there that
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: it looked like they were going to be able to
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: pull off a mild upset given the lack of bodies
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: and star power that they were without. So I think
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: Darius Cooper deserves a mention here. Not a ton from
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: Dontavion Wicks in this game, but Makai Lemon also did
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: some good things. The Eagles, when they've used him as
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: a traditional wide receiver, running routes in the intermediate level,
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: which is really where He's.
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: At his best.
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: He looks like a player that is able to help
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: the team in the immediacy and not a player who's swimming.
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: All of a sudden, the whole perspective changes when you're using.
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: Him as envisioned.
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: And so try to do more of that because I
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: think as you do that, you add another piece to
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: the offense, another area of the field that teams have
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: to respect and account for while building the confidence of
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: a young player, getting the ball into his hands, and
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: allowing him to do what he does and not maybe
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: overthinking some things.
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: And I think it's, if you're looking for a silver.
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: Lining to not having Devontae Smith out there, it's that
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: it allows, it almost forces Jalen Hurts to develop that
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: chemistry with Makai Lemon on the field because he's your
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: second best receiving option without Dallas Cotter, without Devontae Smith.
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: Dontavian Wicks would be ahead of him there. So I
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: thought he did some good things as well. But we
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: talked about the penalties. You've got to clean up the
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: penalties when you're a team that's struggling to generate momentum.
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: As an offense.
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: You're not able to pick up the tab for the defense,
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: who I think has been on the field way too long,
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: being asked to do way too much. It almost feels
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: like what I was saying last season. You've got to
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: play clean football, cleaner football. I mentioned 20 penalties combined
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: from Monday night against the Bears to now is not
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: really– the hallmark hasn't been the hallmark of a Nick
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: Sirianni led team. And so you got to get back
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: to the basics and make sure that you're doing your,
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: your part to not hurt the team. And some of
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: these penalties are kind of needless. And since some of
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: the ones that, that have been called have been a
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: little ticky tack, if we're being honest, but I also
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: thought it went the other way as well. For example,
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: I don't think that that Trent McDuffie pass interference call
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: and Dontavion Wicks was truly pass interference because The Eagles
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: also got away with one on the Britton Covey 41-yard
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: punt return, at least it appeared to be, a block
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: in the back from Keely Ringo. Keely Ringo, by the way,
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: I thought did a really nice job on special teams.
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: He had the penalty on Monday night, and he did
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: have another penalty, but he made a really nice open
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: field tackle early in the game as a gunner. He
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: got down the field to down the ball, and I
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: thought just overall he brings a lot of tenacity, brings
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: a lot of juice to the coverage units.
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: And what you.
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: Also saw with Darius Cooper taking on a larger role
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: on offense, filling in at Gunner was Mack McWilliams. And
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: Mack McWilliams, as I mentioned last season when he had
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: to do it in Tampa, it didn't work out for
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: him too well. I think he lacks the play strength
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: to do it. He kind of gets bullied a little
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: bit by... the vice guys and they drive them. They
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: drive them backwards. They drive them into the ground, into
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: the sideline. And it's not that, that job, that role,
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: that job. And I talk a lot about this because
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: I think it's a really challenging role that gets overlooked.
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: You got to be physical.
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: You got to have good, quick, active hands and your
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: feet can't stop moving, but you got to know how to,
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: to leverage, to use leverage to your advantage and get
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: down the field in a hurry and But you have
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: to also have a physicality, a nature to you where,
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: I mean, a lot of times you're taking on two
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: vice guys. So to be able to split that, Mack
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: McWilliams is a smaller guy. Keely Ringo, Darius Cooper, they're
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: bigger and stronger. Sidney Brown thrived in that role. Josh
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: Jobe in years past thrived in that role for the
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: Eagles as well. So just something I noted, but I
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: thought it was a really good day for the special teams.
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: Braden Mann, Got some good punts. Jake Elliott hit a
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: 29 and a 56-yard field goal. Britton Covey had three
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: punt returns for 59 yards. That 41-yarder really set them
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: up in an optimal spot. Three plays later, Darius Cooper
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: scores that touchdown, the 10-yarder. So there was positives to
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: take away from this game. And I would also say
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: that let's look at the two new pieces starting on
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: defense in this game. I thought Jeremiah Trotter Jr.
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: Played well.
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: 15 tackles. He was very instinctive. He was reading and
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: diagnosing as advertised. And I don't think that they really
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: were able to exploit him in the way that I
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: thought that Matthew Stafford and Sean Mannion would go after him.
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: So that was encouraging. And I've never once questioned the
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: fact whether or not Trotter Jr.
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: Can play. In fact, I've been an advocate for him.
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: I talked about him in training camp the last two years,
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: and when he has stepped in, he's done a tremendous job.
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: But you never know, going against a team like this,
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: your first meaningful defensive action of the year, they're really
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: good with the deception piece, and I thought that they
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: may try to pick on the new guy. But Trotter Jr.,
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: I thought, had a pretty strong game.
• 25:25
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• 25:29
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• 26:23
  Speaker 3: and up.
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: Michael Carter, the second, had some really good moments, I thought.
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: And again, this is the first time I watch this game.
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: I go back and watch it two or three times
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: to have a more comprehensive assessment. But just off first watch,
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: I think he brings more to the safety position than
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: Marcus Epps. Wouldn't surprise me if he put his stamp
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: on that and is able to hold him off. But.
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: He was rangy.
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: You could see his coverage ability and his ability to
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: transition and play in space. He's not the biggest guy
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: in the world, but I thought he did a nice
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: job wrapping up as a tackler as well. Made a
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: really nice pass breakup on a third down in the
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: first half, I believe. And that shows you his click
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: and close ability. Smart player, sees the field well. He
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: just needs reps to really grow into that role because
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: he hasn't had a lot of experience doing that. But
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: I go back to what I said in training camp.
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: I thought that he had a better training camp. But
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: what Marcus Epps gives you or gave you that Michael
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: Carter didn't is that he's very experienced in this defense
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: and playing safety at this level. So he knows where
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: to be. He knows what the assignments are. He is
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: adept at communicating. Now, that doesn't do a world of
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: good if you struggle to get to where you need
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: to be and you're not wrapping up and doing the
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: fundamental things that have helped give him a really lengthy
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: career in the NFL as a six-round pick. So I
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: think Michael Carter has done enough just off of this
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: game alone because Vic Van Joe last week said that
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: ideally you want to The goal was always to land
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: on one player, not have to rotate.
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: I would roll with Michael Carter.
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: Again, assuming Marcus Epps makes it back in time for
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: the London game with the groin injury. A tough game
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: for Jonathan Jones, the veteran cornerback who had to come
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: in in the second half when Quinion Mitchell left the
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: game with a knee injury. He was targeted right away.
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: Devontae Adams got a step on him down the field.
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: Matthew Stafford misfired. By the way, Matthew Stafford was off
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: a lot in this game, especially earlier on, and that
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: was an opportunity for the Eagles to really capitalize and
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: build out a larger lead because you just always get
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: the sense when you watch Matthew Stafford that it's not if,
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: but when he eventually catches fire. History proves that. And,
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: you know, there was a play that Puka Nakua should
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: have had a touchdown. I thought Matthew Stafford missed some
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: passes that he usually makes. And that to me, I
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: was like, maybe it's just not the Rams day. But
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: that and then anyway, with Jonathan Jones, he gets the
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: unnecessary roughness penalty on the 98 yard drive that that
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: played a big part in that when they got towards
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: the towards the end zone. Then he also, the biggest
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: play of all that would have ended the game, essentially,
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: he had a would-be interception sort of bounce right off him.
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: Maybe the ball got in there a little quick and
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: he didn't see it the whole way, but I think
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: it clanged off his shoulder pads.
• 29:28
  Speaker 2: At least that's the way it looked from where I was.
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: I would have liked to have asked him about that,
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: some of those plays after the game, but I just
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: didn't see him. I did talk to Michael Carter, asked
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: him about the communication with Drew McCuba and some things
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: like that. I always enjoy talking to Michael, but those
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: are just some of my immediate thoughts. Obviously, for as
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: good as the defense was, I thought a lot of it,
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: some of it, had to do with Matthew Stafford not
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: coming through and making plays that he usually does. And
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: I'm not going to let the defense off the hook
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: in this game because you, at the end of the game,
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: gave up drives of 98 and 75 yards, respectively, that
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: ended in touchdowns. I also don't think it's a fair
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: ask to have them out there for as much as
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: they've been out there and kind of do the heavy
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: lifting as often as they've had to do, aside from
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: the Chicago game. But it is a team, it's a
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: group effort. It takes all phases to make it work,
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: and you can't leak oil late in the game like that,
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: and that's never a good thing. So we'll hear from
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: Vic Fangio, Sean Mannion, and Michael Clay. early this week,
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: but for now, that's going to do it for this
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: episode of DiCecco Daily.
• 30:34
  Speaker 2: I'm Andrew DiCecco. Catch you all on the next one.