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Football at Four: What Are the Eagles Remaining Roster Needs? · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

0:00
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Speaker 1: Resort in Atlantic City. Adam Kaplan from the Inside the
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Speaker 1: Birds podcast is here. Don't forget. And right here for
0:46
Speaker 1: Football at Four, the Eagles play tonight against the Cincinnati Bengals,
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Speaker 1: and you can listen to the game. Merrill Reese and
0:52
Speaker 1: Mike Quick have all the action on 97.3 ESPN. It
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Speaker 1: is the final... preseason tune-up for the Birds. So, you know,
1:01
Speaker 1: Howie usually makes a trade right around this time of
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Speaker 1: the year. Where do the Eagles still have some needs
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Speaker 1: on the roster this game and moving forward? Adam Kaplan
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Speaker 1: is here to talk about that and more on a
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Speaker 1: Friday edition of Football at Four. Adam, what's up, my brother?
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Speaker 2: Yeah, Mike, so as you set it up, that's really
1:23
Speaker 2: the theme of this segment today. As we get closer
1:26
Speaker 2: to the deadline on Sunday to get to the initial
1:28
Speaker 2: 53-man roster, 6 Eastern, then on Monday at 1 p.m.
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Speaker 2: is waiver claims. Within an hour after that, teams could
1:36
Speaker 2: start to develop their practice squad. So lots of transactions, Mike.
1:40
Speaker 2: Almost 1,200 transactions will be had by Monday. Think about that.
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Speaker 2: That's a lot in the National Football League.
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Speaker 1: Yes. So Howie Rosen's going to be obviously combing the market.
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Speaker 1: He's made a lot of trades right around this time
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Speaker 1: of the year. So what are some of the areas
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Speaker 1: that he's going to be possibly looking at?
1:56
Speaker 2: So one pre-training camp need we had hasn't really changed,
2:02
Speaker 2: but I'll explain it. The good thing is, Mike, they
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Speaker 2: discovered Willie Lampkin, who will be on the team. They
2:08
Speaker 2: found that Drew Kendall, at least they think, other teams
2:10
Speaker 2: don't agree with this, but they think because of the
2:13
Speaker 2: weight gain of 15 pounds and he had a good
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Speaker 2: camp at guard, Drew Kendall could be the top backup guard.
2:19
Speaker 2: He could play center. They know that. And Willie Lampkin
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Speaker 2: has answered a lot of questions, but again, Willie Lampkin's
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Speaker 2: never played a regular season NFL game, didn't Remember, he
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Speaker 2: wasn't able to play last season after the Eagles claimed him.
2:32
Speaker 2: They went up not playing him. And then Kendall hasn't
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Speaker 2: played very much. So what they need, Mike, is a
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Speaker 2: veteran guard who's got experience, like Michael Jordan, who didn't
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Speaker 2: really establish himself. Journeyman guard who started a bunch of
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Speaker 2: games in his career. He's been on five teams. But
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Speaker 2: think 69-man roster. Think practice squad here, Mike. They don't
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Speaker 2: have to trade for a guard. because, again, they're very
2:57
Speaker 2: happy with Kendall and Willie Lampkin the last two weeks.
3:00
Speaker 2: It's been phenomenal. He was awesome. I was there to
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Speaker 2: see it. He was awesome in the joint practices, Mike.
3:06
Speaker 2: Very impressed by Willie Lampkin. There's nothing he can do
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Speaker 2: about being shorter than 5'11, unfortunately.
3:12
Speaker 1: Unfortunately, no. And I think we talked about it. It
3:15
Speaker 1: might have been with Andrew yesterday. It could have been
3:17
Speaker 1: with you on Tuesday. But the fact that Juergens also
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Speaker 1: could play guard if needed, if Lampkin is more– verse
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Speaker 1: to play center, something to that effect could happen as well.
3:27
Speaker 1: So a veteran guard, what else on the offensive side
3:31
Speaker 1: of the ball would you classify still as a need?
3:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, this is definitely a need here, the tight end position.
3:37
Speaker 2: So we know Goddard's the starter, but this is what
3:39
Speaker 2: I was taught many times with coaches over the years. Okay,
3:43
Speaker 2: what happens if this happens? Well, what happens if Dallas
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Speaker 2: Goddard got hurt? Well, Johnny Monk can only block. He's
3:48
Speaker 2: not going to catch the football. You know, Stowers is
3:52
Speaker 2: not ready to really contribute at a high level. He's
3:56
Speaker 2: very limited what you could ask him to do. They
3:57
Speaker 2: just don't have anyone else. Grant Calcaterra, I know people
4:00
Speaker 2: didn't like it when I suggested this. They let me
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Speaker 2: know in the YouTube comments. But I'm going to let
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Speaker 2: people know. Actually, I should promote this. Saturday at 6 a.m.,
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Speaker 2: we're dropping. Jeff and I are going to drop our
4:12
Speaker 2: 53-man roster projection. And I'll give you a hint. I'm
4:16
Speaker 2: going to have Calcaterra on it. Now, if he's not,
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Speaker 2: he'll be on the practice squad. But, Mike, they need
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Speaker 2: somebody who could do a little bit of both. It's
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Speaker 2: a lot to ask. So let's keep an eye on
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Speaker 2: the veterans who become available on Monday or after. Let's
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Speaker 2: keep an eye on that. It's a tight end to me.
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Speaker 2: They have enough guys. That's not the issue. The issue
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Speaker 2: is what happens. They're not good enough. They really can't compete.
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Speaker 2: If Goddard gets hurt. But they did it with Jack
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Speaker 2: Stoll and Calcaterra. You remember three years ago they did it?
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Speaker 2: They did a nice job, actually. But Calcatar can't block.
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Speaker 2: He can catch. He actually, we didn't talk about it, Mike,
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Speaker 2: before we move on here. We didn't talk about it enough.
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Speaker 2: He had a couple really good practices. You go, wow,
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Speaker 2: he can still really move well. He's just not strong
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Speaker 2: enough at the point of attack.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, and how much of this is because they're concerned
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Speaker 1: about Eli Stowers?
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Speaker 2: Yeah, but it's not, Mike. Everybody knew, anyone who studied
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Speaker 2: the draft knew that Stowers was This is his fourth
5:15
Speaker 2: year as a tight end. He would have struggles blocking,
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Speaker 2: and he does. He's not big enough. Watching him at practice,
5:21
Speaker 2: in fact, I watched him a lot where I was
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Speaker 2: standing for the first day of practice. I could see
5:27
Speaker 2: Stowers up close really well. I'm like, gosh, he really
5:29
Speaker 2: needs to fill his jersey out. So, yeah, he's a project.
5:33
Speaker 2: They knew this when they drafted him. And remember that
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Speaker 2: Zach Ertz only played 41% of the snaps in 2013,
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Speaker 2: his rookie season. He was really not much of a factor.
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Speaker 2: And Stowers, too, was a second-round pick. But, of course,
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Speaker 2: Zach played tight end his whole life, where Eli's new
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Speaker 2: to this. So patience is a virtue, but they're going
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Speaker 2: to have to add a veteran tight end at some point.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, and I guess for the people listening out there
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Speaker 1: are probably saying, you're telling me Calcaterra is a better
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Speaker 1: receiving player right now than Stowers. It sounds like that's
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Speaker 1: the case.
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Speaker 2: But, again, what we have to understand is Stowers, in
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Speaker 2: terms of the nuances of the position, understanding how to
6:11
Speaker 2: do it and how to get open, It's just not
6:13
Speaker 2: there yet. But he is an athlete. He's a fluid mover.
6:18
Speaker 2: That's the best thing I saw from him. I've seen
6:22
Speaker 2: him win routes and he either didn't get the ball
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Speaker 2: or he just didn't get far enough after catching it
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Speaker 2: because he's still a little raw on his route running
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Speaker 2: and understanding running after a catch and how to get
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Speaker 2: out of confined space. But There's a lot of talent there.
6:38
Speaker 2: You just got to be patient.
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Speaker 1: So the message on Eli Sowers, don't give up on
6:41
Speaker 1: him just yet for the people out there. Well, you
6:44
Speaker 1: know how people are. You don't make it a second-round pick.
6:46
Speaker 1: You know people get crazy.
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Speaker 2: Four years, Mike. He's got four years on his contract.
6:50
Speaker 2: It's only 25% of his career. Of his contract. Relax, people.
6:56
Speaker 2: People were so mad after game one. Like that one
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Speaker 2: guy accuses of underplaying how raw he was. I was like, dude,
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Speaker 2: we've talked about it. But you know what? Clearly, we
7:05
Speaker 2: didn't reach you, so we'll talk about it again, which
7:07
Speaker 2: we did.
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Speaker 1: All right, Adam Kaplan, let's look at the roster needs. Obviously,
7:12
Speaker 1: on offense, this is a team that returns almost everybody
7:17
Speaker 1: to the offensive side of the ball, just a new coordinator.
7:19
Speaker 1: On the defense, there are some new pieces over here,
7:23
Speaker 1: new starting linebacker who was here last year, new corner
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Speaker 1: on the one side. So where are some areas that
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Speaker 1: they're still looking to fortify?
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Speaker 2: Yeah, they don't need de-tackle. They don't need edge. They
7:33
Speaker 2: don't need inside linebacker. We talked about this probably three
7:37
Speaker 2: or four weeks ago. It wouldn't hurt them to get
7:40
Speaker 2: a veteran insurance policy on the practice squad. It's not
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Speaker 2: a priority. It doesn't really matter. The front seven is good,
7:50
Speaker 2: even if Grenard is not ready to play, even if
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Speaker 2: they keep him on PUP, which means he has to
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Speaker 2: miss at least the first four games. They've got Hunt,
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Speaker 2: who's primed for a breakout. They've got Smith, who I
8:00
Speaker 2: don't know if he's got a good camp. Evocati, by
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Speaker 2: the way, that's how you pronounce it. There are four
8:06
Speaker 2: or five names, Mike, I had to get clear. That
8:08
Speaker 2: was one of them. It's actually Evocati from the pronunciation guide.
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Speaker 2: And Epinesa had a good camp, Mike. He's going to
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Speaker 2: be on my 53, Mike. So they have four guys.
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Speaker 2: They're good. Whenever they get Grenard back, there's your fifth,
8:19
Speaker 2: and obviously he starts. This is probably once Grenard gets back,
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Speaker 2: and I'm not saying he'll be himself or close to
8:25
Speaker 2: it early on, But once he gets back, they're five deep, Mike.
8:29
Speaker 2: That's pretty good. No one's this deep. This is, like,
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Speaker 2: really good.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, so defensive front, we know, very deep, very good.
8:34
Speaker 1: We always marvel at the fact that, man, they got
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Speaker 1: linebackers here now, which is something that three years ago
8:42
Speaker 1: we'd be saying, man, their linebacking team is the worst
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Speaker 1: in football. Now they're really deep there. So, really, when
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Speaker 1: you're talking about needs, I guess it looks like the secondary.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, so, Mike, a corner, we're not talking about nickel,
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Speaker 2: which is an inside position. We're talking about pure corner. Well, okay,
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Speaker 2: what's the plan if Rick Willen gets hurt? Or Mitchell
9:03
Speaker 2: gets hurt? Or if Rick Willen disappoints Vic Fangio and
9:06
Speaker 2: Vic is still on the table for the guy? What
9:08
Speaker 2: if he's upset? Well, their in-house candidate would be moved
9:12
Speaker 2: to Jean back to corner. They don't want to do that.
9:15
Speaker 2: That's why Jonathan Jones is here. Well, Jonathan Jones is 33.
9:17
Speaker 2: He's it hurt the last two seasons we don't know
9:22
Speaker 2: if you could play more mike let's but would be
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Speaker 2: off with it nobody really knows he didn't practice but
9:26
Speaker 2: to train camp if he's not good work which a
9:29
Speaker 2: recourse well this is where a trade or adding a
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Speaker 2: veteran after the cut down to the practice squad would
9:36
Speaker 2: make a lot of sense we know they don't want
9:39
Speaker 2: to play ring go a quarter we we've explained to
9:41
Speaker 2: people left two weeks if they have to he'll do
9:44
Speaker 2: it he's played quarter before yes he's a good special
9:47
Speaker 2: teams player really good special teams player but he's been
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Speaker 2: exposed as a corner. Avery Thomas didn't get the job done.
9:53
Speaker 2: Mac McWilliams, I know Vic spoke well of him. He's
9:56
Speaker 2: probably better in nickel than he is in corner. He's
9:58
Speaker 2: not good enough to go in and play full-time if
10:01
Speaker 2: he had to. Ja'Cory Bennett didn't work. He didn't get
10:04
Speaker 2: this match-cover-deliver system, the mirror-match system. He got hurt anyway.
10:08
Speaker 2: It didn't work. It just didn't work out. Grushikin, to me,
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Speaker 2: if he makes a team like he's more of a
10:13
Speaker 2: nickel or safety, they need a pure corner. They don't
10:17
Speaker 2: have that guy right now, and that's a position they
10:19
Speaker 2: really need to look at. That, to me, right now,
10:22
Speaker 2: is the number one need right now in this football
10:24
Speaker 2: team going forward, an insurance policy at corner, however they
10:27
Speaker 2: want to get it.
10:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, corner and then by proxy, too. One more guy.
10:31
Speaker 1: It's almost like both corner and safety. I thought Vic
10:34
Speaker 1: said something interesting when he was talking about Epson Michael Carter.
10:38
Speaker 1: We talked a little bit about that with Andrew yesterday.
10:40
Speaker 1: Because Carter's played nickel. He's played safety. He's kind of
10:44
Speaker 1: a Swiss Army knife. So both of those positions almost
10:47
Speaker 1: feel like they're a guy short because you keep pulling
10:49
Speaker 1: from one side to fix the other if you have
10:51
Speaker 1: a problem. Yep.
10:52
Speaker 2: So their safeties, Mike, are pretty set right now. Epps, McCoover, Carter,
10:57
Speaker 2: and Cooper-DeGene. You don't really need a fifth. You know, Howie,
11:01
Speaker 2: as we said, you're allowed to change your mind. He
11:03
Speaker 2: said they were going to sign a veteran or a safety, rather,
11:07
Speaker 2: but they didn't. Doesn't mean they won't after Monday, but...
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Speaker 2: They've got enough guys. Michael Carter was a big-time safety
11:15
Speaker 2: at Duke. The Jets talked to them, and as soon
11:18
Speaker 2: as they got him, they moved him to nickel. He
11:21
Speaker 2: became one of the best nickels in the league. In fact,
11:24
Speaker 2: his extension was $ 10 million a year. I told you, Mike,
11:27
Speaker 2: back in January, if he comes back, he's going to
11:29
Speaker 2: have to take a significant pay cut. He did. He
11:31
Speaker 2: went from $ 10 million to $ 2 million. It is what
11:33
Speaker 2: it is, but he's got... Andrew brought this up, although
11:37
Speaker 2: it's a good point. His versatility has been a curse, because...
11:41
Speaker 2: He's not playing full-time safety. He's playing backup nickel. He's
11:44
Speaker 2: playing dime safety. And he's playing safety. So Epps right
11:48
Speaker 2: now is a starter. I thought I was going to
11:51
Speaker 2: turn out to be wrong about this unless something else
11:53
Speaker 2: happens that we don't know about the next two weeks.
11:55
Speaker 2: I really– I picked Carter to win it. He didn't
11:57
Speaker 2: win it. Up to this point, we'll see what happens.
12:00
Speaker 2: Reporters don't get access to practice anymore, other than the warm-ups,
12:03
Speaker 2: which means absolutely nothing. So, yeah, they really do need
12:07
Speaker 2: to add another safety at some point. By the way, Mike.
12:11
Speaker 2: Other than corner, which is more of an immediate need,
12:13
Speaker 2: they don't need to do anything to get safety right now.
12:15
Speaker 2: They could wait, but eventually they're going to need to
12:16
Speaker 2: add somebody.
12:17
Speaker 1: All right. You got anybody you're keeping an eye on tonight,
12:20
Speaker 1: or is this game pretty much a meaningless night for you?
12:23
Speaker 1: It's not meaningless for Vic Fangio. He said, yeah, he's
12:25
Speaker 1: looking for it.
12:27
Speaker 2: Here are the guys. Maximus Pulley, the undrafted safety out
12:30
Speaker 2: of Wofford, very talented. Kapila Gushikian, 34, who's a backup
12:35
Speaker 2: nickel and a backup safety, plays special teams. He's certainly pushing.
12:40
Speaker 2: Matt McWilliams needs to... You know what? Matt McWilliams, who
12:42
Speaker 2: should be starting tonight, he really needs to show me something.
12:45
Speaker 2: They're really down... Remember, they don't play starters. They don't
12:48
Speaker 2: have a lot of corners. We know who Ringo is.
12:49
Speaker 2: We don't need to see any more of him to
12:51
Speaker 2: know what he is. Avery Thomas, he gave up the
12:54
Speaker 2: touchdown of Kyle Williams against New England in the game
12:57
Speaker 2: last week. Sean, you know what's really interesting, Mike? The
13:01
Speaker 2: Eagles technically are taller at corner than they are at safety.
13:04
Speaker 2: Isn't that... I'm sorry. They're taller at corner than they
13:07
Speaker 2: are at wide receiver. Isn't that odd? Well, it's actually true.
13:11
Speaker 2: I actually looked it up. I just noticed when I
13:14
Speaker 2: was in New England, man, are they short at corner?
13:16
Speaker 2: I mean, at receiver. They had Isaiah Bolden technically right now.
13:21
Speaker 2: He's drafted by New England. Bolden, Ambry Thomas, Dejean, well,
13:28
Speaker 2: he's really not at corner anymore. Rick Wallen is way
13:30
Speaker 2: over it. Quignan is technically over it. Ringo is six
13:34
Speaker 2: feet or over it. I don't know if there's another
13:37
Speaker 2: team with corners that tall. But, unfortunately, Mike, some of
13:40
Speaker 2: these guys won't be playing very much for them in
13:41
Speaker 2: the fall.
13:42
Speaker 1: Last one before we get you out of here. Ty
13:44
Speaker 1: Robinson was interesting because he's obviously flashed. And Fangio said
13:48
Speaker 1: on Tuesday, well, you've got to do it against better competition.
13:50
Speaker 1: Is he a guy that we keep an eye on tonight,
13:53
Speaker 1: or does he really just have no ability to kind
13:56
Speaker 1: of crack a rotational spot here with the depth?
14:00
Speaker 2: He won't play, even if he makes it, Mike. Vic
14:03
Speaker 2: only plays four de-tackles. Right. one of two things happen.
14:08
Speaker 2: Injury or, like if for some reason there's no way
14:11
Speaker 2: to know this, and it probably won't happen, but Byron
14:13
Speaker 2: Young's been a great waiver claim for the Eagles. If
14:16
Speaker 2: he got hurt or was playing poorly, sure, Robinson, if
14:20
Speaker 2: he makes it, and I have him right now, right
14:22
Speaker 2: now I have him on the roster. The good thing
14:25
Speaker 2: about his tape, Mike, his tape was so good, I
14:28
Speaker 2: was told, I expect the Eagles to get some interest
14:31
Speaker 2: in him. I really do. Another team told me, uh...
14:34
Speaker 2: he could look you go heat and this guy was
14:36
Speaker 2: clearly aware that he was aware of the quote that
14:38
Speaker 2: they gave to us in the way when he said
14:42
Speaker 2: it could be with the life support that not really
14:45
Speaker 2: that was really not nice but very funny uh.
14:48
Speaker 1: i'd mike robinson his.
14:50
Speaker 2: Chances with it yet what what his chances he satellite
14:54
Speaker 2: support i looked at other reporters like that you really
14:56
Speaker 2: say that i guess he did never a any loss
14:59
Speaker 2: for words it is a truth teller but boarded robinson's
15:01
Speaker 2: look really good And, look, it's.
15:04
Speaker 1: Two sacks, three tackles for loss. I mean, that's some
15:06
Speaker 1: production there.
15:08
Speaker 2: And Eagles are super deep. Zion Wilson's shown the undrafted freedom.
15:12
Speaker 2: He's shown up. Gabe Hall's been a good story, but
15:14
Speaker 2: he's more of a tweener. And, of course, you've got
15:17
Speaker 2: your Bernard Mike there. It's very rare to have good
15:20
Speaker 2: depth at D-tackle because one of those rare teams.
15:23
Speaker 1: Yep, and obviously this is the last chance for some
15:26
Speaker 1: of these guys to make the roster to flash tonight.
15:28
Speaker 1: You can listen to the game with Merrill Reese, Mike Quick,
15:30
Speaker 1: right here. on 97.3 ESPN. We've got Football at 4
15:34
Speaker 1: Monday to break it all down, and we will be
15:36
Speaker 1: into regular season mode. Check out the Inside the Birds
15:40
Speaker 1: podcast on all podcasting platforms. Adam Kaplan, we'll catch up
15:44
Speaker 1: with you next week, man.
15:45
Speaker 2: Sounds good. Thank you.
15:46
Speaker 1: All right, Adam Kaplan, everybody, from the Inside the Birds podcast.
15:48
Speaker 1: Don't forget, Football at 4 is back for another season.
15:51
Speaker 1: Mosher's here on for a Mosher Monday. We'll recap the
15:54
Speaker 1: game from Friday night, and we'll start to look at
15:57
Speaker 1: the Eagles 53-man roster.