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ITB: Taking Overview of Eagles Practice Developments and More · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

0:09
Speaker 1: Hello again everyone. Welcome to another edition of Inside the Birds,
0:13
Speaker 1: the Training Camp Edition. I'm Adam Kaplan. That man in
0:16
Speaker 1: the white shirt is Andrew. To check our beat reporter
0:20
Speaker 1: Andrew five practices in. How are you feeling?
0:24
Speaker 2: I feel great, you know, other than being a little
0:26
Speaker 2: bit tired. It's all par for the course. Football is
0:28
Speaker 2: right around the corner and there's a lot to break down.
0:31
Speaker 1: It's right. So on Tuesday, Andrew, they had their second
0:34
Speaker 1: day in pads. But the big thing was they were
0:36
Speaker 1: actually outdoors this time, as we predicted would be the
0:39
Speaker 1: case when we did our last show, look for them
0:41
Speaker 1: to be inside on Monday. They were. Unfortunately, it is
0:45
Speaker 1: as we've said many times on our show over the years,
0:47
Speaker 1: it's claustrophobic inside the practice facility inside there, and it's tough.
0:53
Speaker 1: It's also tough for the coaches because you have left
0:54
Speaker 1: real estate. But Andrew Tuesday was interesting. Let's get to
0:58
Speaker 1: that injury suition. It's concerning I'm mkay lemon. Now we
1:02
Speaker 1: know it's the hamstring again, Andrew. He's missing a lot
1:05
Speaker 1: of practice time. Not good.
1:07
Speaker 2: Yeah, so he did not participate in team DROs on Monday.
1:10
Speaker 2: He was present and participating in individuals. So something happened
1:14
Speaker 2: between now and then, and we'll have to wait and
1:17
Speaker 2: see what goes on. Apparently it's not expected to be
1:20
Speaker 2: a long term issue, but it is something that has
1:22
Speaker 2: crept back up again, and so when you miss the
1:25
Speaker 2: spring with it, you're missing now valuable I mean, it's
1:28
Speaker 2: still a practice, but it is valuable time. When you're
1:30
Speaker 2: a rookie, every practice is valuable. So we'll see. I
1:34
Speaker 2: don't know that that's something that you want to rush
1:35
Speaker 2: him back to because the goal here is to get
1:38
Speaker 2: him to Week one.
1:40
Speaker 1: Look, metal reps are important. On field is way more important,
1:43
Speaker 1: but you also cannot have a setback. The Eagles depth
1:47
Speaker 1: at receiver is interesting, Andrew As we will start there
1:50
Speaker 1: at receiver and start an offense for the show. Then
1:52
Speaker 1: we'll with some defensive notes. But Dontavian wicks to me,
1:56
Speaker 1: every time I'm there, everything i've heard, this guy is
1:59
Speaker 1: standing out. What have you seen from him so far?
2:01
Speaker 2: Yeah, he is, and it seems like he's building a
2:04
Speaker 2: rapport with Jalen Hurts, and it helps when you're the
2:07
Speaker 2: last of the big three standing right. But he does
2:11
Speaker 2: have the frame that he can use his body to
2:14
Speaker 2: shield defensive backs. He plays with great confidence. I don't
2:17
Speaker 2: know if you caught that today or on a Tuesday.
2:21
Speaker 2: I forget which day it is now when you get
2:23
Speaker 2: into training camp. But there was a little testiness going
2:26
Speaker 2: on there with some of the defensive guys and donte
2:29
Speaker 2: Van Wicks. He was feeling it a little bit, just
2:31
Speaker 2: some chatter between the two, Drew mccouba Quenya Mitchell talking
2:36
Speaker 2: to him a little bit. But he's been making plays, man,
2:39
Speaker 2: and I think that when you start to trend in
2:42
Speaker 2: a positive direction and build that momentum, you start to
2:44
Speaker 2: feel yourself a little bit. But he has delivered and
2:47
Speaker 2: made plays in each practice. Yeah.
2:49
Speaker 1: The fact that there was a great timing route hurts.
2:52
Speaker 1: I know was a very big struggle for the passing
2:54
Speaker 1: game on Tuesday, to say the least, But there's a
2:57
Speaker 1: tremendous timing round Hurts got it. This kind of stuff
2:59
Speaker 1: I look for learn from coaches over the years is
3:02
Speaker 1: that as a quarterback, don't don't worry about the court
3:08
Speaker 1: of the receiver winning the route. You get it to
3:09
Speaker 1: him and let him win the route. It's up to
3:11
Speaker 1: him to win it. And he had a great out route.
3:14
Speaker 1: It was it was a five step drop. That ball
3:16
Speaker 1: was out on time, right in Wicks's hands. He landed
3:19
Speaker 1: there right before he got there, and he reached out
3:22
Speaker 1: and pulled it in. That's what you want to see.
3:24
Speaker 1: He's he's look. I know he doesn't run all that well.
3:26
Speaker 1: We talked about that, but the guy has an ability
3:29
Speaker 1: to get open and now you can get physical. Remember
3:31
Speaker 1: this is not ota is anymore. You're allowed to you're
3:33
Speaker 1: allowed to push the guy. That'd be physical, and I
3:36
Speaker 1: thought that was pretty good.
3:37
Speaker 2: I think he can get physical, and I'm curious to
3:40
Speaker 2: see if he's able to to use that a little bit,
3:43
Speaker 2: use his size to his advantage. But you mentioned something
3:46
Speaker 2: right there. I know the exact play that you're talking about.
3:47
Speaker 2: I can visualize in my mind. It's all about timing
3:50
Speaker 2: and that that comes through reps. And that's what I've
3:53
Speaker 2: seen through now five practices. They're they're really starting to
3:56
Speaker 2: build on that.
3:57
Speaker 1: So don Tavin Wicks is official side at the combine
4:01
Speaker 1: six one and three as two six good arm length
4:05
Speaker 1: for receiver thirty two and three. A's that is look there,
4:09
Speaker 1: that's actually might be long than Will Campbell, the left
4:11
Speaker 1: tackle for the Patriots. Hey, it is what it is.
4:15
Speaker 1: Wingspan seventy nine and let me see seventy nine and
4:20
Speaker 1: just double check this. Seventy nine and seven eights, which
4:22
Speaker 1: is pretty good. Hand size ten. You look, that is
4:26
Speaker 1: really good. Hand sized ten is good. So he's got
4:29
Speaker 1: appropriate size for that position. Not a speedstert run after
4:33
Speaker 1: the catch guy. That's what this West Coast offense is for. Andrew.
4:36
Speaker 1: Let let's get let's let's go deeper at this receiver position.
4:40
Speaker 1: Darius Cooper, who was a great story of development last
4:43
Speaker 1: year as an undirected free agent wearing number eighty, doing
4:47
Speaker 1: it again making catches. What are your thoughts on him
4:50
Speaker 1: so far through five practices.
4:51
Speaker 2: Yeah, Darius Cooper shows up every day and seemingly makes
4:54
Speaker 2: a play a day, and he made a really nice
4:56
Speaker 2: catch in the end zone. It was a play that
4:58
Speaker 2: Andy Dalton would have problem been sacked had a bit
5:01
Speaker 2: of game. Zach baughd got into the backfield there, but
5:03
Speaker 2: they let the play go off and he fired one
5:05
Speaker 2: into the back left corner of the end zone. Darius
5:08
Speaker 2: Cooper one hand stabs it at him and then he
5:11
Speaker 2: gets both feet down. Although I think at the end
5:14
Speaker 2: of the day it was ruled incomplete, but it showcases
5:17
Speaker 2: a little bit of the athleticism that he has that
5:19
Speaker 2: he probably doesn't get enough credit for. But this is
5:22
Speaker 2: someone who shows up every day with a business like
5:25
Speaker 2: mindset and he sort of just attacks it and he
5:29
Speaker 2: remains consistent in his processes, if that makes sense. He
5:33
Speaker 2: doesn't necessarily look at the numbers or anything like that,
5:36
Speaker 2: just go out there and execute and make a play.
5:40
Speaker 1: So the guy that really flashed to me and hearing
5:42
Speaker 1: your daily to check or report, I think Monday it
5:46
Speaker 1: kind of tipped me off to it is number nineteen,
5:49
Speaker 1: former second round pick for the Jets, Elijah Moore playing
5:52
Speaker 1: mostly inside that I saw. Dude, man, he flashed to me,
5:56
Speaker 1: what have you seen from Elijah Moore?
5:59
Speaker 2: This is another guy, Adam that if you're looking at
6:01
Speaker 2: and you're trying to rank your top five receivers through
6:03
Speaker 2: a training camp, he's one of them. And another player
6:06
Speaker 2: who's been very consistent catching the football. He's not a burner,
6:10
Speaker 2: but he is really good at using his foot quickness
6:13
Speaker 2: and then suddenness to separate at the top of routes
6:16
Speaker 2: in the short to intermediate level. He's caught everything that
6:19
Speaker 2: Jalen Hurts has thrown to him and I mean, you
6:22
Speaker 2: could see the ability, he can see the experience when
6:24
Speaker 2: you watch him run routes. I just don't know right
6:27
Speaker 2: now where there would be a spot for him. But
6:29
Speaker 2: if you're talking about a player who has produced and
6:31
Speaker 2: done everything that's been asked of him to this point,
6:34
Speaker 2: that's allowjah More. I am curious to see if they
6:38
Speaker 2: choose to deploy him as a punp returner maybe in
6:40
Speaker 2: the preseason, and see if he can establish some sort
6:43
Speaker 2: of demonstrated value there.
6:45
Speaker 1: Well, let's look at this. So you talked about this
6:47
Speaker 1: is an interesting subject here, So here's what we do know.
6:50
Speaker 1: Absolute locks, Wis Smith, Lemon are absolutely on the team.
6:55
Speaker 1: Hally Brown, because he's owed five million, most likely will
6:57
Speaker 1: be in the team. It's unlike Halle'll walk away from
6:59
Speaker 1: five million. Five guaranteed. That's four. We talk about Cooper's
7:03
Speaker 1: five and Lodgitmore would be six. We have not talked
7:06
Speaker 1: about really at all, because he haven't seen much from
7:09
Speaker 1: him that would you'd be positive about. At least he's healthy,
7:11
Speaker 1: though it's Johnny Wilson of eighty nine. Anything you've seen
7:14
Speaker 1: from him so far.
7:16
Speaker 2: No, And there's there's kind of a redundancy there between
7:19
Speaker 2: Darius Cooper and Johnny Wilson, maybe not in terms of size,
7:22
Speaker 2: but in terms of skill set, some of the dirty
7:25
Speaker 2: work attributes that they're able to do. And you know,
7:29
Speaker 2: I don't know if you need both of them. And
7:31
Speaker 2: right now Darius Cooper will be ahead of Johnny Wilson.
7:34
Speaker 2: But apart from that, I just haven't seen anything other
7:37
Speaker 2: than a handful of inbreaking receptions from maybe and Andy Dalton.
7:41
Speaker 2: His first team reps seem to have dwindled. Darius Cooper
7:45
Speaker 2: seems to have leaped him in the pecking order. So
7:48
Speaker 2: Johnny Wilson has a little bit of a little bit
7:51
Speaker 2: of a hill to climb here, it would appear.
7:55
Speaker 1: Yeah, a Britain covey, by the way, continues to make
7:57
Speaker 1: plays in flat I mean that's really what his call
8:00
Speaker 1: card is as a slot receiver.
8:01
Speaker 2: He left practice early on Tuesday.
8:04
Speaker 1: By the way, because I saw it. Well, it's funny,
8:06
Speaker 1: because I saw it, it happened. I don't know what
8:09
Speaker 1: exactly happened, but I saw him make some catches. Then
8:12
Speaker 1: I didn't see him again. But he has made some
8:14
Speaker 1: He's been very active, very active, and obviously his best
8:18
Speaker 1: chance is to be a pump returner. But yeah, Hollywood Brown,
8:22
Speaker 1: before we move on to the other facets of this offense,
8:24
Speaker 1: what have you seen from him through five practices?
8:27
Speaker 2: Not a lot, not a lot, just short completions. But
8:31
Speaker 2: even today, there was a couple of times where Jalen
8:34
Speaker 2: tried to get it to him down the field. There
8:37
Speaker 2: was one that it looked like he should have caught.
8:38
Speaker 2: There was another one that was just he wasn't able
8:41
Speaker 2: to separate from coverage. I don't know. I haven't seen
8:44
Speaker 2: a ton from him right now, Adam, I've seen more,
8:46
Speaker 2: you know, if we're talking about Darius Cooper and Elijah Moore,
8:50
Speaker 2: Don Tavian Wicks and Devonte Smith more so than I
8:53
Speaker 2: have from Hollywood Brown. That's not to say that I
8:55
Speaker 2: mean that's he could go out tomorrow and light it up.
8:59
Speaker 2: We're still really early into this, but he would be
9:02
Speaker 2: out of those five, he would probably be number five.
9:05
Speaker 1: So let's get to the other part of the past
9:07
Speaker 1: target group. That's the tight end position. People want to
9:10
Speaker 1: know about Eli Stowers Andrew to me and just being
9:14
Speaker 1: from at practice and hearing about what's been going on,
9:17
Speaker 1: Stowers has got a long way to go. The thing
9:19
Speaker 1: to me is that he looks like a typical guy.
9:22
Speaker 1: He used to be a quarterback. He needs to fill
9:24
Speaker 1: out m h. And to me, that's going to be
9:26
Speaker 1: his biggest challenge at this level. We said it when
9:29
Speaker 1: it was drafted. He's going to have to learn how
9:30
Speaker 1: to block at this level. The patience needs to be
9:33
Speaker 1: taken into account here. Guys have been a tight end
9:36
Speaker 1: very long. What have you seen from him through five?
9:38
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, that's a fair assessment. It looks like it's
9:41
Speaker 2: going to take some time for him to develop and
9:43
Speaker 2: maybe refine certain areas of his game, fill out his frame.
9:46
Speaker 2: It's not a cause for concern, Johnny Munt. For those wondering,
9:49
Speaker 2: is is clearly you know the you know, the immediate
9:52
Speaker 2: backup to Dallas Goddard and and then there's a little
9:55
Speaker 2: bit of a drop off there. Eli Stowers hasn't gotten
9:57
Speaker 2: a ton of reps in team period, but what he
10:01
Speaker 2: has been targeted on occasion. But it's very apparent that
10:05
Speaker 2: he's probably gonna it's gonna be a gradual process here.
10:08
Speaker 2: And that's kind of what we'd outlined when he was drafted.
10:11
Speaker 2: We didn't expect him to be dropped into the deep
10:13
Speaker 2: end and all of a sudden he's the number two
10:15
Speaker 2: tight end to start the season and carving out a
10:19
Speaker 2: pretty prominent role on offense. That just didn't seem to
10:21
Speaker 2: be the case. It just seemed to be a player
10:23
Speaker 2: that they were looking at with an eye towards the
10:25
Speaker 2: future that could have a role in some capacity as
10:29
Speaker 2: a rookie.
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Speaker 1: So I know this guy is a major long shot.
13:58
Speaker 1: As we move on here, uh just kind of taking
14:02
Speaker 1: a look at what we've heard, what we've seen from
14:04
Speaker 1: their offense. This guy's a major long shot. But Vegles
14:07
Speaker 1: are in a position where a guy could come out
14:09
Speaker 1: of nowhere and make the team. A Chan Djoku who's
14:12
Speaker 1: an athlete. He's he's got really good athleticism. Now here's
14:17
Speaker 1: a question. Do we know of him taking any reps
14:20
Speaker 1: at guards or just been tackled?
14:22
Speaker 2: And in the spring he did.
14:24
Speaker 1: Okay, oh in spring, okay, you have made In the spring.
14:27
Speaker 2: He did. But he's played left and right tackle pretty consistently.
14:31
Speaker 2: He's been with the second unit and there's been times
14:33
Speaker 2: where he's wet with the threes. But that experience, when
14:36
Speaker 2: you talk about the youth of that reserve group of
14:39
Speaker 2: offensive linemen, there's not a ton of experience you can
14:42
Speaker 2: hang your hat on aside from guard Michael Jordan Fred Johnson.
14:47
Speaker 2: That's why someone like John Adjukuu is kind of flying
14:49
Speaker 2: under the radar. But I've been writing his name down.
14:53
Speaker 2: I find myself doing so whenever I'm taking stock of
14:56
Speaker 2: the second group of offensive linemen. He has some pretty
14:59
Speaker 2: good reps that he's put on tape there, so we'll
15:02
Speaker 2: see what he's able to do in the preseason. But
15:04
Speaker 2: he is absolutely someone that I have my eye on.
15:07
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's got good length, you know, not the not
15:11
Speaker 1: the biggest guy in terms of bulk for a tackle,
15:13
Speaker 1: but he was on and off the Titans active roster
15:17
Speaker 1: for three years and Eagles obviously liked him they brought
15:20
Speaker 1: him in. So I'll tell you what, Andrew I would.
15:23
Speaker 1: I'm glad we're not doing our early fifty three because
15:25
Speaker 1: I would have a hard time figuring out who the
15:27
Speaker 1: backups are going to be. We know, because again we
15:29
Speaker 1: know Marco Bell's not going to well, he's going to
15:31
Speaker 1: be on the team. We know Fred Johnson's not going anywhere,
15:33
Speaker 1: right But after that, man, it's to me, where are
15:37
Speaker 1: you at with this, Drew Kendall, heh.
15:39
Speaker 2: Got you got Drew Kendall. And so that's that's three there.
15:42
Speaker 2: I would I would probably put John A. Djubu on
15:44
Speaker 2: there right now.
15:46
Speaker 1: Wow.
15:47
Speaker 2: And then how many would that give? Would what would
15:50
Speaker 2: that give us? In fact, if I had to do
15:52
Speaker 2: with fifty three right now, I would have him on
15:54
Speaker 2: it and it would probably be a surprise to a
15:57
Speaker 2: lot of people reading it. But I I I'm intrigued,
16:01
Speaker 2: and it seems like the Eagles are mildly intrigued at
16:04
Speaker 2: this stage of training camp.
16:06
Speaker 1: But after that, it's hard to make the case for anybody.
16:09
Speaker 1: And again, only five practices, so we need we need
16:12
Speaker 1: a couple weeks plus the preseason. But sure we need
16:15
Speaker 1: to see more running back. I mean when I see
16:19
Speaker 1: Tank Bigsby, I'm just like wow, he I didn't see it. Look,
16:25
Speaker 1: he was always explosive, but Andrew the level that he's
16:29
Speaker 1: taken the two here, I've just shake him my head
16:31
Speaker 1: in tuesdays practice like, holy smokes, what are your thoughts
16:33
Speaker 1: on him? Yeah?
16:34
Speaker 2: I actually I wrote a story about him on Inside
16:36
Speaker 2: the Birds dot com. He only he only knows one speed.
16:39
Speaker 2: He's got a little ricky Bobby and him from Talladega Knights.
16:42
Speaker 2: He wants to go fast. Wherever he's going, he's gonna
16:45
Speaker 2: go one hundred miles an hour. He brings a lot
16:47
Speaker 2: of energy to practice and uh, you know, every time
16:51
Speaker 2: he gets the ball, he has the ability to hit
16:54
Speaker 2: the home run. You never quite know, you know that
16:56
Speaker 2: he's not going to take a loss. He refuses to
16:58
Speaker 2: do that. He'll find a but he's just I think
17:02
Speaker 2: one of the more fascinating players to watch. Whenever he
17:04
Speaker 2: has the ball in his hands. It's almost much must
17:07
Speaker 2: see uh must see reps when you're out there.
17:10
Speaker 1: Yeah, I would agree. So, yeah, he's clear the two
17:14
Speaker 1: Shipley is is ahead of the clearly. The three for now,
17:17
Speaker 1: we'll see if Pierce and Elati Mitchell could could push them.
17:21
Speaker 1: Then finally, Andrew the quarterback situation with McKeon, Dalton col
17:24
Speaker 1: Payton also the four. For now, we'll see if he
17:26
Speaker 1: could push for roster spot. Overall, what are your thoughts
17:29
Speaker 1: of this quarterback group before we move to defense.
17:32
Speaker 2: Yeah, I thought that on Tuesday, Tanner McKee probably had
17:36
Speaker 2: his best practice of the summer. And you know, you
17:39
Speaker 2: take that with a grain of salt, because he hasn't
17:41
Speaker 2: exactly had uh an outstanding start to his training camp,
17:46
Speaker 2: but he made some nice throws, a couple of Samori
17:49
Speaker 2: Toure on money downs, and I thought that there were
17:53
Speaker 2: some positive moments. He was the number two on Tuesday.
17:56
Speaker 2: They're splitting those second team reps, continuing to with Andy
18:00
Speaker 2: Elton and Channterer McKee. But I thought on Monday Andy
18:02
Speaker 2: Dalton had a really strong practice, delivering the football with
18:06
Speaker 2: touch and accuracy he was getting. He was very decisive
18:10
Speaker 2: with where he was going and some good anticipatory throws there.
18:14
Speaker 2: So that's what you like to see from my veteran
18:16
Speaker 2: like that.
18:17
Speaker 1: All right, all right, now we're going to move to defense,
18:22
Speaker 1: so Andrew to me without John and Grenard, you know,
18:25
Speaker 1: it's more opportunity for Nolan Smith, Alex hn Arnold Ebichhetty
18:29
Speaker 1: and but the sleeper for me. And I thought there
18:32
Speaker 1: was no way before training camp started, but we didn't
18:34
Speaker 1: know about Grenard's injury, although Eagles say he absolutely be
18:38
Speaker 1: ready for week one. Is number fifty seven AJ Panessa.
18:42
Speaker 1: He shows up a lot. He's in on a lot
18:47
Speaker 1: of bass downs for the run, which is what we expected. Yep,
18:51
Speaker 1: I thought no way he makes but Andrew, I might
18:53
Speaker 1: have to change my mind. What are your thoughts on
18:55
Speaker 1: this guy?
18:56
Speaker 2: Not only do I I believe that that he can
18:59
Speaker 2: hang on and make the roster. At him, it looks
19:01
Speaker 2: like he's carving out a role. And this just kind
19:04
Speaker 2: of speaks to the diligence that I watched practice, you know,
19:08
Speaker 2: and before when I'm watching the kick coverage, I noticed
19:11
Speaker 2: that he was on the first unit. Players that are
19:13
Speaker 2: on that unit like Healey, Ringo and will Shipley and Trotter, Junior, Cameron, lot,
19:20
Speaker 2: a lot of the mainstays. He he was on it,
19:23
Speaker 2: and I think Vic Vanjo actually mentioned him in a
19:26
Speaker 2: recent press conference. Seems like they're a little they're a
19:29
Speaker 2: little intrigued with aj Panessa, and I think that experience
19:32
Speaker 2: that he brings, he has a different skill set relative
19:35
Speaker 2: to others in the room. So I think as a
19:38
Speaker 2: complimentary piece that that's someone that makes a lot of sense,
19:42
Speaker 2: and I'm curious to see how they choose to use him.
19:44
Speaker 1: I cannot believe it. Listen to Waity, there's no way right.
19:48
Speaker 2: If he's too eighty. He wears it extremely well than
19:51
Speaker 2: anyone I've ever seen, Folks.
19:53
Speaker 1: He is angular he's just over sixty five. He looks
19:56
Speaker 1: about two forty. I know he's more than that as
19:59
Speaker 1: he Andrew just said. I mean he wears it well.
20:00
Speaker 1: But man, that's a that was a really smart signing.
20:03
Speaker 1: You know that he failed the physical of the Browns,
20:06
Speaker 1: but that has not been a problem here. By the way,
20:08
Speaker 1: he signed a one year deal in June worth one
20:11
Speaker 1: point four million. They guaranteed around half of it, just
20:15
Speaker 1: under seven hundred thousand. When you really look at it,
20:20
Speaker 1: that's a cheap contract. Guys. His starting experience, he's tremendous
20:24
Speaker 1: against the run. That's that's a big reason why he
20:25
Speaker 1: was the second round pick. Has improved as a pass rusher,
20:28
Speaker 1: so that that's a good one. Uh. Let's oh one thing.
20:33
Speaker 1: I've been watching Ty Robinson. We know he's not gonna
20:36
Speaker 1: bet a Byron Young for the first guy off the bet.
20:37
Speaker 1: There's no chance of that. But I'm trying to figure
20:40
Speaker 1: out what he needs to do. What are we not
20:42
Speaker 1: seeing from him? What does he need to do here?
20:44
Speaker 2: I don't know if it's explosive explosiveness off off the
20:48
Speaker 2: snap there at him, or if it's play strength. It
20:52
Speaker 2: looks like he added some muscle I'm just not seeing
20:55
Speaker 2: a lot of juice from him. And you look at
20:58
Speaker 2: how Byron Young play and how some of these other
21:01
Speaker 2: players that they have that are a little bit higher
21:03
Speaker 2: in the pecking order, how they play, and he's really
21:07
Speaker 2: not able to measure up at this time. But that's
21:10
Speaker 2: what the summer's for, that's what preseason's for, and we'll
21:14
Speaker 2: get a better understanding of where ty Robinson is in
21:17
Speaker 2: his development. But right now, I haven't seen much of
21:19
Speaker 2: anything through five practices.
21:22
Speaker 1: All right, let's get through the edge group, and you know,
21:25
Speaker 1: Hunt obviously continues to show up. We've talked about him
21:27
Speaker 1: a lot. Gernard out with the pectoral strain, Arnold Abaketty,
21:33
Speaker 1: we haven't talked a lot about. He's wearing number seventeen
21:35
Speaker 1: at Harold Carmichael's number. By the way, Yeah, what about
21:38
Speaker 1: Arnold Abacketty out of Temple.
21:41
Speaker 2: The last three practices, I didn't notice something to start
21:44
Speaker 2: training camp, But the last three practices he's made a play,
21:49
Speaker 2: whether it's against the run, whether it's stripping the football
21:51
Speaker 2: away from Eli Stours when he's dropping in the coverage,
21:54
Speaker 2: which was Monday, when inside the practice bubble, he's uh,
21:58
Speaker 2: he made a nice play against the run on a
22:00
Speaker 2: tank Bigsby play to corral him there. He seems like
22:04
Speaker 2: a really reactionary type of player, pretty fluid in space
22:08
Speaker 2: and as a fourth edge rusher. I mean, I don't
22:13
Speaker 2: know where you're going to find a better one around
22:15
Speaker 2: the NFL. He's played a lot of football, and he's young,
22:18
Speaker 2: and he does have pedigree.
22:20
Speaker 1: Yeah, he was at he was at Temple for nearly
22:23
Speaker 1: four years and transferred to Penn State for his final year.
22:27
Speaker 1: He's a guy that he knew the Eagles, they knew him,
22:29
Speaker 1: and this is kind of one of the things. There's
22:31
Speaker 1: a kind of a marriage here because both ends wanted
22:34
Speaker 1: to work with each other and Eagles guaranteed all the
22:37
Speaker 1: cash four point three millions. So he's going to have
22:39
Speaker 1: a role. But as we said, he'll dress, but I
22:43
Speaker 1: don't know how many snaps he's actually going to get
22:45
Speaker 1: because Vic Fangio, unless he changes his mind, only likes
22:49
Speaker 1: to play three edges, So we'll have to see there. Yeah,
22:52
Speaker 1: let's get Let's get to the back end because this
22:55
Speaker 1: is where he gets interesting. Watching Riequallen is just something else.
23:00
Speaker 1: Six foot for one tenth of an inch and Quinnon obviously,
23:05
Speaker 1: so they're set there. But a guy you got to know,
23:07
Speaker 1: you did the rookie die with him Number twenty two,
23:09
Speaker 1: Mac McWilliams. What do you see for macmickwilliams through these
23:13
Speaker 1: five practices.
23:14
Speaker 2: Yeah, he made a couple of plays in coverage on
23:17
Speaker 2: Eli Stowers on pretty much consecutive. I mean they were
23:20
Speaker 2: like identical plays, and they were on back to back plays.
23:25
Speaker 2: But I think he's done a nice job of really
23:29
Speaker 2: trusting his technique and he seems to be more comfortable
23:32
Speaker 2: within the system taking a little bit more chances. I
23:35
Speaker 2: think he's playing with a lot more confidence, and he
23:37
Speaker 2: has the quickness and he does have the versatility. It's
23:40
Speaker 2: a matter of would it make sense to keep another
23:43
Speaker 2: nickelback as a sixth corner? And I know we're getting
23:46
Speaker 2: in the weeds, but you have four corners. You already
23:50
Speaker 2: have Jonathan Jones, you have Michael Carter who can do
23:52
Speaker 2: it Cooper Degen, of course, do you need someone who
23:57
Speaker 2: do you need another one or do you wouldn't make
23:59
Speaker 2: more sense than go with a player who can play outside,
24:02
Speaker 2: like maybe a Jacoreyan Bennett or or someone else. So
24:05
Speaker 2: it's just hard for me right now to envision how
24:07
Speaker 2: he fits into the roster equation. But he's shone up
24:11
Speaker 2: a little bit.
24:12
Speaker 1: Yeah. One thing I would ad Aby Thomas, the former
24:14
Speaker 1: forty nine ers draft pick. He actually made a play
24:18
Speaker 1: on a bomb. He got his hand in there. He
24:20
Speaker 1: was actually a third rounder and yet another former forty
24:22
Speaker 1: nine ers third round pick on the Eagles. Yeah, out
24:25
Speaker 1: of Michigan. Been hurt a lot, But I spoke to
24:28
Speaker 1: someone of the forty nine ers that it was never
24:29
Speaker 1: about talent with him, it's just staying on the field.
24:31
Speaker 1: He had problems staying healthy. Yeah, that behind the two stars,
24:38
Speaker 1: we know Jones is a three. The fourth job between Bennett,
24:42
Speaker 1: Mac McWilliams Ringo, Well, we know ring will be on
24:44
Speaker 1: the team because he's an elite special teams player. Jacoreyan
24:48
Speaker 1: Bennett Man.
24:49
Speaker 2: They depends on what you're looking for, right, I mean
24:51
Speaker 2: Jacoreyan Bennett is a perimeter corner and he can do
24:54
Speaker 2: that for you if you're looking for versatility, Yeah, if
24:57
Speaker 2: you're looking for versatility maybe, like Mac, depends on what
25:00
Speaker 2: they feel their light is at when they are making
25:03
Speaker 2: those decisions.
25:04
Speaker 1: Plus, they have so many nickels. I saw Michael Carter
25:06
Speaker 1: playing nickel Obviously, coop. Mac McWilliams could do it. Carter
25:10
Speaker 1: can do it. Jon Jones could do what he has
25:13
Speaker 1: in the past. He could do it if you need to. Now,
25:15
Speaker 1: let's get to the safety position. Andrew opposite your namesake, Andrew,
25:21
Speaker 1: Drew mccuba. Would you say right now it's Marcus Apps
25:25
Speaker 1: still with the ones pretty much is a leader?
25:29
Speaker 2: Okay, Yes, that's remained unchanged to this point. I thought
25:33
Speaker 2: on Tuesday it looked like Michael Carter. I think Michael
25:37
Speaker 2: Carter actually opened the day in the Nickel package at
25:40
Speaker 2: safety opposite Drew mccuoba. But really, by and large, it's
25:44
Speaker 2: been Marcus SEPs and I think he is the odds
25:48
Speaker 2: on favorite. He has the inside track to win that job.
25:51
Speaker 2: But Michael Carter, to me, is a really interesting player.
25:54
Speaker 2: And I would add because you mentioned him, Drew mccuba
25:57
Speaker 2: has has gotten off to a nice start in your
26:00
Speaker 2: to five practices. In you could see the fluidity, his range,
26:04
Speaker 2: his ability to play with great anticipation. I think he's
26:08
Speaker 2: really good at closing in on the football and it
26:11
Speaker 2: seems like he's just becoming a lot more comfortable in
26:14
Speaker 2: your two.
26:16
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, if he can, boy, it'll really,
26:20
Speaker 1: really help, there's no doubt about it. And a guy
26:22
Speaker 1: that you covered now for free, this is his third
26:25
Speaker 1: year with the team on and off the roster. It's
26:26
Speaker 1: Andre Sam. Is he still running twos and threes?
26:31
Speaker 2: Twos and threes? Yeah, twos and threes. He noticed the
26:33
Speaker 2: defense well, so I think there's there's a lot of
26:36
Speaker 2: trust there. You're not going to burn a rep with
26:38
Speaker 2: him out there. He's going to be often in the
26:40
Speaker 2: right position, and we'll see what he can do. I
26:42
Speaker 2: think in the preseason he plays pretty hard, he's good
26:45
Speaker 2: on special teams. We'll see what happens. I mean, let's
26:48
Speaker 2: not forget that Cole Wiznski has the hamstring injury and
26:52
Speaker 2: he's been sidelined. So it's giving opportunities to the Maximus
26:56
Speaker 2: Pulleys and Andre Sam's of the world to try and
26:59
Speaker 2: go out there and run with it.
26:59
Speaker 1: It can't roll out a veteran safety signing, though for
27:02
Speaker 1: depth purposes that that that's certainly a possibility now as
27:05
Speaker 1: far as you are, Bernard and the bottom of the
27:08
Speaker 1: roster guys, we're not going to know much folks for
27:11
Speaker 1: a while. But aren't a total project, right, We're on
27:15
Speaker 1: the someone game. Of this years ago, and it's like
27:19
Speaker 1: the best thing for guys, really really raw. He goes,
27:22
Speaker 1: we're on the hell how to play football? We won't
27:25
Speaker 1: to eventually get to the why when he starts asking why, Okay,
27:28
Speaker 1: I know how to do this now, but why are
27:30
Speaker 1: we doing this? Because it's not innate. He has to
27:32
Speaker 1: learn about American football. But you know, he's a project.
27:36
Speaker 1: Some guys before we get out of Andrew, I'm really
27:38
Speaker 1: looking forward to once we get to the preseason. Deontay
27:41
Speaker 1: lost In the un director free agent out of Bama
27:43
Speaker 1: who had the neat problem but is very talented. Zion Wilson,
27:47
Speaker 1: who's a guy that out of East Carolina who's a
27:51
Speaker 1: very talented player, who's a defensive tackle. I want to
27:54
Speaker 1: see also, I would say Jose Ramirez. We talked about
28:03
Speaker 1: one or two good really college years. Josh ray wayrou
28:07
Speaker 1: another international player we want to take a look at.
28:10
Speaker 1: And then our guy Maximus Pulley, who's got a lot
28:12
Speaker 1: of ability. There's a wonderful opportunity, Andrew, what if you
28:16
Speaker 1: see from him so far? Might as well I ask
28:18
Speaker 1: it before we get out of here.
28:20
Speaker 2: He's around the football a lot. He finds the football
28:23
Speaker 2: kind of reminds me of Quinton Michael when he was
28:25
Speaker 2: an undrafted free agent. You can't help but notice some
28:29
Speaker 2: when he's out there. He does get his hands on
28:31
Speaker 2: the ball a lot, and he seems to be picking
28:34
Speaker 2: things up quickly. So that's really all I have to
28:37
Speaker 2: go off off. He seems to maximize the opportunities that
28:39
Speaker 2: he does get. And Adam. I would add two more
28:41
Speaker 2: players that I'm looking forward to watching in the preseason.
28:44
Speaker 2: Jake Major's offensive lineman. He's a center and can play
28:47
Speaker 2: some guard, and we talked about him earlier John adjuke Wu,
28:51
Speaker 2: and I would also probably add Chance Campbell, the linebacker
28:53
Speaker 2: to that.
28:54
Speaker 1: Yes, yep, yep. His thing is we talked about him
28:58
Speaker 1: in the spring. Is a potential. It's it's extremely difficult
29:02
Speaker 1: to justify keeping five inside backers. You play too, you
29:07
Speaker 1: dressed to you dressed two backups and the third guy
29:09
Speaker 1: one play right. Weon't dress like unless there's injury. It's
29:13
Speaker 1: very hard. Now. Could he be Outsmile Mondon fifth round
29:18
Speaker 1: of last year? It was also tall like Campbell. Kimbell
29:22
Speaker 1: might be a little better of an athlete. Campbell's had
29:24
Speaker 1: a major injury history, but remember uh, their linebackers. Coach
29:29
Speaker 1: was with him in Tennessee. That's a big reason why
29:31
Speaker 1: he's year. So you never you never want to completely
29:34
Speaker 1: rule it out.
29:34
Speaker 2: It's gonna be they They had five linebackers last year
29:37
Speaker 2: once the Kobe Dane was healthy and Mondon was really
29:41
Speaker 2: a special teamer and he didn't factor at all on defense.
29:44
Speaker 2: It's it's not likely. It would seem like it would
29:47
Speaker 2: be an uphill battle, but it certainly cannot be ruled out.
29:50
Speaker 1: The problem that you have though this year it's going
29:52
Speaker 1: to be harder because you got the receiver position where
29:56
Speaker 1: they could go heavy tight end. They got seven of them.
30:00
Speaker 1: There's yeah, well, yeah, I'm sorry they've eight. My bad,
30:04
Speaker 1: but there's some guaranteed money you have to I know
30:06
Speaker 1: they're small things a lot of fans don't care about,
30:08
Speaker 1: but clubs do. There's certain things that matter. Cole Payton
30:12
Speaker 1: is a fourth quarterback. You really don't want to have
30:14
Speaker 1: to keep them. He was drafted, but there's a reason
30:16
Speaker 1: why they did it. AJPINESSI wasn't even in the thought
30:19
Speaker 1: process two months ago. Now he's he's showing they could
30:22
Speaker 1: still play like there. It's a one person said to me,
30:25
Speaker 1: spots forty five to fifty three. Andrew, there's an opportunity here.
30:32
Speaker 2: They're typically fluid.
30:33
Speaker 1: Yeah, yep, we really fluid this year, so we will
30:36
Speaker 1: see what happens. But good stuff. We will talk to
30:40
Speaker 1: everybody again probably Friday morning at six am Eastern. Look
30:44
Speaker 1: for the deli to check oh usually to come out. Now.
30:46
Speaker 1: Andrew's been cracking them out nice and early. We're getting
30:50
Speaker 1: them up immediately, within like ten minutes. We're getting them up.
30:52
Speaker 1: But the Patreon people get them. If you're at level
30:56
Speaker 1: two eleven three, they get a commercial free in first,
30:59
Speaker 1: then a little bit later the public at some Patreon
31:02
Speaker 1: dot com flesh inside the Birds. There's so much more
31:04
Speaker 1: that we could talk about, but overall, Andrew a great
31:07
Speaker 1: job and we'll speak to everyone later this week