Latest / Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast / The DiCecco Daily: Final Thoughts On Injuries, Matchups Before Eagles-Rams
Transcript
- 0:10Speaker 1: Hey, what's going on, everybody? Welcome in to another episode
- 0:12Speaker 1: of DiCecco Daily. It's Andrew DiCecco, Eagles beat reporter for InsideTheBirds.com.
- 0:17Speaker 1: And it's Friday, which means the official game status for
- 0:21Speaker 1: Sunday has been revealed. And expectedly, the Eagles will be
- 0:26Speaker 1: without linebacker Zach Bond with a concussion and wide receiver
- 0:29Speaker 1: Devontae Smith with a hamstring. They'll also be without safety
- 0:34Speaker 1: Marcus Epps with a groin, Fred Johnson with a knee, and.
- 0:40Speaker 1: Hollywood Brown with an ankle injury. So they are undermanned
- 0:45Speaker 1: for this game. And when you look at the absences
- 0:49Speaker 1: of Vaughn and Smith, let's talk about that for a second.
- 0:53Speaker 1: And I touched on it in the previous podcast, but
- 0:56Speaker 1: it's worth delving in a little bit deeper. Zach Vaughn,
- 1:00Speaker 1: to me, and it's not really a hot take or anything,
- 1:04Speaker 1: he's one of the best off-ball linebackers in the NFL.
- 1:07Speaker 1: And in week one, he was outstanding. He was all
- 1:10Speaker 1: over the field as a run defender and pass coverage,
- 1:14Speaker 1: and he just has a nose for the football. Highly
- 1:18Speaker 1: intelligent player who has accounted for 97% of the Eagles'
- 1:21Speaker 1: defensive snaps, doesn't come off the field, wears the green dot,
- 1:26Speaker 1: and has just been a pillar of stability for Vic
- 1:29Speaker 1: Fangio's defense. So they're going to be without that. And
- 1:32Speaker 1: in a game in which you're facing a team in
- 1:34Speaker 1: the L.A. Rams, where Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford, they
- 1:39Speaker 1: major in the art of deception and eye candy, and
- 1:44Speaker 1: they like to put players in conflict. So not having
- 1:49Speaker 1: someone there like Vaughn, who is such an intelligent football player,
- 1:53Speaker 1: who has logged a ton of snaps and he's seen
- 1:55Speaker 1: it all, You're now turning things over to Jeremiah Trotter Jr.,
- 2:00Speaker 1: who has just 198 defensive snaps under his belt, two
- 2:04Speaker 1: starts in his career. This will be his third. I
- 2:08Speaker 1: will also say that everything that we've seen from Trotter Jr.,
- 2:11Speaker 1: whether it's training camp the past two summers or whether
- 2:16Speaker 1: it's preseason or regular season spot duty towards the end
- 2:20Speaker 1: of the year, He's delivered, and he's been such a
- 2:24Speaker 1: consistent player. I actually named him as my stock-up player
- 2:28Speaker 1: in training camp. Not that I didn't expect him to
- 2:31Speaker 1: do it, but he was performing at such a high level,
- 2:34Speaker 1: reading and diagnosing things, playing with great anticipation. The instincts
- 2:40Speaker 1: always reveal itself when he's out there, and he's able
- 2:43Speaker 1: to atone for some of his athletic shortcomings. With just
- 2:49Speaker 1: always being assignment sound, fundamentally sound, in the right place
- 2:52Speaker 1: at the right time, I think he should help in
- 2:56Speaker 1: run support, but I am expecting Matthew Stafford to test
- 3:00Speaker 1: him early, peppering his side of the field or his
- 3:03Speaker 1: area of the field early. coverage and seeing if they're
- 3:08Speaker 1: able to mess with his eyes a little bit because
- 3:11Speaker 1: they're going to throw things at him that he hasn't seen.
- 3:14Speaker 1: But I will also say that Trotter Jr. 's calling
- 3:17Speaker 1: card is his football intelligence, his instincts, his dependability. And
- 3:22Speaker 1: he did play six snaps against the Bears on Monday
- 3:24Speaker 1: Night Football. That was the first defensive snaps that he's
- 3:29Speaker 1: played this season and this is a heck of a
- 3:32Speaker 1: spot to get your first start of the year your
- 3:34Speaker 1: first meaningful snaps of the season but I think what
- 3:40Speaker 1: adds to it and maybe any angst out there is
- 3:44Speaker 1: that he's pairing with Jihad Campbell and Jihad Campbell has
- 3:49Speaker 1: had some shaky moments early especially in coverage where there
- 3:53Speaker 1: are moments where it appears that he's kind of spinning
- 3:58Speaker 1: a little bit, swimming, if you will, and teams are
- 4:01Speaker 1: able to take advantage of that. Now, no one should
- 4:04Speaker 1: dispute the athleticism and theoretical upside that he brings to
- 4:08Speaker 1: this defense, and it's way too early to bail on
- 4:12Speaker 1: the player. I don't agree that Trotter Jr. should have
- 4:17Speaker 1: started over him or should be playing over him or
- 4:19Speaker 1: should eat into his snaps. I think that that is... Nonsense,
- 4:25Speaker 1: especially at this. I mean, that's my perspective of it.
- 4:28Speaker 1: But I understand why some may be of the belief
- 4:34Speaker 1: that he needs more opportunities. But Jihad Campbell, again, was
- 4:38Speaker 1: drafted in the first round for a reason. The Eagles
- 4:42Speaker 1: invested in him. He brings supercharged athleticism. and the ability
- 4:48Speaker 1: to affect throwing lanes, and I believe that he'll settle in.
- 4:52Speaker 1: He doesn't have all that much experience under his belt.
- 4:55Speaker 1: Let's not forget that when he opened the season as
- 4:58Speaker 1: a starter, he eventually gave way to N'Kobe Dean, and
- 5:01Speaker 1: I think that really hurt his growth. It helped the
- 5:03Speaker 1: Eagles' defense in the short term, but in the long term,
- 5:06Speaker 1: you're depriving a player of opportunities to learn from mistakes, to,
- 5:13Speaker 1: I guess, perfect his role, or... make strides in what
- 5:18Speaker 1: he's being asked to do and really have that Vic
- 5:21Speaker 1: Fangio system and his responsibilities within the system fully dialed
- 5:25Speaker 1: in so that when you turn the page to the
- 5:27Speaker 1: 2026 season, it's not exactly like he's trying to find
- 5:32Speaker 1: his footing, I guess you could say. But there have
- 5:34Speaker 1: been some good moments for him as well. And I'm
- 5:38Speaker 1: still expecting Matthew Stafford to try to test him because
- 5:41Speaker 1: there have been moments of lapses in coverage. And for
- 5:44Speaker 1: Trotter Jr., it's just inexperience. But he will make some plays,
- 5:49Speaker 1: especially against the run, I believe. But this is a
- 5:52Speaker 1: really daunting matchup to have two linebackers with not a
- 5:57Speaker 1: ton of experience out there on the field. And then
- 6:00Speaker 1: when you get to Devontae Smith... I mean, Devontae Smith
- 6:04Speaker 1: leads the Eagles in targets, receptions, yards. The passing game
- 6:08Speaker 1: runs through Devontae. This was, and this still is, he's
- 6:13Speaker 1: had an opportunity to step into that wide receiver one role.
- 6:16Speaker 1: He's taken it, and he's run with it. To no surprise,
- 6:20Speaker 1: the Eagles have a ton of confidence in Devontae, and
- 6:23Speaker 1: he's really answered the bell through three games. He's made
- 6:28Speaker 1: some ridiculous circus catches. They don't win that Tennessee game without...
- 6:32Speaker 1: Devontae Smith and his body control and being able to
- 6:35Speaker 1: come up with some really tough catches, really well-placed throws
- 6:39Speaker 1: from Jalen Hurts. I'm not taking anything away from him, certainly.
- 6:42Speaker 1: But Devontae, he just, he makes the extraordinary look ordinary.
- 6:49Speaker 1: And to not have him out there with an offense
- 6:53Speaker 1: that is still trying to find its way and you
- 6:57Speaker 1: need to score points because you're facing a team in
- 7:00Speaker 1: the Rams who can score points in bunches. That's a
- 7:03Speaker 1: tough task for this offense, and Devontae and Jalen, needless
- 7:07Speaker 1: to say, have such a strong chemistry, and Devontae dictates coverage.
- 7:15Speaker 1: He takes a lot of attention away from some of
- 7:19Speaker 1: the other players. Now, not having him out there, you're
- 7:22Speaker 1: now asking Dontavion Wicks to step into a much more
- 7:26Speaker 1: prominent role. I think Dontavion Wicks has done a really
- 7:29Speaker 1: nice job as the compliment to Devontae Smith. And that
- 7:33Speaker 1: was already a considerably elevated role relative to where he
- 7:39Speaker 1: was last season in Green Bay. Now you're asking him
- 7:41Speaker 1: to step into the number one receiver role against Trent McDuffie,
- 7:46Speaker 1: who he's probably going to see a lot of. And
- 7:48Speaker 1: that is a tremendous corner on the other side for
- 7:51Speaker 1: the LA Rams. If you look at his passer rating,
- 7:55Speaker 1: I mean, it's anemic. What he's surrendering, he doesn't give
- 7:58Speaker 1: up much. He's not targeted all that much, but I imagine,
- 8:03Speaker 1: and I do believe that he's been traveling a little bit,
- 8:06Speaker 1: so I would expect him to follow Wicks wherever he
- 8:11Speaker 1: is on the field. And the offense, the passing offense
- 8:15Speaker 1: has left a lot to be desired. I think they've
- 8:17Speaker 1: started to make some headway in the run game, but
- 8:20Speaker 1: getting behind the sticks, you know, there's always so much
- 8:23Speaker 1: you can do, and I think that kind of threw
- 8:24Speaker 1: a wrench into their plans, and they... sort of veered
- 8:28Speaker 1: off from that, I probably would have continued to stay
- 8:31Speaker 1: on it because Saquon was finding running lanes and being
- 8:33Speaker 1: able to do some different things, especially on the left
- 8:36Speaker 1: side there. But in this particular game, I'm expecting, knowing
- 8:41Speaker 1: Saquon Barkley's history running roughshod all over this team, that
- 8:44Speaker 1: they're going to make a concerted effort to stop the run.
- 8:47Speaker 1: So what that means is the Eagles passing game is
- 8:50Speaker 1: now under a spotlight. And you're probably going to have
- 8:54Speaker 1: to grade this on a curve because whenever you take
- 8:56Speaker 1: away Someone like Devontae Smith. Oh, and let's not forget
- 9:00Speaker 1: Dallas Goddard is still sidelined. Those are the two top
- 9:04Speaker 1: receiving options on this team. And now Jalen Hurts is
- 9:07Speaker 1: going to have to make it work with Dontavion Wicks,
- 9:09Speaker 1: Darius Cooper, Makai Lemon, of course. Maybe even a little
- 9:13Speaker 1: Elijah Moore, who played six snaps against the Bears. He
- 9:15Speaker 1: actually played one more snap than Darius Cooper, who played five.
- 9:19Speaker 1: Which was curious to me, because Darius Cooper did some
- 9:23Speaker 1: good things in the Titans game. Of course, he caught
- 9:25Speaker 1: the game-winner. And I was under the impression that they
- 9:28Speaker 1: were going to give him more opportunities for delivering with
- 9:32Speaker 1: the ones that he did get the previous game. Nevertheless,
- 9:35Speaker 1: they don't have much of an option but to turn
- 9:36Speaker 1: to these guys. And what I will say, and this
- 9:40Speaker 1: goes for Elijah Moore as well, of the players that
- 9:42Speaker 1: I mentioned, Jalen Hurts has shown a lot of trust
- 9:45Speaker 1: in those players. That revealed itself in training camp. It's
- 9:49Speaker 1: something that I noticed in the regular season so far,
- 9:53Speaker 1: especially with Wicks and Cooper. And if you listen to
- 9:56Speaker 1: his answers, he just has so much confidence. in those players.
- 10:02Speaker 1: And I'm really specifically talking about the top three in Wicks,
- 10:07Speaker 1: Lemon and Darius Cooper. But Elijah Moore is another player
- 10:13Speaker 1: that in training camp, you saw him get peppered with targets.
- 10:16Speaker 1: There was a play when they were in the indoor
- 10:18Speaker 1: facility where, It was a rainy day. I believe Elijah
- 10:22Speaker 1: Moore ran the wrong route. It was a pick six
- 10:24Speaker 1: by Quinion Mitchell. And they go back to the well,
- 10:28Speaker 1: and he runs this post route, beats the safeties, and
- 10:31Speaker 1: Jalen's fired up. Elijah's fired up. He went right back
- 10:34Speaker 1: to him because he had trust in the player. And
- 10:38Speaker 1: it was just a little bit of a miscommunication on
- 10:40Speaker 1: Elijah's part, I believe, on the play that led to
- 10:44Speaker 1: the interception. They rectified that, and they got it down.
- 10:47Speaker 1: So I don't have any– question as to whether or
- 10:52Speaker 1: not Jalen Hurts is going to lean into the players
- 10:56Speaker 1: that he has and and try to work them into
- 10:58Speaker 1: the into the offense on Sunday it's just a matter
- 11:01Speaker 1: of do they have enough there to be able to
- 11:04Speaker 1: compile the points and I say that because you look
- 11:08Speaker 1: at the offense with Devontae Smith with Dallas Goddard for
- 11:11Speaker 1: a game and a half anyway and they weren't able
- 11:13Speaker 1: to do all that much And now you're taking away
- 11:16Speaker 1: someone in Devontae. I'm really interested to see how Wicks
- 11:19Speaker 1: fares in his extended role or elevated role, I should say.
- 11:24Speaker 1: I think he's really impressed as a route runner, strong hands,
- 11:28Speaker 1: uses his body well to shield defenders. He separates very
- 11:31Speaker 1: well at the top of routes. In fact, I talked
- 11:33Speaker 1: to Wicks in the locker room for a few minutes
- 11:37Speaker 1: on Friday. What he does right now is essentially teach
- 11:42Speaker 1: tape for some of the younger wide receivers coming up.
- 11:45Speaker 1: So I asked him, who are some of the players
- 11:48Speaker 1: that you were watching in terms of route running? And
- 11:51Speaker 1: he mentioned Devontae Adams. He mentioned... Keenan Allen in terms
- 11:57Speaker 1: of releases and things like that. I think he even
- 12:00Speaker 1: said Jamar Chase. So there's a, and he sort of
- 12:04Speaker 1: took something from each of their game and he really
- 12:07Speaker 1: emphasized Devontae Adams, who of course the Eagles are going
- 12:10Speaker 1: to see on Sunday. And when you watch Wicks run,
- 12:13Speaker 1: it's kind of like poetry in motion in terms of
- 12:15Speaker 1: how he's able to make his cuts and deceive defensive
- 12:19Speaker 1: backs and he's been termed as a elite separator. And
- 12:22Speaker 1: right now that's revealed itself. He is not a burner.
- 12:25Speaker 1: He's a four, six player, but I liked the frame
- 12:28Speaker 1: that he has. The, the timing between him and Hertz,
- 12:31Speaker 1: I think has been evident early on, but it's a
- 12:35Speaker 1: tall order for, for Wicks who was kind of lost
- 12:38Speaker 1: in the shuffle there in green Bay, jumped up to
- 12:41Speaker 1: the number two receiver here. Now he's cast as number
- 12:43Speaker 1: one for at least one week. And the Rams are
- 12:47Speaker 1: going to be looking for vengeance in this game. The
- 12:49Speaker 1: Eagles have won the previous four matchups. The prior two
- 12:53Speaker 1: were pretty close. They're coming from the West Coast to
- 12:57Speaker 1: Philadelphia for a 1 o'clock game. So that might factor
- 13:00Speaker 1: in a little bit. But I do get the sense
- 13:03Speaker 1: that Sean McVay and this Rams team is going to
- 13:05Speaker 1: be hungry. The Eagles have had their number. I imagine
- 13:09Speaker 1: that they're going to come out and try to be
- 13:10Speaker 1: aggressive and really get out to an early lead. Their defense...
- 13:15Speaker 1: They're going to be without Aaron Donald, which is a
- 13:18Speaker 1: huge break for the Eagles, especially from the interior perspective
- 13:23Speaker 1: of Cam Juergens, Drew Kendall, and Tyler Steen. But they
- 13:27Speaker 1: have Kobe Turner. They have the other Byron Young. They
- 13:32Speaker 1: have linebackers who can make some plays. They have Trent McDuffie.
- 13:36Speaker 1: They don't have Jalen Watts in their corner, so it
- 13:39Speaker 1: might be Josh Wallace, I believe, would be the next
- 13:42Speaker 1: man up. So if that's Darius Cooper who aligns outside,
- 13:46Speaker 1: he stands to have a favorable matchup. So, yeah, I mean,
- 13:52Speaker 1: it's easy to look at this game and say the
- 13:55Speaker 1: Rams are clear favorites, but that's why they play the game.
- 13:58Speaker 1: It's that old adage, any given Sunday. Now, all that
- 14:00Speaker 1: being said, I am leaning towards the Rams, and I
- 14:04Speaker 1: just think that they have too much firepower on a
- 14:08Speaker 1: short week for Philadelphia. They're still finding their way as
- 14:11Speaker 1: an offense. They still have to rectify a lot of
- 14:15Speaker 1: the self-inflicted wounds, playing behind the sticks. I still think
- 14:19Speaker 1: that they're trying to find their identity as an offense.
- 14:21Speaker 1: They're sort of blending two different offenses, it feels like,
- 14:25Speaker 1: and there's a stark contrast at times. They have to
- 14:28Speaker 1: combat the second-half sluggishness. And so offensively, I would temper
- 14:33Speaker 1: your expectations. But on the defensive side, not having Marcus
- 14:39Speaker 1: Epps– adds another wrinkle to this whole equation. Because you
- 14:44Speaker 1: do have Kenny Moore, who's on the 53. He's never
- 14:47Speaker 1: played safety before. He's a, well, at least very, very sparingly.
- 14:54Speaker 1: He's a nickelback by trade. And he's sort of one
- 14:58Speaker 1: of the moving parts that I'm curious to see if
- 15:00Speaker 1: they incorporate him in this game. Michael Carter, the second,
- 15:04Speaker 1: who alternated with Epps in the Monday night game, is
- 15:08Speaker 1: the player who's going to take on the lion's share
- 15:10Speaker 1: of the snaps, one would presume. You also have Cooper DeGene,
- 15:13Speaker 1: who plays safety when the Eagles are in base. Now,
- 15:16Speaker 1: I've been pretty bullish on Michael Carter. Maybe bullish is
- 15:21Speaker 1: a little bit too strong. I've been really curious to
- 15:23Speaker 1: see what he can do if given more opportunities, more reps,
- 15:28Speaker 1: because I thought he had a better training camp than Epps.
- 15:31Speaker 1: That was just my view of it. He was more active.
- 15:34Speaker 1: He was around the football a lot more. I think
- 15:37Speaker 1: his instincts that translated over from Nickelback were really apparent,
- 15:41Speaker 1: and so let's see what he can do. I mean,
- 15:45Speaker 1: I know that he had three interceptions in training camp,
- 15:48Speaker 1: and he had a bunch of pass breakups, but in
- 15:50Speaker 1: his career, I think he only has two career interceptions.
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- 18:43Speaker 1: They don't have much of an option here, so It
- 18:45Speaker 1: looks like it's going to be Michael Carter. You're going
- 18:47Speaker 1: to have Cooper DeGene, of course, who's still going to
- 18:49Speaker 1: factor in. And then Kenny Moore is the wild card
- 18:52Speaker 1: because I don't quite know how the Eagles intend to
- 18:54Speaker 1: use him. Vic Fangio kind of poured a little cold
- 18:57Speaker 1: water on it. He said he doesn't have much experience
- 19:00Speaker 1: playing safety. He might have to do a lot of
- 19:01Speaker 1: heavy lifting to help out in the short term. So
- 19:04Speaker 1: this is kind of a– it would be a pretty–
- 19:08Speaker 1: a daunting task, I would imagine, to work in a
- 19:13Speaker 1: player who got here not that long ago to fulfill
- 19:16Speaker 1: a position in which he's never really played before. And
- 19:21Speaker 1: we'll see how the chess match unfolds. Vic Fangio's had
- 19:24Speaker 1: a lot of success against Sean McVay, but when your
- 19:27Speaker 1: defense is kind of reeling off that 27-7 game on
- 19:32Speaker 1: Monday Night Football, and they've had some leaky play on
- 19:36Speaker 1: the back end, their pass rush hasn't been as consistent
- 19:40Speaker 1: as you'd like really they only have three sacks it
- 19:42Speaker 1: hasn't the pressures are there but you got to get
- 19:44Speaker 1: home you got to finish the plays and that goes
- 19:47Speaker 1: to for the interior as well i know Jalen Carter's
- 19:50Speaker 1: battling the wrist injury but you need more from Jordan
- 19:53Speaker 1: Davis you need more from a Jomo who has been
- 19:56Speaker 1: the Eagles best performing defensive tackle in my estimation through
- 19:59Speaker 1: the first three games so that in of itself is
- 20:03Speaker 1: going to help the back end and alleviate some pressure
- 20:06Speaker 1: but Matthew Stafford gets the ball out quickly and what
- 20:08Speaker 1: we saw with Case Keenum in the previous matchup on
- 20:12Speaker 1: Monday night, he got the ball out quickly, and it
- 20:14Speaker 1: kind of had the defense on its heels a little bit,
- 20:18Speaker 1: and they were never really able to get comfortable and
- 20:21Speaker 1: settle in. Or get a beat on things. And we'll
- 20:24Speaker 1: see if Vic Fangio is able to make those adjustments
- 20:28Speaker 1: to counter what Sean McVay may come out trying to do.
- 20:31Speaker 1: Kyron Williams is a nice running back. He does put
- 20:34Speaker 1: the ball on the ground a little bit. So maybe
- 20:36Speaker 1: this is where the Eagles get their first takeaway of
- 20:39Speaker 1: the season. That's something to keep an eye on. And
- 20:43Speaker 1: the Rams receivers are just... are just exceptional. I mean,
- 20:48Speaker 1: they're expected to have Puka Nakua for this game. You
- 20:50Speaker 1: have Devontae Adams, and you have a number of tight ends.
- 20:54Speaker 1: I know Terrence Ferguson's not playing in this game. They
- 20:57Speaker 1: tend to use a number of tight ends and go heavy,
- 21:00Speaker 1: so that could impact the Eagles a little bit when
- 21:02Speaker 1: LA goes to the running game because the Eagles have
- 21:07Speaker 1: not exactly been as proficient as shedding blocks, that block
- 21:12Speaker 1: destruction that you often hear Bobby King or any of
- 21:15Speaker 1: the Eagles linebackers, whenever they're interviewed, mention, that's something that
- 21:18Speaker 1: they really prioritize and focus on. And it seems right
- 21:21Speaker 1: now that they're really trying to gel and work on
- 21:26Speaker 1: the communication aspect. There's a lot of miscommunications that have happened,
- 21:29Speaker 1: and that's a word that I heard pretty often after
- 21:33Speaker 1: the Monday night game. And you want to see the
- 21:36Speaker 1: communication a little bit better. They've got to be talking
- 21:38Speaker 1: on the back end and ensure that there's not any
- 21:41Speaker 1: sort of vulnerability or leaky play on the back end.
- 21:45Speaker 1: But if they're able to do that and be a
- 21:48Speaker 1: little bit more diligent in their assignments and fundamentals, tackling,
- 21:52Speaker 1: that's been a hallmark for a Vic Fangio defense. They
- 21:55Speaker 1: should be able to hold their own because I think
- 21:59Speaker 1: you feel pretty good about Quinion Mitchell and Cooper DeGene.
- 22:03Speaker 1: We'll see about Reek Wollin. He didn't have a really
- 22:06Speaker 1: strong game against the Bears. That's a common theme here.
- 22:09Speaker 1: But this is another big spot for him to see
- 22:11Speaker 1: if he's able to to rise to the occasion and
- 22:15Speaker 1: rebound from a tough outing. So I have so many
- 22:18Speaker 1: questions about this game, but the top storyline is the
- 22:23Speaker 1: injuries that the Eagles have and who won't be available
- 22:26Speaker 1: for them when the Rams come to town and they
- 22:29Speaker 1: kick off at 1 p.m. Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.
- 22:34Speaker 1: That's going to do it for this edition of the
- 22:35Speaker 1: Checo Daily. I'm Andrew DiCecco, and I will catch you
- 22:38Speaker 1: all on the next one.