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The DiCecco Daily: Bye Week Temperature Check On Eagles · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Hello everyone, and welcome into this edition of the Check o'daly.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: It's Andrew Dechecko from Inside the Birds dot Com. And
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: at this point in the week, given that it is
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: the bye week, I want to take a moment to
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: do a temperature check a state of the Eagles, if
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: you will, And I also want to talk a little
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: bit about quarterback Jayalen Hurts, and we'll start with him
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: because he's off to a remarkable start this season, completing
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: one hundred and fifty one out of two hundred and
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: fifteen pass attempts for one thousand, six hundred and seventy
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: seven yards, fifteen touchdowns against just one interception, and he
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: has the longest seventy nine yards, which was that touchdown
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: to Devonte Smith on the play action against Minnesota. Quarterback
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: rating a one to fourteen point four, quarterback rating a
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: sixty seven point one.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: He's been sacked twenty five times, so for Jalen Hurts.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: This is a new offense, of course, held by offensive
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: coordinator Kevin Bittulo.
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: But I think everything that.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: Jalen discussed in the offseason a training camp and everything
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: that we saw was a quarterback who was in full command.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: And it's been sort of ingrained in him to play
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: a risk averse style, But I think what jay Onen's
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: doing this year is he's still abiding by that, but
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: he's being strategic in when he's taking those chances.
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: He's not running as much this season.
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: I think that's something that we all were expecting a
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: little bit more of from him. But I think actually
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: he's carried the ball just fifty eight times for two
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: hundred and seven yards and five touchdowns, averaging twenty five
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: point nine yards per game, which is low considering his
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: average in his career as thirty nine point three. But
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: he's he's finding different ways to win. He's facilitating the
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: ball to different players, He's decisive fitting the ball into
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: tight windows. He has a really good feel for what
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: defense is looking to do. He can make plays outside
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: of structure, and that's something that was very evident when
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: you go back to the Minnesota Vikings game. He just
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: flat out does things that not other quarterbacks are able
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: to do, and when things break down, he's able to
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: make plays outside of structure. But I just think that
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: he's also grown as a leader, reaffirming that it's all
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: about the collective. There is no finger pointing it all
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: starts with him. He's mentioned execution a lot whenever talking
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: about the offensive shortcomings, and instead of taking a shot
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: to or taking the opportunity to pass the buck or
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: pardon himself from some of the blame, he's taken ownership
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: of it. And that's what you expect to see from
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: a leader. But I think what I've noticed from Jaywen
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: this year is just his ability to elevate his level
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: of play and not well. He's never worried about stats
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: or anything like that, but I think he's growing into
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: the role a little bit more and it's clear as
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: day that he's very comfortable within this system and that
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: he has a good rapport with Kevin Batullo.
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: In fact, after the Giants.
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: Game in the locker room, I saw Jaywhen and Kevin
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: Batulo having a conversation, a positive one that shows their
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: relationship and how they're building off of their success, and
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: that's healthy. It's very evident to me that a lot
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: of the player, every player that I've talked to, is
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: bullish and pleased with Kevin Petullo, and he's.
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: Very well liked inside the building.
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: And I think right now what you're seeing from Patullo
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: is that He's a coordinator that is growing into his role.
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: He's becoming more comfortable. Play Calling is an art, it's
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: not a science. But it's taken some time. And I
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: know that there's a lot of folks out there who
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: probably don't want to hear that, but that should always
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: have been taken into account when he was appointed to
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: that role, getting a feel for it, getting a feel
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: first personnel, what works, what doesn't work, What can you
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: learn from and make sure that you don't that you're
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: not able to you're not repeating that, And how can
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: you best put players in position to be successful? How
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: can you set up a defense with something early in
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: the game that maybe doesn't work, but go back to
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: it and based off.
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: Of a tell that they have or whatever.
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: There's a lot of strategy that goes into it, and
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: I think that it's fair to say it was a
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: little turbulent early in the season players and from a
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: play calling standpoint, they're still taking too long to get
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: to the line of scrimmage and all that.
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: That was an issue last.
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: Season, but Patullo against the Giants had a really good
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: game plan for that.
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: The play calling was effective.
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: They found different ways to there's a lot more outside zone,
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: for example, than inside zone, because inside stuff hasn't.
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: Been working for the Eagles this season.
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: They incorporate another running back, they're still finding ways to
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: get down Goddard involved in the red zone.
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: I just thought that there was a lot.
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: Of good from Petullo that he can certainly build off of,
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: and not just Kevin, the whole offense, because they all
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: executed better.
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: That comes down to it too.
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: You can have the best play drawn up, but if
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: there's a false start, if someone doesn't hit their block,
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: if someone isn't running they're out the right way, whatever
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: the case is, you'll never know that it was a
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: great play. So execution comes down to it just as
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: much as the play calling. But of course Kevin's gonna
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: the onus falls on Petullo as the play caller. But
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: I think that he's starting to turn the corner. And
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: that's why I was always advising a lot of people
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: when they were being a little overly critical of Kevin
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: to just hang in there and be patient and trying
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: to point out that it's gonna take a little bit
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: of time. The offense, obviously, if we're being honest, didn't
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: look all that different last season. With Kellen Moore, they
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: just had their running game to hang their hat on,
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: and other things weren't necessarily highlighted because of that. They
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: were able to move the football well, they're able to
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: control the clock, and they were making those splash plays
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: on the ground. But from an offensive standpoint, the bye
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: week allows them to get healthier. I think you're able
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: to come up with some more self scouting and game
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: planning and find way find certain areas that you can exploit,
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: maybe something that you need to get better at, or
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: something that you're really good at that you want.
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: To continue to take it even further.
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: That's why the bye week is so imperative, and it
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: comes at a really good time for the Eagles because
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: they have a really tough, slady games coming up on
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: the back end. But I just think as a collective
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: that's something that if you're an Eagles fan you're listening,
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: I assume you are, you should feel pretty good about.
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: Not to mention, they're going to get AJ Brown back
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: for that, and for as effective as the Eagles were
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: against the Giants without AJ Brown, you have to be
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: watching that game wondering how much more effective would it
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: be with AJ Brown there? And I point to the
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: third down issues that they were having. Aj Brown's the
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: receiver that Jalen likes to go to, and that got
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: to have a type of moments and to have him
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: back out there and we'll have to wait and see.
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: Sometimes those hamstrings.
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: Can be fickle, but not having him play against the
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: Giants and then having another week to recover from it
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: and an extended period should serve him well. And then
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: you'll see the full complement of weapons. We'll see about
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: Cam Jurgens. But if Cam Jurgens happens to if that
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: lingers a little bit, I think you should also feel
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: really comfortable with what you saw from Brett Toath. Brett
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: Toath looked more comfortable at center than he did it guard.
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: And I know that he's going to get better from
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: it because that's his mentality. Having talked to him enough
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: times and I wrote a story about him after the game,
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: I just know that he's going to be even better
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: the next time that he gets his opportunity.
• 7:46
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• 8:45
  Speaker 1: On the defensive side, that's a group that I think
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: is obviously youth infused.
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: But they get better every week.
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: Drew, whether it's younger players like Drew mccouba, Jahad Campbell,
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: They've They've just gotten the Kobe Dean back in the
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: he played a ton of snaps against the Giants. They're
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: starting to find their way as an edge rusher group
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: and they have reinforcements that are on the way.
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: Look, there's always going to be growing pains.
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: That's something that we caution going into the season to
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: be mindful of. And when you have a young group,
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: that's gonna happen. But you also are gonna have players
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: you can grow, develop and build with and you kind
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: of afford them those opportunities to work through those challenges
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: and those growing pains because they're going to be better
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: for it. I think Drew mccooba might be the best
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: example talking about his tackling deficiencies. He had a candid
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: conversation with me last week about knowing that that was
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: an issue and he's doing things to work on that.
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: But you're also seeing a player who anticipates things. He's instinctive.
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: He can make plays on the football and he'll come
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: up in thump you, as he did to Xavier Scott
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: the Vikings running back down near the goal line. Jalen Carter,
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: Jordan Davis, Moro Jomo Moro Jomo has been tremendous this
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: and four sacks. They have a good rotation. We'll see
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: if Ty Robinson factors more into the rotation coming out.
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: Of the bye week.
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: I happen to think that he will because it seems
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: like it's trending in that direction. You want to see
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: what you have and get younger players those opportunities to
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: you know, they're gonna make their mistakes, but you rather
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: than make their mistakes one hundred miles an hour and you,
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: rather than get those opportunities, now get those game reps
• 10:25
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  Speaker 1: Well, the linebacker play has been exceptional. Joh Hot Campbell,
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: Zach Bond. Now they have na Kobe Dean. The Kobe
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: Dean out snapped Johad Campbell in the game. But you
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: have three players there who compliment each other tremendously. Zach
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: Bond's the do it all player, Rangy. He's a good
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: blitzer and he just covers a ton of ground and
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: he's an enforcer there in the middle. The Kobe Dean
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: is a tone setter, He's good at attacking downhill, he's
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: a good blitzer, tremendous leadership skills, and the more he plays,
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: I guess I should say the further removed he is
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: from the injury, the better he's gonna be. And he
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: looked pretty damn good against the New York Giants. Then
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: you have Johad Campbell, who can even double as an
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: edge rusher. But rangy player, lengthy, he covers a lot
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: of ground, He narrows throwing windows, he has speed to
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: track running backs on wheel routes. He just immensely athletic.
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: So you have a good trio of players there. Now
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: on the back end, Quiannon Mitchell, you have Cooper Degen
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: two in my estimation, the best two of the best
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: corners in the game. Cooper Degen is a football player
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: through and through. He can play any position out there,
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: and he continues to impress Quiennon Mitchell erases one side
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: of the field, and because you have that kind of
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: cornerback play, and I would argue the Eagles are heavy,
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: I guess they have a surplus because how many teams
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: have two corners that are of that caliber on their roster.
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: I think the Eagles have more talented players at that
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: position than you see across the league, despite what the
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: consensus may say. But because of that, and because of
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: the good safety player they're getting, and again, Drew mccoba
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: is going to have games where it's a reminder that
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: he's a rookie, but he's also going to make some savvy,
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: veteran type of plays as well. But when you have
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: a secondary like that that flows to the football, they
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: can take it away. There's a veteran back there and
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: red blanket ship, but there's also two young playmakers in
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: Quinna Mitchell and Cooper dejen that you could put on
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: any receiver and you feel really confident that you can
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: almost mask whatever the second corner is as long as
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: they're giving you somewhat consistent play and teams aren't able
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: to scheme to exploit that side of the field, which
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: against the Giants that was the case. They weren't able
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: to take advantage of the matchup against kiey Ringo.
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: Kie Ringo held his own.
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: They didn't throw the ball a lot, But what you're
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: seeing is a group that's starting to come together in Geil,
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: and that takes time.
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: They don't play in the preseason.
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: Training camp is training camp, but it almost takes, you know,
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: the first month or two of the season for the
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: group to become a more cohesive unit and for Fangio
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: to get a better grasp of his personnel how he
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: wants to deploy certain players. There's reinforcements coming on the way.
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: He's been really aggressive this season, setting a lot of
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: pressure and that's a byproduct of not being able to
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: get home with traditional pressure. But I think you're seeing
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: what this group can be when they're hitting their stride,
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: which is now they're starting to hit their stride at
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: the right time. They're peaking at the right time, and
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: they're going to continue to get better because of the
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: talent that they have and the youth that they have.
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: Just some of my bye week thoughts, but this is
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: sort of my temperature check on both sides of the ball.
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: And then special teams I think has done a really
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: nice job in terms of coverage, especially Kylin Granson, Cameron Lattu,
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: Sidney Brown, Keeley Ringo. They're all over the field. Jeremiah
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: Trotter junior Will Shipley. They have a good core group
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: of players who are everywhere on the field and from
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: a kicking standpoint, aside from the mist that Jake Elliott
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: had that fifty eight yarder, he's been automatic this season.
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: It's been a revelation, which is why I cautioned folks
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: to not overreact to Jake Elliott of last season. And
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: you know sometimes with kickers that can be a drop off.
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: So I don't want to say it was a complete overreaction,
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: but I tried to point out some reasons why he
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: was primed for a rebound and you're seeing that happen now.
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: And then the punp return game. Xavier Gibson should be
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: the punp returner. He just gives them a lot more
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: in my estimation than does a Johan Dotson, who really
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: hadn't done it in his career until this season in Philadelphia.
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: Think Gibson should be the pump returner. They settled on
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: a kick return duo now and Will Shipley and Xavier
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: Gibson after having to go through a number of iterations.
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: So they've settled on a group. And I've been really,
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: really bullish.
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: On Michael Clay.
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: I think he's a fantastic coach, and I'm glad that
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: he started to get more recognition for that over the
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: past couple of years, because I think that there was
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: a lot of misguided venom spewed in his direction a
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: few years ago. But talk to anyone and they'll tell
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: you that he's a bright coach which has a bright future,
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: and his group.
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: Play is really hard for him.
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: So there's my assessment of all three groups during this
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: bye week.
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: This has been to check O Dely.
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: I'm Andrew de Checo and I will catch you on
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: the next one.