Latest / Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast / Football at Four: Is there a Concern with A.J. Brown's Hamstring?
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: It's Football at four time. Let's go to Jeff Moscher
- 0:02and of course Moscher joins me right now on a
- 0:04Mosher Monday edition of Football at four on the Sports
- 0:07Past Live on ninety seven to three ESPN. What's going on, Mosh,
- 0:12Nothing like that.
- 0:13Speaker 2: Zach Wheeler news is just a real gut punch man.
- 0:15Speaker 3: That's just you know, maybe maybe there's something with this
- 0:19Phillies team that can do the Carson Wentz thing where
- 0:22we all we got, we all need and they can
- 0:24pull together and win it.
- 0:26Speaker 2: It's because it's like you said, hard to see.
- 0:29Speaker 3: Zach Wheeler coming back now, and without Zach, it's hard
- 0:31to see them winning anything.
- 0:33Speaker 1: Yeah, it kind of feels that way. We actually have
- 0:34a poll question up at Mike Gillshow, and we asked,
- 0:38if the Wheeler can't return to pitch, can the Phillies
- 0:40win the World Series? Forty percent say no, you need
- 0:43the eighth thirty two percent, So they weren't winning with him.
- 0:46So you get seventy two percent of people who really
- 0:49said we weren't winning with them, and now you're really
- 0:52not winning with them. Twenty six percent said yes, still
- 0:54good enough pitching, but we'll end up we'll see what
- 0:57ends up happening there. But you're right, it is a
- 0:59gut punch, I mean, And it's similar like if the
- 1:01Eagles were to lose a guy like AJ Brown, And
- 1:04I want to start with AJ Brown, who's still standing
- 1:06on the side. And now it doesn't seem like Brown's
- 1:08season is in jeopardy here, but most now the fact
- 1:11that he's still on the sideline not practicing. Do we
- 1:14read into that or is this overly precautionary. Are we
- 1:17starting to think that his debut on September fourth could
- 1:21be in question?
- 1:22Speaker 3: You know, you remember last year he wound up missing
- 1:25some time early on, heard his hamstringing against Green Bay
- 1:27and the opener had to miss a couple of weeks.
- 1:29And you know, the whole objective is to get him
- 1:34to be healthy in one hundred percent when that first
- 1:36game happens on September what is a fourth against the
- 1:40against the Cowboys, So they're not going to stress it.
- 1:42He's been out there. I think that's the good sign
- 1:44is you see him out there. It's not like he's
- 1:46inside getting treatment.
- 1:47Speaker 2: All day long.
- 1:48Speaker 3: He's been laughing it up with the team, throwing the
- 1:51football around. So to me, there's not a whole bunch
- 1:54of red flags at all, you know, do I think
- 1:56I don't think they feel the need to get him
- 1:59out there on the actors fielder, And honestly, they're trying
- 2:01to take a look right now.
- 2:03Speaker 2: I mean, they have a.
- 2:04Speaker 3: Ton of wide receiver decisions they have to make Mike,
- 2:07between Darius Cooper, who's been an incredible story as a
- 2:11rookie free agent. Now Johnny Metchi has been added to
- 2:14the mix, and of course Terrace Marshall was playing well
- 2:16before getting hurt, So they've got you know, I mean,
- 2:19really the it's helping them get an evaluation of other
- 2:23guys with the first team with aj Brown not there.
- 2:25Not saying that they don't want it to be there,
- 2:27but I'm saying there's no reason for them to stress it.
- 2:30Speaker 2: You brought on them back.
- 2:31Speaker 1: You brought up John Metchi the third he was traded
- 2:33for yesterday. Some people saying whoa get traded for a
- 2:36wide receiver? Read the tea leaves on this one. Is
- 2:39this a guy that just taking a flyer on? Is
- 2:42this a guy that there's another domino to follow? Is
- 2:45this a guy you bring in because you're worried about Brown,
- 2:48Are they not happy with some of the guys. They
- 2:50have a lot of possibilities on why you make a
- 2:52deal like this. I know it's a guy that they
- 2:54liked in the twenty twenty two draft. You say, hey,
- 2:56this guy's a lot of talent, hasn't been able to
- 2:58get on the field much in Houston, So why this trade.
- 3:01Speaker 3: So it's really a lot of it has to also
- 3:04do with Houston, just like with the Raiders. The Raiders
- 3:07wanted Thomas Booker and they were willing to trade Achory
- 3:10and Bennett because Bennett was just not in their plans
- 3:12and Booker was because of that whole Christian Wilkins fiasco
- 3:16that they went through.
- 3:17Speaker 2: Well, the Texans lost the tight end and they weren't.
- 3:19Speaker 3: Deep in their minds at that position to begin with,
- 3:22so they needed tight end depth and somebody can come
- 3:25in there and realistically.
- 3:27Speaker 2: Compete and play on that team.
- 3:29Speaker 3: And obviously the Eagles were a team that had the depth,
- 3:32which again shows you the value of just signing guys
- 3:35to one year deals and stockpiling as much talent as
- 3:38you can. So that precipitated potato a conversation where it's like,
- 3:43all right, you guys, have tight end depth.
- 3:46Speaker 2: We have a player, we have wide receiver depth. The
- 3:49Texans have a.
- 3:50Speaker 3: Very good one in Nico Collins, one of the best
- 3:52right they drafted too. They have Christian kirk Now who's
- 3:56going to play that Z slash slot role for them,
- 3:59and met She became an odd man out and Adam
- 4:02Kapple made a great point on the podcast. He's spoken
- 4:05to Bill Polling about this a lot former great GM.
- 4:08If you have an opportunity to just give yourself a
- 4:11player at a valuable position who's you may have liked
- 4:15at one point or another, bring them in. There's no
- 4:18cost to you to do it. Harrison Bryant wasn't going
- 4:20to make the Eagles. It was very clear that their
- 4:23top two were Goddard and Calcatara and Kylon Granson had
- 4:27been on the kickoff coverage and I believe return units,
- 4:30so he was contributing on special teams, which is what
- 4:33a third tight end does a lot. And it'll be
- 4:36between him and aj Jenkins for that last spot. So
- 4:38Harris and Bryant became expendable. And now you bring in
- 4:41Metchi and you kick the time. You see if he
- 4:43can bring you some value. It'll be hard because now
- 4:46I mentioned all the receivers that they have in camp,
- 4:49but nothing wrong with bringing in another one with a
- 4:51good pedigree.
- 4:52Speaker 1: I mean, you know, obviously the pedigree is what it
- 4:56is in terms of he missed a full year because
- 4:58of his battle with leukemia. Then he gave it was okay.
- 5:01I mean he's not been like WHOA look at this guy?
- 5:03But do you see him as a guy who could
- 5:05have a role on this team. I mean, they brought
- 5:07in Dotson last year and people were like, man, they
- 5:09stole Dotson. He had minimal role, if much at all.
- 5:13Do you think Mechi has Do they envision him having
- 5:16a role on this team?
- 5:17Speaker 2: Well, he has to practice and play well first.
- 5:21Speaker 3: And you know, like you said, he hasn't been very
- 5:23productive since missing that whole year to come back from leukemia,
- 5:26which in itself is a great comeback. When he was
- 5:30coming out of college, teams I spoke to really loved
- 5:33his ability to run routes, his lateral quickness. Thought he
- 5:36could be a super slot receiver if you put him
- 5:39there making a move Z. He not really an X,
- 5:41not a big guy, and the Eagles do have what
- 5:45I think is a need for a pure traditional slot receiver,
- 5:50And one thing I emphasized coming off out of the
- 5:53preseason game was do you see how a Nias Smith
- 5:57caught that touchdown from the slot. It wasn't just an
- 6:00unrealistic scenario you won't see in the regular season. You'll
- 6:03see that he caught it running a two way go
- 6:06on a slot corner in man situations and you see
- 6:09a lot of man low red zone because that's when
- 6:11teams like to blitz.
- 6:13Speaker 2: So if that, if Mechi can prove to be a
- 6:17guy that they think has a lot of value there,
- 6:20then possibly he could make the team.
- 6:22Speaker 3: I still think it's a little bit of an uphill climb,
- 6:24and part of me wonders if they're thinking that they
- 6:27can kind of get away with, you know, having them
- 6:31in camp and then you know, getting him on.
- 6:33Speaker 2: The practice squad after they wave him. We'll see.
- 6:36Speaker 3: But like I said, there's a lot of competition here
- 6:38now and it's sort of may of the best man win.
- 6:40But I do think Johnny Wilson and Aniah Smith have
- 6:43showed out pretty well in camp along with Darius Cooper.
- 6:46Speaker 2: Yeah.
- 6:47Speaker 1: Yeah, that one's interesting. I mean, I know a lot
- 6:49of people are laughing, like, oh, can he play corner
- 6:51and we'll get into that cornerback battle a little bit.
- 6:53But I am kind of intrigued. You know what this means.
- 6:56You bring in a guy like Mechi, who you know
- 6:59obviously lighted Alabama, high profile player there and then really
- 7:03did not do much so far. You brought up the
- 7:05Nia Smith catch. I have that on my list of
- 7:07five things that really shoot out because that's a play
- 7:09that the Eagles have not run a lot, that little
- 7:11inside slant to a real slot. They just haven't had
- 7:14a real slot receiver. And I don't know. Smith had
- 7:18one catch like that in the first preseason game for
- 7:20a touchdown. Then he gets another one here, and I'm thinking, man,
- 7:23can he have a role doing that? And did they
- 7:25now envision Mechi as maybe a better version of Smith
- 7:28who's had some drop problems like everybody else did on Saturday?
- 7:32Speaker 3: Yeah, And you know, if you remember a nice Smith,
- 7:34I think his first touchdown from his real one in
- 7:36the regular season last year that came from Tanner McKee
- 7:40I believe was another red zone touchdown on a similar
- 7:43kind of play.
- 7:46Speaker 2: So, like a couple of years ago, do you remember
- 7:47when the Eagles.
- 7:48Speaker 3: Acquired Duram Green, Beckham in a trade and everybody was like.
- 7:51Speaker 2: Oh, we're getting this great player.
- 7:52Speaker 3: He was the second round pick and he's amazing, and
- 7:55you know, I kind of threw water on it.
- 7:56Speaker 2: I didn't think it was a great it was gonna
- 7:58be great.
- 7:59Speaker 3: Then he caught a touch down pass in the preseason
- 8:01outlied against a five foot nine fourth string corner, but
- 8:06nobody wanted to like take that into account.
- 8:08Speaker 2: And everybody like kind of came at me and said.
- 8:10Speaker 3: See, you're gonna be able to use this guy in
- 8:12the red zone and do And I kept saying, there's
- 8:14no way the Colts would ever put in man to
- 8:16man situation a five foot nine corner on a receiver
- 8:20who has dgb's physical skill set. But unlike in the opposite,
- 8:26like I'm saying, what you saw against an Ia Smith
- 8:28on Saturday was a realistic scenario where you're man on
- 8:33man against a slot corner. Now maybe it's a better
- 8:35slot corner in the NFL, but it really doesn't matter.
- 8:38You're running a two way go. The corner has to
- 8:40be really really good to know whether you're gonna be
- 8:42breaking out or breaking in. So the point I'm thinking
- 8:46I'm trying to make is that was a realistic play,
- 8:48and that's how you can use an Ia Smith.
- 8:50Speaker 2: And don't forget an Ia Smith's a punt returner.
- 8:52Speaker 3: I don't know that Johnny Mitchi has done that, so
- 8:55I do think it still gives an Ius the leg
- 8:57up that he can be a natural slot. You can
- 9:00use him as a punt returner. He's a draft pick,
- 9:03Howie Roseman draft picks. I think those kind of things
- 9:06give him a little bit of a leg up. And
- 9:07I think he's had a good camp. He hasn't had
- 9:09too many drop issues as he did last time. Mean,
- 9:11I would say the past that he caught a touchdown
- 9:14on was a thrown a little bit behind him and
- 9:15he still was able.
- 9:16Speaker 2: To reel it in and score.
- 9:17Speaker 1: No I like to play. I haven't listed as one
- 9:19of the five things that stood out to me in
- 9:20a very snooze fest of a game an Ayah Smith
- 9:23catching that ball, body control, catching it first and then
- 9:27getting into the end zone. All right, most I mentioned
- 9:32can he play corner? Mechi who can play corner? Yes?
- 9:37Saturday we saw a Dori Jackson get twenty one snaps.
- 9:41We saw Ringo get about thirty. We saw Jacoreyan Bennett
- 9:47and Mac McWilliams both get about fifty percent of the
- 9:50snaps in the game. Today, Vic Fangio was asked as
- 9:54anybody won that job. He said no. He was asked
- 9:57if he's disappointed that no one's won the job. He
- 10:00said not yet. He did mention Bennett by name. Jackson
- 10:05got the first team reps today, Mick Williams got some
- 10:08first team reps, but not Ringo. Give us an expository
- 10:13on the on the CB two spot.
- 10:16Speaker 3: Well not only that, but Ringo also got third team reps.
- 10:19So you know, it's almost like, you know, a double
- 10:22insult to injury. Listen, you know the phrase, Mike, if
- 10:25youve got like three quarterbacks, you got no quarterback. You know,
- 10:28if you got four cornerbacks, you don't have one cornerback
- 10:32who you is your starter. So that's the situation they're in.
- 10:35I have a hard time thinking that if this thing
- 10:38shakes out the same way it's been right now, that
- 10:43Howie Rosevean's gonna be looking out there for a corner,
- 10:46like a legit starting corner.
- 10:48Speaker 2: But until that moment, until Vic, you know, until Vic is.
- 10:51Speaker 3: Certain that he doesn't have a guy, then it's a
- 10:54Dori Jackson to Corey A. Benett Khilley Ringo And at
- 10:57this point, you know, Ringo made another play in the
- 11:00preseason game that showed you some of his some of
- 11:03his deficiencies. We saw in the first game right where
- 11:07it was a Jamar Chase who caught to pass along
- 11:09the sideline and Ringo was a little slow to get there,
- 11:11but then he.
- 11:13Speaker 2: He couldn't wrap up the tackle at the ankles.
- 11:16Speaker 3: Ringo just doesn't have these great fluid hips and he
- 11:20gave up a third down pass because he got caught
- 11:23up in all this traffic of a crossing route because
- 11:25he just doesn't move laterally as well as some guys.
- 11:29Speaker 2: So it looks now, we'll see what goes on the
- 11:31next few days.
- 11:32Speaker 3: Yeah, looks like Jacoryan Bennett and Androri Jackson are gonna
- 11:35duke it out for a little while and we'll see
- 11:37if Jacchorian can make his move.
- 11:38Speaker 1: Now I'm putting my money on Jacorian Bennett. That's number one.
- 11:42Number two. I like in Kaylee Ringo to the pitcher
- 11:45who has ve lo but can't throw strikes. He has
- 11:48been a live and electric arm and he just can't
- 11:51throw strikes. And you're like, whatever happened to that guy.
- 11:53Ringo is the guy, right, he's the athlete, He's the
- 11:56guy that has all the tools. And then you're just like,
- 11:58why why can't you put it together? Because he does
- 12:01show flashes of brilliance at times with his athleticism.
- 12:07Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, that's a little you know, flashes of brilliance
- 12:10I've yet to see from Khilley Ringo. But you're right,
- 12:12he's shown you that he's a good athlete and can
- 12:15play out there.
- 12:16Speaker 2: But I just I feel like we have not seen really.
- 12:20Speaker 3: Good moments from Killey Ringo outside of like OTA practices,
- 12:24which are that's you know, Adam calls that double a.
- 12:26Speaker 2: I totally believe it. You know, I agree with him
- 12:28on that.
- 12:29Speaker 3: I make nothing out of I don't even make much
- 12:30out of training camp. But you have to start the
- 12:32evaluation process somewhere, and at least that's you know, real
- 12:35intense practices.
- 12:37Speaker 2: And I just don't think he stands out.
- 12:38Speaker 1: Enough all right, safety but Kuba interception return for a touchdown,
- 12:42fumble recovery. You know, hey, this guy's got a knack
- 12:45for the ball. Nick Sirianni said after the game on Saturday,
- 12:49did you see enough to say, I think mccouba is
- 12:51going to be the safety or is that job still
- 12:54up for grabs.
- 12:55Speaker 3: Well, I've always thought if he's healthy and performing his
- 12:58duties adequately or to to you know enough, that he
- 13:02would be the starter because he's a second round pick
- 13:05and a rookie and this year and you know this
- 13:07coaching staff wanted him, so that helps, you know. I
- 13:12wrote this for Philly Voice. I think that pick six
- 13:15was fantastic and really helped him. But we have to
- 13:18acknowledge that on that play, as Gabriel is rolling to
- 13:22his left, he's really looking for the tight end and
- 13:25o Jlari is doing such a good job of covering
- 13:29that tight end and not just cover but getting physical,
- 13:31forcing Gabriel to have to like, like, I can't make
- 13:34that throw to him.
- 13:35Speaker 2: I'm gonna guess go for Deiontay.
- 13:36Speaker 3: I'm guessing he was going then for Deontay or he
- 13:39was still trying to thread it there. But either way,
- 13:42what really jumped out of that play to me was Ojelari,
- 13:44who had a good game.
- 13:45Speaker 2: By the way, he had a really nice two passers.
- 13:49Speaker 1: On my list.
- 13:51Speaker 3: Now, the only thing he didn't do well was he
- 13:52did not maintain his backside discipline on that end around
- 13:57that went for I.
- 13:58Speaker 2: Think sixteen yards that he's got to do a better
- 14:00job of that.
- 14:01Speaker 1: But are you ever taking an end around is happening
- 14:03in a preseason game.
- 14:05Speaker 3: Well, I wouldn't normally, but the Browns ran two shooting
- 14:10ladder plays in the joint practices, so I guess the
- 14:13Eagles should.
- 14:13Speaker 2: Have seen something like that come true. But yeah, but no,
- 14:16I think mccouba.
- 14:17Speaker 3: Who again got some first team run today, let's see
- 14:20how he stacks the next few practices plays. He'll play
- 14:23against the Jets because Vic said the competing players will
- 14:27play in that preseason game and see from there.
- 14:30Speaker 2: I think he's got a good chance to start again.
- 14:32Speaker 1: The nickel all right, number another one on my list.
- 14:36O Jallari was on my list as well. Uh would
- 14:39be Jahad Campbell getting a sack, But he does it
- 14:41as an edge and that's a little bit different of
- 14:43how they deployed him in that it's early in the
- 14:45game and you saw a different look right off the bat.
- 14:48Now right now, it seems that he's the starting off
- 14:50ball linebacker next to Vaughn. So are you still trying
- 14:54to figure out what they're gonna do with Jahad Campbell.
- 14:59Speaker 2: Figuring out No, I'm projecting at this point.
- 15:02Speaker 3: And he continues to show up and flash and be
- 15:05the perfect kind of compliment to Zach Bond because he
- 15:10can shoot the gap and you saw him get the
- 15:13sack that was on a sim pressure what they call
- 15:15it creeper pressure where he's really the fourth rusher in
- 15:18a four man rush, which is not technically a blitz,
- 15:21but you Sawce drop into coverage on that, and what
- 15:24that does is that messes up a protection scheme. So
- 15:27and when you have a guy who can get down
- 15:29hill as fast as Campbell, You're gonna make.
- 15:31Speaker 2: A lot of disruption.
- 15:33Speaker 3: So I think he's got a chance to sort of
- 15:35have an impact in a different way on this defense
- 15:38this year that Cooper de jen had on the defense
- 15:41last year, which is just bringing like an electricity to
- 15:44it that you wouldn't get with Jeremiah Trotter Junior. Now,
- 15:47no offense to JT because he can ball, he can play.
- 15:51They got a really good player there who has good
- 15:53instincts and can be rangy and make the plays, but
- 15:57he is not the athlete that Jahad Campbell is, and
- 16:00that really jumps out.
- 16:01Speaker 1: Well, and it's funny because the whole one of the
- 16:04stories has been the Eagles have linebackers. They have like
- 16:06four of them.
- 16:06Speaker 2: This is unbelievable, Yeah, it really is. And when Nikobe
- 16:10d comes back to off five of them? So who
- 16:13are these Eagles? Who are you? And what have you
- 16:15done with my Eagles?
- 16:16Speaker 1: Right? Smile mind? And also looks like he can actually
- 16:18play a little bit there as well. You know, you
- 16:22take a look at the edge rusher spot you mentioned Ozelari.
- 16:24How do you feel about that? Now? Two games in
- 16:27of the preseason, I would imagine that Ojuce, both of
- 16:32those guys make it or early one. Are they battling
- 16:34each other? You know?
- 16:36Speaker 2: I think so. But I will tell you the guy
- 16:38that got from the Browns.
- 16:41Speaker 3: Man they call him Ogwell, right, yep, he's had some
- 16:45real I don't know where he is as a run defender.
- 16:48He is a good pass rusher, He's got some speed
- 16:51around the edges. It's a guy you'd like to keep,
- 16:54especially if he can contribute on special teams. He might
- 16:56be battling it out there with Patrick Johnson for that
- 16:59fifth role.
- 17:00Speaker 2: But Patrick Johnson's player.
- 17:02Speaker 3: He has great camps every year and is a good
- 17:05special team player, So one of those two will probably
- 17:08be the fifth. But yeah, I would think Uja and
- 17:10Ojelari or your three and four in some some order.
- 17:13Speaker 1: I think on the offensive side of the ball. Really,
- 17:15the only question is if if LANDA. Dickerson can't play,
- 17:18do we have a battle at left guard.
- 17:21Speaker 3: Well, you know, before he left, I think we were
- 17:23talking about.
- 17:24Speaker 2: This, and then when you were gone, we were I said, listen.
- 17:27Speaker 3: I appreciate Brett Toth. He's been around for seven years.
- 17:30He has impressed Jeff Stealton with his perseverance.
- 17:35Speaker 2: He you know, is not very good when he has
- 17:37to play center because his snaps aren't very good.
- 17:39Speaker 3: But uh, I think the Eagles are doing the right
- 17:41thing in that. You know, it's your job to lose.
- 17:44So they didn't immediately when Lander Dickerson went down and
- 17:47say all right, we got to get somebody else left guard.
- 17:49They gave Toth a shot.
- 17:50Speaker 2: But I do not.
- 17:52Speaker 3: I have to squint really hard to see Brent Toth
- 17:55on the fifty three and being the first guy.
- 17:57Speaker 2: Up at left guard.
- 17:58Speaker 3: And if he saw today Darian Cunard, yep took some
- 18:01first team left guard reps.
- 18:02Speaker 2: That's a guy.
- 18:03Speaker 3: That's more, that's younger, more development upside. Was with the
- 18:06team all last year, played some guard and tackle.
- 18:10Speaker 2: Matt Pryor.
- 18:11Speaker 3: I still think you play left guard in the pinch
- 18:12if they need him to. I just don't see Brett
- 18:15Toath being that guy.
- 18:17Speaker 1: We agree on that, all right. Jeff Bocher from the
- 18:19Inside the Birds Podcast, Football at four here on the
- 18:22sports Bash one preseason game left to go. It is
- 18:25on Friday night. You can hear the game right here
- 18:27on ninety seven three ESPN the Eagles and Jets. The
- 18:29pregame covered starts at six thirty, the kickoff at seven thirty.
- 18:33Inside the Birds podcast, available on all podcasting platform, has
- 18:37all your Eagles Jets coverage ready to go for the
- 18:40final fifty three before the opener. Jeff Bocher will talk
- 18:44to you Wednesday.
- 18:44Speaker 2: Man. All right, Mike, take care