Latest / Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast / Football at Four: Going Inside Eagles Training Camp
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- 0:00Speaker 1: And Football four is powered by The Inside the Birds
- 0:03podcast is brought to you by BET three six five.
- 0:05Whenever the sport, whatever the moment, it's never ordinary. At
- 0:09BET three six y five, Jeff Boecher from the Inside
- 0:12of the Birds podcast and Philly Voice dot Com joins
- 0:15us right now on the first day of training camp. Now, Mosher,
- 0:21you and I often joke the summer is over. It
- 0:24is over.
- 0:26Speaker 2: No, I refuse to believe it. Mike, It's not over.
- 0:29It just training camp.
- 0:30Speaker 3: You know what, I'm gonna make a provision.
- 0:32Speaker 2: The summer isn't over until pads come out at training camp.
- 0:37And then when you and I talk on the day
- 0:38that pads come out at training camp, I'm gonna say,
- 0:41this summer is not over until the first preseason game
- 0:44is over.
- 0:45Speaker 1: After that, right, that's the seventh by the way, the
- 0:48first preseason game. Howie and Nick spoke earlier today the
- 0:52Eagles were back on the field. I think the big
- 0:54takeaway there was, were you surprised that Jahad Campbell was
- 0:58on the field and practicing in limited capacity but he
- 1:02was out there and ready to go something we weren't sure.
- 1:05Speaker 2: Well, yeah, two surprises that he was going to be
- 1:07out there because Vic Fangil alluded to him not being
- 1:10ready until August, so maybe Vic is telling you that
- 1:13summer's over or at least in August. And then the
- 1:17second surprise was that they said he was going to
- 1:19be limited, but to my knowledge, it looked like he
- 1:21pretty much participated in all of the team drills as well.
- 1:25Now there's no pads out, so I'm guessing limited to them,
- 1:29and if this were a full practice in pads, that
- 1:33he wouldn't have been out there, and that makes a
- 1:35lot of sense. But this is a game changer, Mike.
- 1:37I mean if it's a game changer in the sense
- 1:40that he's already out there working on the first day
- 1:42with everybody else. So the thought that Jeremiah Trotter would
- 1:47definitely be the starter opposite or alongside Zach Bonn for
- 1:52the season opener now has to be I'm not saying
- 1:55it can't happen, but now you've got to look and
- 1:57see how much Campbell can develop throughout the course of
- 2:00entire training camp.
- 2:01Speaker 1: Well, and the other revelation not revelation, but was confirmed,
- 2:04is that Nakcobe Dean's on the pup list. What does
- 2:06that mean to start the season on the pupp list.
- 2:10Speaker 2: Well, I mean, he can come off at any time,
- 2:13I believe, so it's not that big of a deal,
- 2:15kind of like Sidney Brown last year. But the reality
- 2:19is that he's probably I was told not to expect
- 2:24him till October. Now again, that doesn't mean that he
- 2:27can't make a faster progression. Who knows, but I expected
- 2:31him to start on pup and I would be surprised
- 2:33if you came off anytime soon.
- 2:35Speaker 3: Okay.
- 2:36Speaker 1: One of the other stories today Campbell back on the field.
- 2:39But another guy who had a similar situation last year
- 2:41that was hurt missed some time was Cooper Dejeen. He
- 2:44was playing safety today with the first team. Is that
- 2:49a surprise that he was getting some safety reps first
- 2:51team safety reps out there?
- 2:53Speaker 2: Not a surprise because we discussed that, we saw it
- 2:57in OTAs or we discussed you know that he is
- 3:00going to in base packages. In base when they don't
- 3:03have a nickel corner on the field, which is not often,
- 3:08he is going to compete at safety.
- 3:10Speaker 3: And at outside corner.
- 3:12Speaker 2: And I do feel like on the horizon, Mike, there's
- 3:16more to the story at safety. I'm gonna talk about
- 3:20this more on the next Inside the Birds podcast that
- 3:23drops that will drop. It's just a little too detail
- 3:26to get into right here, but I'll say, for now
- 3:29and for the future, I'm very interested to see how
- 3:32this safety picture works out here. But I mean, I
- 3:35do know that when they were in five defensive back
- 3:38formations today, he was Nickel corner where you're gonna see him.
- 3:43Speaker 1: I look at it. Well, my follow up to this
- 3:44would be, then let's just say he was an outstanding
- 3:46safety and that's what they want to do with them.
- 3:49Do they have the corner talent at Nickel to allow
- 3:52him to move from that spot and vacate it?
- 3:56Speaker 2: I mean, I just it's a good hypothetical, but it's
- 3:59just not to me a realistic one.
- 4:00Speaker 3: They drafted mccouba.
- 4:02Speaker 2: They've got for now Red Blankenship entering the last year
- 4:05of his deal. I mean, maybe if somebody got hurt,
- 4:07that's a really good question. Do they want to put
- 4:09him in over a Sydney Brown and then live with
- 4:11whoever they can at Nickel? And I don't know what
- 4:14the answer to that is because we haven't really seen Mac McWilliams,
- 4:17who profiles as a Nickel corner play. You can get
- 4:20around things by using certain types of sub packages. You
- 4:24can play big nickel with more safeties. Micuba himself has
- 4:28played nickelback right in college, so that's a potential backup
- 4:33that is just not getting.
- 4:34Speaker 3: Reps there now.
- 4:35Speaker 2: Kind of have to see how it goes throughout camp
- 4:37and see who is the backup slot corner.
- 4:40Speaker 1: All right, something to keep an eye on. Yes, the
- 4:42little Cooper Degene laying some safety at the first day
- 4:45of training camp today. Some other things of note on
- 4:49that side of the ball. Jordan Davis looking slim and
- 4:52trim man. And I guess the question I would have
- 4:55is you see Steord Davis come in, He looks obviously
- 4:58like he's lost some weight. Are there are other ways
- 5:01the Eagles want to use him and haven't been able to.
- 5:03Are they happy with the version that they have had?
- 5:08Speaker 3: No?
- 5:09Speaker 2: I mean, I don't think that they're ecstatic that they
- 5:11traded up in the first round to get a guy
- 5:12who's basically playing thirteen snaps a game. But they picked
- 5:16up his fifth year option for a reason. They talked
- 5:19about his playoff run and even the December games where
- 5:23he started to flash a little bit more as a
- 5:25pass rusher, and let's see, now he did come in
- 5:28appearing slimmer. You know, we talked a lot about Moro
- 5:31Ajomo stepping into that Milton Williams role as a three technique,
- 5:34as an interior pass rusher when you're in a four
- 5:37man front, and Moro has to prove that he can
- 5:39not only occupy the same amount of snaps that Milton did,
- 5:43but also play at a high level and give a
- 5:45pass rush the way Milton Williams did, or at least
- 5:47something close to that for this defense to be good.
- 5:50And if you're not getting that, then you're not ready
- 5:53to go to Ty Robinson.
- 5:54Speaker 3: And you see that.
- 5:55Speaker 2: Jordan Davis has improved as a pass rusher, then the
- 5:59door could be open for them to give Jordan Davis
- 6:03more pass rush reps in a four man front when
- 6:06they're in nickel. But you know, we're a little far
- 6:08from that. But I imagine being a little bit lighter,
- 6:11if that's what he truly is, can help him in
- 6:13that regard. But he's also got to refine his technique.
- 6:16Speaker 1: Mike.
- 6:16Speaker 2: It's not just a being about lighter, it's about learning
- 6:18how to use his hands, learning how to use all
- 6:21that strength that he has and funnel that into being
- 6:23a power player who moves people.
- 6:26Speaker 3: He doesn't move people.
- 6:27Speaker 2: The way a three hundred and thirty pound guy should
- 6:30move people. Right, you want to see him sort of
- 6:33develop like into what you've seen from a Dexter Lawrence
- 6:36or a Videveya right, or a Christian Wilkins, somebody who's
- 6:40just so multi dynamic and can do so many different things.
- 6:45Speaker 1: I want to go back quickly to the Dean thing
- 6:47on the pup list Jeff Mosher football at four. I
- 6:50know this isn't really a fair question for Nikobe. He's
- 6:53on the pup list. We don't know what he's going
- 6:55to do. But does he have nearly the impact this
- 6:58year as he did last year? In your mind?
- 7:00Speaker 2: Well, I mean, a it's hard to he could, but
- 7:04it's hard to if you're gonna miss like six games
- 7:06or some odd right.
- 7:07Speaker 3: But as far as.
- 7:08Speaker 2: Level of play, if he can play at the level
- 7:13he did last year, yes, he can make a huge
- 7:15impact because if he comes back and you know, plays
- 7:18the last ten to eleven games whatever in the playoffs, if
- 7:20they make it and he's great, that's good. I think
- 7:23though it's not unfair. Mike, what you're getting at is
- 7:27if you're asking can he be the same player that
- 7:30he was after yet another procedure, because remember it was
- 7:34the the it was the foot before, and you know
- 7:37now it's the pateller tendon, which is a tough injury
- 7:39to come back from. He had injury concerns coming out
- 7:42of college, you know, the shoulder and at the pro
- 7:45day and everything like that. So how many He's not
- 7:48the biggest guy in the world, we know that, So
- 7:49how many surgeries can this man absorb and still play
- 7:53at the level that he played at last year?
- 7:54Speaker 3: That is a fair question.
- 7:56Speaker 2: But he could certainly answer that by playing at that
- 7:58level of last year, and that would really help the team.
- 8:01Speaker 1: Vic Fangio will talk tomorrow, will probably get more detailed
- 8:05because Campbell did practice, Dejene was playing some safety. We'll
- 8:09hear more about them. The last guy on defense I
- 8:11want to ask you about was Jalx Hunt. You know,
- 8:13Jordan Mylotta had some interesting things to say. He said
- 8:16he's special, he has tendencies like Micah Parsons, He's going
- 8:21to be a star. Talk about putting a star right
- 8:25on the map there of Jalx Hunt. We've all wondered, Okay,
- 8:28what is this guy. Welcome, Welcome to trading camp.
- 8:33Speaker 2: Yeah, no pressure, Jalix Hunt. You and your one career
- 8:36NFL start now being compared to Micah Parsons.
- 8:39Speaker 3: That's that's great.
- 8:40Speaker 2: Well, the one thing we know is this, if Jelyox
- 8:42Hunt is even anywhere near the level of Michaeh Parsons,
- 8:46he'll get an extension after year three and he won't
- 8:48be feuding with Allie Roseman in the media or Jeffrey
- 8:50Lurry about it.
- 8:51Speaker 3: So that's just because both teams do business differently.
- 8:54Speaker 2: It's a lot to put on a guy, Mike, but
- 8:56I do you and I had this conversation maybe.
- 8:58Speaker 3: A couple of weeks ago.
- 8:59Speaker 2: We were just talking about the edges and what to expect,
- 9:02and I said, listen, Nolan Smith's the first round pick,
- 9:06and the sky is really high for both of them.
- 9:09But Jelex Hunt, to me, I felt, has an even
- 9:13higher ceiling because he's such an explosive athlete who already
- 9:19took to the position as a rookie despite not playing
- 9:22that position very much just two years at Houston Christian Right,
- 9:26whereas Nolan Smith he actually didn't play. We talked about
- 9:29this a lot as a rookie, and he really had
- 9:31to learn last year how to sort of channel his
- 9:34interesting frame and the speed in the athleticism he has
- 9:37into some power like that. That took him some time,
- 9:39where Nolan just kind of like, I mean, Jaylex, It's
- 9:42just the light seemed to go on for him very
- 9:45very quickly.
- 9:46Speaker 3: And if that.
- 9:46Speaker 2: Means Mike that his learning curve is that, you know, small,
- 9:51and that he can just pick it up and pick
- 9:53it up and pick it up and absorb, I think
- 9:55the ceiling will be really high for him.
- 9:56Speaker 3: I don't want to put the car before the horse.
- 9:58I'm just saying the could be very very high, all right.
- 10:02Speaker 1: By the way, On defense, Kaylee Ringo got the first
- 10:06reps on the outside there. We also did see Andrew
- 10:09mccouba practicing with the first team at safety and splitting
- 10:13reps with Sydney Brown. Those are all things Vic Dangil
- 10:17will talk tomorrow. You'll hear that in the three o'clock
- 10:19hour right here on the Sports Beast Live on ninety
- 10:22seven three ESPN. It's football at four at Jeff Bocher.
- 10:25Let's flip over to the offense, where obviously I thought
- 10:29aj Brown today had something pretty interesting to say that
- 10:33the amateur psychiatrists might get into a little bit. He says,
- 10:39he wants to, you know, put a stamp on the
- 10:43fact that he's the best. You know, and we were
- 10:46talking about the fact that did he win his team goal,
- 10:51and now he wants to be recognized as the best,
- 10:53meaning twelve hundred yards ain't going to get it done
- 10:56for me. And I want to put a stamp on that.
- 11:00Is that something you look at and read into it
- 11:01and saying, well, what does he mean by this? He
- 11:03wants to be the best and put a stamp on it.
- 11:06Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I wondered the same thing, Mike, And
- 11:09you know you can't help, but wonder how well.
- 11:12Speaker 3: I mean his His stats.
- 11:13Speaker 2: Weren't where they normally were last year, mainly because he
- 11:16missed a couple of games early from the hamstring injury.
- 11:20If you looked at his receiving yards per game last year,
- 11:23they were eighty three yards, which was not too considering
- 11:27how run reliant they were last year. That's not too
- 11:30much below what he did in twenty twenty three, when
- 11:33he was at eighty five point six, and then in
- 11:35twenty twenty two when he was at eighty eight, So
- 11:38just you know, three to five yards differential is actually
- 11:41a much less steep drop than say, jail than what
- 11:47the passing yards per game for Jalen Hurts was from
- 11:50two years ago to last year, or even three years
- 11:52ago to last year to this past season. So for
- 11:55him to be recognized that as one of the best,
- 11:58if not the best, I don't think it would take
- 12:00that much more, probably staying healthy, and I think he
- 12:03can easily get back to somewhere in that fourteen hundred
- 12:06yard range that he was at in twenty twenty two,
- 12:09two twenty three. But you know, to his point though,
- 12:14and you know, I mean guys like Justin Jefferson, guys
- 12:16like Jamar Chase, who are always going to get like
- 12:19ten to twelve targets a game, sometimes more, probably gonna
- 12:22finish with double digital touchdowns in their sleep. That's gonna
- 12:25be a little bit difficult for him, just because of
- 12:27the nature of the Eagle's offense. So I don't I
- 12:29don't know if he'll be able to be satisfied the
- 12:31way he wants to be.
- 12:32Speaker 1: Real quick, I know we jumped over to the offense,
- 12:34but I wanted to follow up. I had this written
- 12:36down from yesterday's show. The poll question which Eagles defense
- 12:40will be better this year's team or last year's team? Now,
- 12:44sixty nine percent yesterday said last year's team, thirty percent
- 12:49said this year's team. You just said that's not fair.
- 12:52But can this year's defense be better? I think on
- 12:55the surface, if you're asking will this one which one
- 12:59will be better? You would say, well, last year's team
- 13:01has better. But do you see scenarios where this team
- 13:05where there's any roads? You know, we always say, are
- 13:07there any roads that this team can use to get
- 13:10an upset? Are there any roads that would lead this
- 13:13defense to be better?
- 13:14Speaker 2: Well, first you'd have to ask me, like if we
- 13:16were going to take this argument to the most specific
- 13:20really you know, like scalpel and floor steps to it.
- 13:22They were the number one defense last year, So tell
- 13:25me what ranks higher than number one that this year's
- 13:27defense can achieve because tomorrow, if we're being literal, the
- 13:30only thing they can do is tie last year's defense. Correct,
- 13:33I mean as I mean, so, I don't know what
- 13:36basis that they would be judged on other than that, Well, we.
- 13:42Speaker 1: Know those NFL rankings sometimes can be subjective based on
- 13:47the fact, well, you're winning, so your run defense teams
- 13:50don't run the ball on you see if the number
- 13:52one rush you know that kind of stuff. I mean
- 13:54points per game. Maybe I don't know, but you know,
- 13:57I guess when you're saying. I think that this even
- 13:59last defense worked its way up to the number one defense.
- 14:03They didn't start out there. They got to work their way.
- 14:06They were one of the worst. They were one of
- 14:08the worst four weeks. Well, like theoretically, I would say,
- 14:11and I was talking about this yesterday, so you know,
- 14:13you can chime in with me here Josh Wett right now,
- 14:16I would say he's better. But could Jalx Hunt at
- 14:19the end of the year be better than Josh Wett?
- 14:24Speaker 2: I mean, yes, anything is possible.
- 14:28Speaker 3: It's also no, no, no, no.
- 14:29Speaker 2: Like it's not like if you ask me if Antoine
- 14:31Powell Ryland could be as good as I wouldn't say
- 14:33anything as possible. I mean, certainly the doorway is open
- 14:37for that to happen.
- 14:38Speaker 3: Do I think it's far?
- 14:40Speaker 1: In other words, it's a fair question to ask, like, hey,
- 14:42and Jalx Hunt at the end of the year is
- 14:44ten and a half sacks, and you were like this
- 14:46guy was unbelievable. I didn't see it coming, but hey,
- 14:49it's in there.
- 14:50Speaker 3: Yeah.
- 14:50Speaker 2: I mean, the one thing last year's defense really did well,
- 14:53also within the confines of being number one, was produce
- 14:56a lot of takeaways from about probably like week nine on,
- 15:01you know, and into the playoffs and they lost.
- 15:04Speaker 1: They lost fifteen and a half sacks from last year's team.
- 15:07I mean, so you got to find those sacks somewhere.
- 15:10If you lose fifteen and a half and don't replace them,
- 15:12you're under thirty sacks for the season. That's not good enough.
- 15:16So they're gonna have to get him somewhere. Like could
- 15:18the whoever plays safety? If Andrew mccuba is the safety,
- 15:23do you see a scenario where you're like, he actually
- 15:25was better than CJ. Gardner Johnson.
- 15:28Speaker 2: I can see any scenario where one individual player is
- 15:32better than the person that they replaced. However, when we're
- 15:35talking about a Jomo for for Milt, and we're talking
- 15:39about Jaelegs Hunt for Joshua and Macuba for CJ. Gardner Johnson,
- 15:44I see that as highly unlikely that at the end
- 15:47of the day, we're saying, man, all three of these
- 15:49guys are better than the guys that they were playing,
- 15:52it does and then you know Ringo better than Slay.
- 15:55Speaker 3: It just doesn't happen that way.
- 15:56Speaker 1: So what's more important that the guys who replaced the
- 16:00guys who left are better or that Carter, Dejeane and
- 16:05Mitchell the impact that they will bring and Bond being
- 16:09in the defense for the second year and being second
- 16:11year players. I know Bonn's not a second year player,
- 16:13but realistically he hasn't played a lot of defense in
- 16:16his career.
- 16:16Speaker 2: Yes, I would, I love how you asked that. I
- 16:19would say that progression from the young players who played
- 16:23really well last year to Jane Carter, Yeah, absolutely is
- 16:27more important than any one or two individuals matching the
- 16:33talent level of the person that they're trying like.
- 16:35Speaker 1: They could have more success on the defense's overall ranking
- 16:40than the new players coming in and providing whatever they're
- 16:44here to provide.
- 16:45Speaker 2: Right, And I think the real question is if the
- 16:47offense is going to be somewhat sporadic. I think that
- 16:51we can fairly say last year, despite all the spar
- 16:54star power, that the offense was sporadic, get ranked like
- 17:00it was in the middle of the pack.
- 17:01Speaker 3: If I if I recall correctly. I'm trying to look
- 17:03at the ranks right now.
- 17:04Speaker 2: Eighth, ninth, one, two, three, four, five, six, eight all right,
- 17:07sevenths or eight all right, which is fine, that's not
- 17:09bad at all. But if the defense only ranks seventh
- 17:13or eighth this year, not number one, can the offense
- 17:16compensate by getting into a top five, top six ring,
- 17:20because you know, if you're top ten and both, you're
- 17:21going to be right there with everybody. If you're outside
- 17:25the top ten and one or the other, then the
- 17:26other side has to compensate.
- 17:28Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, two more things before we get out
- 17:30of here. I thought one of the highlights was Roseman
- 17:33today saying, hey, we have thirteen picks and we could
- 17:35use them to make this year's team better, right, you know,
- 17:38like they're not resting on it. So he acknowledged if
- 17:40this team's not good enough, I'm not going to just
- 17:42let it and say, hey, you know, we'll get there.
- 17:44We won the Super Bowl last year. These guys maybe
- 17:46we got off the No, he's gonna say, if we
- 17:48need help, we have the ammunition to go get it.
- 17:50I thought that was refreshing to hear.
- 17:54Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, And he did that in twenty eighteen, coming
- 17:56off the Super Bowl when they sense that they needed
- 17:59some help, and I think it was was a golden
- 18:01tate that they wound up acquiring who helped them with
- 18:04a touchdown against the Bears. Yes, I mean he really
- 18:06didn't help them that much. And that touchdown you could
- 18:09have caught because it was one of those two way goes.
- 18:11It was wide open, but nonetheless it was a touchdown,
- 18:15and it just showed that how he would make a
- 18:18move at the deadline. And I think he has even
- 18:20more trade stock to be able to do that again.
- 18:23Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, last one for Jeff Mosher. Jalen Hurts
- 18:27said he has not worn his ring. He won't wear
- 18:30the ring he has moved on.
- 18:32Speaker 3: Is it because it's idious?
- 18:36Speaker 1: You don't like it? You don't like that?
- 18:38Speaker 3: I think it's cool in design.
- 18:39Speaker 2: But are you gonna wear a ring with like the
- 18:41wings out and like this green kind of quality thing?
- 18:45Speaker 1: Like, what are you gonna wear that into a club?
- 18:46I don't Well, I always feel like you spend so much.
- 18:49Now let's just become Can I one up the ring
- 18:52from the year before that? No one's gonna wear either,
- 18:55But does Jalen Hurts put it on like eBay, right,
- 18:59is it better? We were talking about this before you
- 19:01came on. You put the ring on eBay. It's is
- 19:04it a game war or like post super Bowl worn ring?
- 19:08Do you say I'm not ever a wearing this thing.
- 19:09I'm just gonna put it on eBay?
- 19:12Speaker 2: I have no I really, you know, the getting inside
- 19:15the mind of Jalen Hurts is a strange, strange venture.
- 19:19I'm just gonna go with my theory that he just
- 19:21thinks it's hitious and it's it's more it's better to
- 19:24put it and and by the way, it's intentionally, I
- 19:26mean it's supposed to be. All super Bowl rings are
- 19:28are gaudy, extravagant, and you're right, and my god, don't
- 19:32let the Cowboys ever win one, because who knows what
- 19:34Jerry will do to a Super Bowl ring and how
- 19:36ridiculous that thing will look. But yeah, I mean I
- 19:39think they're better reserved for a case somewhere than say
- 19:43a finger.
- 19:44Speaker 1: Yeah, you put it on display somewhere in your house,
- 19:47you know if you have that room? Right? All right? Well,
- 19:50day one in the books for the Eagles. Anything I
- 19:52missed that stood out to you?
- 19:54Speaker 2: Well, I thought, you know, Kenyan Green not practicing, it's
- 19:57not a big deal because you know, guys like Green
- 19:59and Carter hooting practice. If they were really hurt badly,
- 20:02they would have started on pup. So they'll probably be
- 20:05out there soon. But you know, Jillen Carter's pretty secure
- 20:07at his job, and plus he needs a little bit
- 20:09of the rest. Anyway, with all the snaps that he
- 20:11played last year. Kenyan Green not even being able to
- 20:14participate in the first training camp practice probably not not,
- 20:19Probably not gonna matter two weeks from now.
- 20:20Speaker 3: But if we're talking about today, not the greatest thing.
- 20:23Speaker 1: All Right, Football at four has training camp coverage all
- 20:26week long. The Inside the Birds podcast will have plenty
- 20:29more in depth on this with Jeff Moscher and Adam Kaplan.
- 20:33Andrew deiceco will have coverage over on Inside the Birds
- 20:36dot com, and of course, Jeff will be at training
- 20:39camp practice tomorrow for Philly Voice. You could read all
- 20:42the coverage there at Phillyboye dot com. All right, Jeff,
- 20:46happy summer ending.
- 20:47Speaker 3: Oh you stopped that. Mike Summer is nice and it's here,
- 20:51you know what I mean?
- 20:52Speaker 1: Man? All right, there's Jeff Moocher. Everybody Football at four
- 20:55here on The Sports Past Live ninety seven three, ESPN,