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Football at Four: DiCecco's Thursday Eagles Notebook · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

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  Speaker 1: And Football at Four is powered by the Inside the
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  Speaker 1: Birds podcast. It is brought to you by the Fanatic
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  Speaker 1: Sportsbook at Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City. Birds taking
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  Speaker 1: on the Jags over in London. And we're going to
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  Speaker 1: get into it today. Andrew DiCicco from the Inside the
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  Speaker 1: Birds podcast is here. And, of course, a lot happening
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  Speaker 1: in Bird's Land. Short-handed. Who will be in and out
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  Speaker 1: for Philadelphia this week as he takes on the Jacksonville Jaguars?
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  Speaker 1: We'll get Andrew's breakdown matchups to watch. And of course
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  Speaker 1: his weekly X factor here on the sports bass live
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  Speaker 1: for football at four powered by the inside, the birds podcast,
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  Speaker 1: which you can get on all podcasting platforms. And of
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  Speaker 1: course the Eagles in London, we break it down now
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  Speaker 1: with Andrew to check go from inside the birds.com here
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  Speaker 1: on football at four and Andrew. The Eagles go into London,
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  Speaker 1: kind of an inopportune time, really beat up, broken down,
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  Speaker 1: and news breaking all week long. Let's start there with
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  Speaker 1: the news that really rocked everybody on Tuesday of Lane
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  Speaker 1: Johnson going down and how that has kind of infiltrated
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  Speaker 1: through the locker room. It sounded like a lot of
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  Speaker 1: people really hit hard by the fact that obviously Lane
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  Speaker 1: will no longer be a part of this organization and
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  Speaker 1: kind of the trickle-down effect of what it means for
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  Speaker 1: an already struggling offense and a really struggling offensive line.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, lots to unpack there. Yeah, I mean, Lane Johnson
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  Speaker 2: is one of the greatest tackles to play the game.
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  Speaker 2: So anytime you lose someone of that caliber, there's naturally
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  Speaker 2: going to be a trickle-down effect. And he mentioned in
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  Speaker 2: training camp that this was likely, I said, probably going
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  Speaker 2: to be his final season. And it lasted whatever, three,
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  Speaker 2: four games. And, yeah, I mean, the next person up
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  Speaker 2: is going to be Mark Elbell. eagles third round pick
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  Speaker 2: out of miami and i thought he performed decently in
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  Speaker 2: in the game and uh there's some plays you'd like
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  Speaker 2: to have back that i mean not not bad for
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  Speaker 2: learning that you're going to be starting after just a
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  Speaker 2: few hours notice and he'll continue to get better with
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  Speaker 2: the more reps that he gets out there the more
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  Speaker 2: time on task alongside tyler steen and This is the
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  Speaker 2: immediate future for the Philadelphia Eagles. They'll learn by the
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  Speaker 2: end of the year whether or not they have their
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  Speaker 2: right tackle of the future.
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  Speaker 1: Yep, let's get into that. I'm glad you went down
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  Speaker 1: that road, Andrew. As many people who listen to our
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  Speaker 1: segments know, you study the draft like no other out there,
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  Speaker 1: and you know these guys. Tell us a little bit
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  Speaker 1: about Bell. Is he the guy that they drafted to
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  Speaker 1: be the next right tackle in this team? Was that
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  Speaker 1: the idea that they had in mind, and the future
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  Speaker 1: starts now for him?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, 87 and an eighth wingspan, 6'9, 346 pounds. I
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  Speaker 2: think he could stand to add some strength to his
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  Speaker 2: lower body. His legs are really thin, but he has
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  Speaker 2: a lot of power up top, and you can see
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  Speaker 2: him be able to move defensive linemen in the running game.
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  Speaker 2: I think there's a lot of ability there. I don't
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  Speaker 2: think there's any coincidence that you're seeing him. He hit
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  Speaker 2: the ground running pretty early in training camp, and then
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  Speaker 2: you hear the endorsement Elaine Johnson gave him on August 8th,
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  Speaker 2: where he pretty much said he's one of the most
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  Speaker 2: impressive rookies he's been around in terms of just learning
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  Speaker 2: the playbook, not complaining, asks questions, does all the things
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  Speaker 2: that you want. So from a preparation and a mental standpoint,
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  Speaker 2: I think he's where you want him to be and
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  Speaker 2: what you're looking for from a rookie. And we're going
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  Speaker 2: to have to see how he goes out there and fares.
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  Speaker 2: I think he's going to do better in terms of
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  Speaker 2: run blocking initially than he will in pass protection, but
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  Speaker 2: This is all part of the process, and I like
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  Speaker 2: what I saw from him in training camp, but honestly, Mike,
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  Speaker 2: I can't really tell you one way or another how
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  Speaker 2: he's going to fare in the regular season. I like
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  Speaker 2: this college tape, and I like this preseason tape, but
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  Speaker 2: it's a whole different beast when you get into the
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  Speaker 2: regular season.
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  Speaker 1: How did he play in his first game on short notice?
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  Speaker 1: I mean, I'm sure you show up there, and it's like, hey, Markell,
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  Speaker 1: guess what? Put the helmet on.
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  Speaker 2: You're starting. Yeah, I mean, I thought he played decently,
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  Speaker 2: like I said, and There's not much more you can
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  Speaker 2: ask for. You don't get the full complement of reps
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  Speaker 2: with the starters. You don't get any reps with the starters, presumably.
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  Speaker 2: So to kind of step in there and have to
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  Speaker 2: find your footing and go against a pretty tough Rams
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  Speaker 2: defensive front, I think context is important. I thought he
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  Speaker 2: handled himself as well as one could expect. And I
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  Speaker 2: do presume that he'll get better as this goes along.
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  Speaker 2: And there are going to be some growing pains. Just
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  Speaker 2: understand that. It wasn't expected that he was going to
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  Speaker 2: be starting this early in his career, but the Eagles
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  Speaker 2: do a really good job, I would say, maybe even
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  Speaker 2: more than many organizations of really prioritizing and emphasizing the
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  Speaker 2: importance of player development. And so it's going to kind
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  Speaker 2: of be put to the test here early with some
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  Speaker 2: of these young offensive linemen. I think Drew Kendall's done
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  Speaker 2: some good things as well, but we'll see what they
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  Speaker 2: have in Markel Bell fairly early.
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  Speaker 1: So Fred Johnson obviously available there as well. And we'll
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  Speaker 1: see what the story is. He'll probably stay in that
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  Speaker 1: kind of backup swing role, I guess.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's kind of my expectation, Mike. And I thought
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  Speaker 2: there was a part of me that wondered if the
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  Speaker 2: Eagles would consider starting Fred Johnson. But I think it
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  Speaker 2: just makes much more sense to go with the rookie
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  Speaker 2: who you've invested a third round pick in. Fred Johnson
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  Speaker 2: would give you a little bit more of a solid
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  Speaker 2: solution that you know, that you're familiar with. He started games,
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  Speaker 2: but he's not a part of the future. Markel Bell is.
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  Speaker 2: And how do you get better? You get better by
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  Speaker 2: going out there and working through those challenges and learning
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  Speaker 2: from mistakes and growing from your triumphs as well. So
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  Speaker 2: I think it just makes a lot of sense to
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  Speaker 2: go with Markel Bell with Fred Johnson being the swing tackle.
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  Speaker 2: And he was listed, I believe, as limited with the knee.
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  Speaker 2: He missed the previous two games, Fred Johnson with the knee.
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  Speaker 1: So.
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  Speaker 2: We'll see how things progress as the week advances.
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  Speaker 1: Andrew, check with Football 4. A lot of news this week.
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  Speaker 1: Let's get to yesterday's big news. They make a trade
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  Speaker 1: of Cam Juergens. The center then moved to left guard.
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  Speaker 2: I don't know.
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  Speaker 1: Your reaction to seeing that Juergens is out. You wrote
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  Speaker 1: about it at InsideTheBirds.com. Who steps in and your reaction
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  Speaker 1: to Juergens being shipped out?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I was surprised. It kind of came out of
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  Speaker 2: left field, but I mean, when you look at what
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  Speaker 2: the Eagles got in return, it's hard to decline that.
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  Speaker 2: And you also have to look at what that could
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  Speaker 2: mean for them for the future, and they're pretty bullish
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  Speaker 2: on their young contingent of offensive linemen. And so you
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  Speaker 2: factor all those things together, and it makes a lot
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  Speaker 2: of sense. And you get a 20-28 second-round pick out
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  Speaker 2: of that. They now have two firsts and two seconds
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  Speaker 2: in that draft class. for a 27-year-old lineman who was
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  Speaker 2: struggling this season. And I want to put this out
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  Speaker 2: there because I think a lot of the criticism directed
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  Speaker 2: at Cam Juergens is prisoner of the moment mentality, and
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  Speaker 2: I don't think it's fair. He sacrificed his body, his health,
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  Speaker 2: to deliver the organization and this city of Philadelphia a championship,
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  Speaker 2: and that's how he should be remembered. And it hasn't
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  Speaker 2: been pretty for him the last two years. but this
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  Speaker 2: is someone who gave Philadelphia a really strong season and
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  Speaker 2: was one of the catalysts to that Super Bowl run
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  Speaker 2: and helping Saquon Barkley get that 2,000-yard rushing season.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, no doubt. I mean, this was the guy who
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  Speaker 1: was the heir apparent, and he looked like he was
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  Speaker 1: every bit like, you know, you have Kelsey. for, you know,
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  Speaker 1: as long as he was here as an all-time eagle.
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  Speaker 1: And it looked like you had a guy step right in,
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  Speaker 1: and you didn't miss a beat. And it just seems, Andrew,
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  Speaker 1: that the injuries just mounted on him, and then this,
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  Speaker 1: you know, little run at left guard really exposed him
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  Speaker 1: in that role. I mean, I know that Nick said
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  Speaker 1: that he was pleased, but they could not be pleased
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  Speaker 1: there to the point where I want to get your
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  Speaker 1: opinion on this. Like, did Drew Kendall play well enough
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  Speaker 1: that they felt like, you know what, I don't know
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  Speaker 1: that Juergens has got a spot when– Dickerson comes back.
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  Speaker 2: Perhaps. I think Drew has played pretty well. And when
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  Speaker 2: you look at what he's making and you're trying to
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  Speaker 2: look at down the road some of these investments that
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  Speaker 2: you're going to have to make on the defensive side,
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  Speaker 2: I think it makes a lot of sense. Drew has
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  Speaker 2: been fine. Now he has a knee injury that bears
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  Speaker 2: watching this week, which could complicate things potentially. But, yeah,
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  Speaker 2: I mean, I would agree. I thought he performed at
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  Speaker 2: an extremely high level at center in 2024, Cam Juergens,
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  Speaker 2: and then took a step back in 2025. The context
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  Speaker 2: is important. He had the back surgery after the Super Bowl,
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  Speaker 2: and you're not really yourself until over a year's time.
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  Speaker 2: But he obviously wasn't at full strength last year. And
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  Speaker 2: then this year, I thought in week one, he was decent.
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  Speaker 2: moving him to left guard probably wouldn't have been my choice,
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  Speaker 2: but I don't make those decisions. And he didn't, uh,
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  Speaker 2: he didn't perform particularly well there, but I think a
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  Speaker 2: lot of the, the criticism sometimes goes a little overboard
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  Speaker 2: and borders on excess, but there's, I'm not going to
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  Speaker 2: sit here and tell you that he performed well because
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  Speaker 2: he didn't, but he's also not a left guard. He's better.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. I think, uh, everybody needs to be cognizant of
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  Speaker 1: the fact that Jurgens was playing out of position and
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  Speaker 1: he struggled in a role that, uh, He didn't ask
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  Speaker 1: to be put in, and unfortunately for him, he did
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  Speaker 1: not play very well there. I agree with you. I
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  Speaker 1: thought Kendall has played well. In fact, there's times where
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  Speaker 1: you're looking and saying, he's the best guy they've got
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  Speaker 1: on that line at times. Who plays next to him
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  Speaker 1: at left guard in this week's game?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, right now, and you know, the Eagles are never
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  Speaker 2: going to reveal that due to competitive advantage, but I
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  Speaker 2: would say Willie Lampkin, and Willie Lampkin is a second-year player, 5'11, 290.
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  Speaker 2: He's a fan favorite, and I thought he had a
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  Speaker 2: really good training camp, mostly worked with the second team,
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  Speaker 2: probably almost exclusively with the second team, uh, cross-trained at
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  Speaker 2: center guard. He's a, he was a center guard in college,
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  Speaker 2: went to Carolina and finished off his career at North Carolina.
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: I liked the way he plays. He plays with a
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  Speaker 2: discernible edge. I think there's a noticeable chip on his
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: shoulder that he plays with really strong base, strong hands. And, um,
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: he strikes with authority. He uses his natural leverage to
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  Speaker 2: his advantage.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, he's a guy we talked with Brian Baldinger on
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  Speaker 1: yesterday's show, and, you know, a guy who played both
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  Speaker 1: center and guard. He said it was a rough change
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  Speaker 1: for him. And one of the things, you know, that
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  Speaker 1: Lampkin has played both positions. He has played some guard
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  Speaker 1: in college. But that 5'11 frame, that is one area
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  Speaker 1: where Balding said that will be a challenge at this level.
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  Speaker 1: Is that something that he can overcome?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, he does. He doesn't have the length, and you're
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  Speaker 2: now going against not preseason football where it's a different speed.
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  Speaker 2: You're going against regular season starting defensive lines. The Jacksonville
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: Jaguars are a pretty good defense. I know that he
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: performed well in the preseason. I know he performed well
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  Speaker 2: in training camp, but this is a totally different scenario here.
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  Speaker 2: It's not as simple as a plug-and-play. I know that
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  Speaker 2: he has the tenacity. I know that he has the
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: play strength and the power. He plays with it. Teammates
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  Speaker 2: speak really highly of him. Jordan Davis referred to him
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: in August as a bowling ball of knives. But until
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  Speaker 2: he goes out there in a regular season game, Mike,
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  Speaker 2: it's really hard for me to sit here and tell
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  Speaker 2: you that, yeah, he's going to check off all the
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  Speaker 2: boxes and he's going to be the future without having
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  Speaker 2: really seen it. But I know that all indications and
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  Speaker 2: everything that I've gathered suggests that he's someone that they
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  Speaker 2: really like and someone that they have high hopes for.
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  Speaker 1: All right, Andrew, check out football for a couple more.
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: We'll get his X Factor for this matchup against the
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  Speaker 1: Jacksonville Jaguars, a really good team. Yesterday, Adam, during football,
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  Speaker 1: foretold us he has Jacksonville as his number one team
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  Speaker 1: right now in the NFL. That's what Philadelphia's up against,
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: and they're up against it with no Saquon Barkley, no
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: Tank Bigsby. What's the running back position look like this week?
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  Speaker 2: It's going to be Will Shipley and Damian Pierce, and
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  Speaker 2: Will hasn't really... Had a ton of opportunities over the
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  Speaker 2: first two seasons and some change this third year now,
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  Speaker 2: but I like what he brings. He's the Eagles' best
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  Speaker 2: pass protector. He's a good receiver. I don't know if
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  Speaker 2: he's someone that you want handling a ton of volume.
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  Speaker 2: That really hasn't been the case here in the NFL,
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: and I think that's where someone like Damian Pierce comes in,
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: someone who can be that between-the-tackles runner, maybe factor in
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: short yardage goal line situations. And yeah, it seems like
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: that's going to be the plan of attack. I would
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: imagine you're going to see them work in tandem. And
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: I kind of like that tandem. I'm curious to see
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  Speaker 2: how they fare because their skill sets at least complement
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: each other fairly well.
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: All right. You've also got injuries at wide receiver where
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: I would imagine Devontae Smith will probably not play. Hollywood
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: Brown's still out as well. So How did the wide
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: receiver room look last week? What do we think about
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: this week against Jacksonville?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know that they really separated themselves. That
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  Speaker 2: was a good spot for Don Fabian Wicks, and there
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: were times where some of these guys were open, if
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  Speaker 2: I'm being honest, but it wasn't every time. One of
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: the bonuses of having a Devontae Smith is that it
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: dictates coverage and frees things up for the other players
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: out there on the field, and I think the Devontae
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: Smith factor was pretty apparent, not having him out there
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: and how the Rams played the Eagles. You want to
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: see a little bit more from Dontavion Wicks. I think
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: Makai Lemon earlier in that game did some good things
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: when the Eagles used him as a traditional wide receiver
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: where he can line up and run routes and not
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: necessarily be used as a gadget player. And then you
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: have Darius Cooper, who I think is a really solid,
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: good football player. Not necessarily someone that you're going to
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  Speaker 2: pepper with targets, per se, but he is strong with
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: the football, really strong hands, someone that Jalen Hurts trusts.
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  Speaker 2: I think they should be good enough and have enough
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: there where they should be able to move the football.
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  Speaker 2: It just comes down to the protection up front, and
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: I think that's something where you see the leakiness. It
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: comes from the interior, but there are other times, Mike,
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  Speaker 2: against the Rams where I thought that Jalen was bailing
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  Speaker 2: the pocket a little early when pressure wasn't there yet,
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: and you kind of got to hang in there and
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: not drop your eyes and be able to let it rip.
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: So it's going to take a collective effort for them
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: to get this done. All right.
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: A lot of the injuries here, Goddard limited yesterday. And
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: Adam told me on football for yesterday to keep an
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: eye on him. The tight end spot has been a mess.
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: Is there a chance Goddard can go to London?
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  Speaker 2: It's trending in a positive direction, you know, and I
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: would imagine, I mean, that aligns with the Eagles team. timeline.
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: They didn't put him on injured reserve, so that suggests
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: that they believed that he would be available prior to
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: that four-game absence. I think he was out there on Wednesday,
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: and that's always a positive sign. It took limited work.
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: We'll see what the practice report bears out on Thursday, today.
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: I think that there's a good chance that you could
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: see him.
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: Real quick, let's look at the injuries here. Dickerson, is
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: he getting closer than they thought.
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: He is based off of everything that I've gathered and,
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: you know, Landon himself spoke about that. And it just,
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  Speaker 2: I think it's going to come down to where do
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: the Eagles feel that he is in his recovery. They
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: want to make sure that they're giving him the most
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: amount of time possible. Of course, that could also be
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: dictated by the play that they get from these offensive linemen.
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: Whereas let's say a Willie Lampkin or a Micah Morris
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: and they're playing well, maybe you're not so quick to
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: rush Landon back and you want him to make sure
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: that he's taking as long as possible to return and
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: the best health that he can at this point. So, yeah,
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  Speaker 2: I mean, you could have Landon Dickerson back here relatively
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  Speaker 2: soon as well.
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  Speaker 1: All right, so Goddard trending well, Landon trending well, Vaughn
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: and Jad Campbell also was on the injury yesterday as
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: a DNP. I think Trotter, you know, obviously handles himself
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  Speaker 1: pretty well. so we'll keep an eye on that. Grenard
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  Speaker 1: was another guy. I mean, I thought he made his
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: presence felt early in the game on Sunday. Obviously, I
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: think he forces the interception and then the ankle, and
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: he doesn't play, but it's evident that Grenard makes a
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: difference for this team. Where is he looking like?
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he definitely does make a difference, and he helps
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: the other guys around him. He's day-to-day, I believe the
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: report was, and with that ankle injury for a pass rusher,
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: That's pretty critical. And so it seems like that's going
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: to be a touch-and-go situation. And I can't really get
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: a good feel for Grenard, per se, but they certainly
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: need him out there. But at the same time, you've
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: got to make sure that you almost protect the player
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: from themselves and don't put them out there if they're
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: not 100%. You don't want to re-aggravate it or make
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: something worse. And so I think you kind of have
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: to kind of have to feel this one out. I'll
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: be keeping an eye on that one throughout the rest
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: of the week.
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: All right. Andrew Chico football for Quinnian Mitchell would be
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: another guy to keep an eye on too. They certainly
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: need him out there. He was certainly missed when he
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: left the field. Andrew's X factor for London. This is
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: a really good Jacksonville team. If you don't watch them
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: play a whole heck of a lot, they get you
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: from offense, defense, all different angles, creative offensively. What are
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: you looking at this week?
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, my X factor, I don't necessarily want
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: to go running back because the Jacksonville Jaguars have a
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: pretty strong run defense. But I'm going to say, I'll
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: say Dontabian Wicks in this game. I really like his matchup,
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: and I think there's going to be an urgency to
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: get the ball into his hands in the short to
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: intermediate levels. Really good at separating at the top of
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: his routes, and they've got to get this passing game going, Mike.
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: It was clearly... not up to their standard last week
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: against the Rams, and that offensive performance is not going
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: to be good enough. So I imagine that with the
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: Jaguars being so efficient at stopping the run and you're
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: playing with reserve running backs, that might not be your
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: go-to in terms of the game plan. I think Dontavion
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: Wicks is going to have a big role in this one.
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: All right, we'll have the game here right on 97.3 ESPN.
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: Bright and early, the pregame starts at Maynard's at Margate,
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: 7 o'clock. I'll be there with the locker room. We'll
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: have 7 a.m. pregame, and, of course, we'll have tickets
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: to see the Eagles and Cowboys. Andrew DiCicco covering it
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: all for Inside the Birds, InsideTheBirds.com, and the Inside the
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: Birds podcast. Join us for today's football four. Andrew, take care, buddy.
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: You bet, Mike. Have a great weekend. Enjoy the game.