Latest / Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast / ITB: Taking Deep Look at Eagles First Week of Training Camp
Transcript
- 0:09Speaker 1: Hello again everyone, Welcome to Inside the Birds. It's Kaplin
- 0:13Speaker 1: and to check go back. So nice, we did it twice. Andrew,
- 0:17Speaker 1: good to see you.
- 0:18Speaker 2: Great to be with you, Adam, looking forward to the show.
- 0:20Speaker 3: Yeah.
- 0:21Speaker 1: So on today's show, we're gonna kind of tell you
- 0:25Speaker 1: a little bit more about the standouts, what went on
- 0:28Speaker 1: the first week where they only had three practices, plus
- 0:30Speaker 1: we'll walkthrough and we'll get into the practice schedule this week,
- 0:33Speaker 1: which will be a little bit more full, a little
- 0:37Speaker 1: different from last week, which is typical of the first
- 0:39Speaker 1: week is always later, and then we'll get into the transaction.
- 0:42Speaker 1: They actually had their first training camp transaction. A veteran
- 0:44Speaker 1: was actually released, which happened Sunday. But Andrew first. So
- 0:49Speaker 1: you have the three practices walk through. Of course the
- 0:53Speaker 1: media doesn't get to see, but you saw the three
- 0:54Speaker 1: practice You saw every.
- 0:55Speaker 3: Snap you were there.
- 0:57Speaker 1: You got to see it quite a bit. What were
- 0:59Speaker 1: your overall this team after three practices.
- 1:03Speaker 4: This defense is as advertised at them at all three
- 1:06Speaker 4: levels they're operating in concert. They just have a really
- 1:09Speaker 4: good feel for what one another's doing, and that really
- 1:11Speaker 4: shouldn't be a surprise. The better part of this unit
- 1:14Speaker 4: has been together for at least three seasons.
- 1:16Speaker 2: They're entering their third year with.
- 1:17Speaker 4: Vic Vangeo, and it's to be expected that they're giving
- 1:21Speaker 4: the offense some quality work and I think the offense
- 1:24Speaker 4: will ultimately benefit from it having going against the unit
- 1:28Speaker 4: this stet.
- 1:29Speaker 1: Yeah, and remember they're going to play Dallas twice and
- 1:32Speaker 1: they'll be running the Fangio scheme and some others that
- 1:35Speaker 1: they'll face will run some of that stuff, so they'll
- 1:38Speaker 1: be interesting to see what happens. But yeah, so we
- 1:40Speaker 1: got we got through the first part of training camp. Now,
- 1:43Speaker 1: the offense, as fully expected, is far behind the defense
- 1:48Speaker 1: in terms of efficiency. But Andrew, I know when your
- 1:52Speaker 1: daily to check or you talk about some standouts. So
- 1:54Speaker 1: what did you like about the offense that you saw.
- 1:57Speaker 4: Well, I did like a lot of the under center
- 1:59Speaker 4: play actions. I thought Jaywen Hurts made some of his
- 2:01Speaker 4: better throws out of under center and the play action passes.
- 2:06Speaker 4: And it's going to be a work in progress, but
- 2:08Speaker 4: I did see some things that I liked. He's taking
- 2:11Speaker 4: more chances than he has that I can remember, which
- 2:13Speaker 4: is good to see. We'll see if that carries over
- 2:16Speaker 4: into the regular season. But he's willing to throw the
- 2:18Speaker 4: ball into tight windows, which is going to be imperative
- 2:21Speaker 4: of a true West Coast offense, which this is. And
- 2:24Speaker 4: there are certain players that have really stood out to me,
- 2:27Speaker 4: namely Tank Bigsby, the Eagles running back who they acquired
- 2:30Speaker 4: last September. I think he stands to have a more
- 2:33Speaker 4: defined role this year. You see the change of pace
- 2:36Speaker 4: that he presents and just a lot of juice and explosiveness.
- 2:39Speaker 4: I can't wait to see what he can do when
- 2:40Speaker 4: the pads come on. Then you look at some of
- 2:43Speaker 4: the other receivers, Davonte Smith, he's as consistent and steady
- 2:46Speaker 4: as he gets. But then you're looking at Okay, what
- 2:49Speaker 4: are you seeing from Dotte Avian Wicks. How's McKay lemon progressing.
- 2:53Speaker 4: McKayle lemon was targeted a few different times on Saturday,
- 2:56Speaker 4: none of them were complete, but I think it really
- 2:58Speaker 4: underscores a more important point here, and that is that
- 3:01Speaker 4: they are looking to get him involved. He seeing a
- 3:03Speaker 4: lot of first team reps and we'll see if they're
- 3:05Speaker 4: able to start to establish some consistency there in getting
- 3:08Speaker 4: him the football throughout the summer.
- 3:10Speaker 1: All right, before we take a deep dive on the offense,
- 3:13Speaker 1: and then we'll hit the defense. They did have one
- 3:15Speaker 1: transaction during the first week, and they released Taekwon Graham
- 3:19Speaker 1: as a veteran who was drafted by the Falcons. He's
- 3:21Speaker 1: actually vested veteran, the only defensive tackle that they had
- 3:24Speaker 1: who was vested. They released them with a non football
- 3:26Speaker 1: entry settlement. And you were telling me off the air
- 3:28Speaker 1: that he was not. He was excused on Saturday. Is
- 3:30Speaker 1: that correct?
- 3:31Speaker 4: Excuse not injury related? Right, he was a number of
- 3:35Speaker 4: the players had that designation and he was one of them.
- 3:38Speaker 1: All right, So yeah, so he's no longer an Eagle.
- 3:41Speaker 1: They are now down to eight defensive tackles on the
- 3:44Speaker 1: ninety man roster. Six are guys who actually have playing experience.
- 3:49Speaker 1: It's Ojomo Davison, Carter who are the starters, Gabe Hall,
- 3:53Speaker 1: who's been this is his third year on enough the
- 3:55Speaker 1: Eagles roster, Ty Robinson of course, and Byron Young is
- 3:57Speaker 1: the first guy off the bench. Then you have Zion
- 4:01Speaker 1: the undrafted free agent out of East Carolina who's a
- 4:05Speaker 1: very intriguing player, and of course you are Bernard. So look,
- 4:08Speaker 1: Haekon Green was a major long shot to make it anyway,
- 4:11Speaker 1: but they won't have him as he was released and
- 4:14Speaker 1: by the way, he was going to make just under
- 4:17Speaker 1: one point three million, so they did a settlement which
- 4:20Speaker 1: is going to be far less than he was going
- 4:21Speaker 1: to make, but again he is going to make some
- 4:22Speaker 1: money from the Eagles this season.
- 4:24Speaker 3: Do the settlement.
- 4:25Speaker 1: So as we move on Andrew back to the offense.
- 4:30Speaker 1: The guy, you know, it's interesting Dan Tavian Wicks. He
- 4:33Speaker 1: certainly everyone probably knows about it now. Most people do
- 4:37Speaker 1: the big time catch in Thursday's practice on a broken play.
- 4:41Speaker 1: But overall with Don Tavian Wicks, what did you see
- 4:43Speaker 1: from him?
- 4:44Speaker 4: Someone who's really good at creating separation in the short
- 4:47Speaker 4: to intermediate levels. He's not someone who's going to threaten
- 4:50Speaker 4: down the field, at least consistently. That's not really his game.
- 4:54Speaker 4: But he has a different frame relative to the other
- 4:56Speaker 4: players in the room. And going back to his time
- 4:59Speaker 4: in Green Bay, Adam what I noticed about him because
- 5:01Speaker 4: he does a nice job of using his body for
- 5:03Speaker 4: positioning and doing some of the technical aspects of that job.
- 5:06Speaker 4: The questions with him is can he catch the football consistently.
- 5:10Speaker 4: That's been something that's played him throughout his time in
- 5:13Speaker 4: Green Bay, and needless to say, he's going to undertake
- 5:16Speaker 4: a much more prominent role here in Philadelphia, so that's
- 5:19Speaker 4: something that's going to be under the spotlight here throughout camp.
- 5:22Speaker 4: But he has had he's had a handful of catches
- 5:25Speaker 4: and you could see him sort of develop the rapport
- 5:28Speaker 4: with Jayleen hurt says as practices progress here. But obviously
- 5:32Speaker 4: he's one of the more fascinating cases in this offense
- 5:35Speaker 4: because not a lot is known about him. It's never
- 5:37Speaker 4: had more than thirty nine catches in a season, maybe
- 5:40Speaker 4: seventy four or seventy five targets in a season, so
- 5:43Speaker 4: he's a big question mark. But I think what's most
- 5:46Speaker 4: interesting about this is that clearly Sean.
- 5:48Speaker 2: Mannion and Ryan Mahaffey.
- 5:50Speaker 4: Ryan Mahafey was his wide receivers coach for two years
- 5:52Speaker 4: in Green Bay. They have a unique perspective on what
- 5:55Speaker 4: he can provide and will have to see if he's
- 5:57Speaker 4: able to meet the moment here.
- 6:00Speaker 1: Yeah, see what hurt him is UVA. He had won
- 6:05Speaker 1: really good season, then the rest was just not good enough.
- 6:09Speaker 1: So he dropped plus the forty time at the combine,
- 6:11Speaker 1: which was bad in four six two. So it ran
- 6:14Speaker 1: much better at his Pro day and that helped him
- 6:17Speaker 1: at least get drafted. But there's talent there. He's a
- 6:20Speaker 1: what you would call a big six foot one in
- 6:22Speaker 1: three tenths of an inch. He's he certainly looks bigger
- 6:24Speaker 1: than that.
- 6:25Speaker 3: Up front.
- 6:25Speaker 1: He's got long arms, fairly long arms. So he was
- 6:27Speaker 1: a fifth round up by the way with the Packers
- 6:29Speaker 1: in twenty twenty three. So yeah, he's gonna be one
- 6:32Speaker 1: of their top three receivers. But the question is, as
- 6:35Speaker 1: we transition to some more of the receivers, here is
- 6:39Speaker 1: mackay Lemon, who's gonna ligne up mostly in the slot.
- 6:44Speaker 1: What are your feelings on him for a guy who
- 6:45Speaker 1: missed the majority of their offseason dude to injury.
- 6:47Speaker 2: Yeah, it didn't. It doesn't appear as though he's too
- 6:50Speaker 2: far behind the eight ball.
- 6:51Speaker 4: The Eagles are given him a ton of first team reps.
- 6:53Speaker 4: He's been utilized in terms of motion and things like that.
- 6:57Speaker 4: He was targeted a few times on Saturday Day, Adam.
- 7:00Speaker 4: None of them were complete. There was one on a
- 7:03Speaker 4: deep shot down the sideline where he had a half
- 7:06Speaker 4: step on Cooper Degene. Cooper Degen was able to close
- 7:09Speaker 4: the gap there. The pass was a little long, from
- 7:11Speaker 4: jaywhen hurts. There was one during a seven on seventh
- 7:13Speaker 4: period over the middle and you know Drew mccober was
- 7:17Speaker 4: able to break on it, sort of ran through him
- 7:19Speaker 4: a little bit there that was incomplete. Then there was
- 7:21Speaker 4: another one in the red zone when they were working
- 7:23Speaker 4: on red zone period where Jay would try to fit
- 7:25Speaker 4: one end to him and Jeremiah Trotter Junior pulled them
- 7:28Speaker 4: down and drew the pass interference flag. So and they're
- 7:31Speaker 4: getting they're looking to get him involved in they're targeting them.
- 7:34Speaker 2: We just got to see some of that develop a
- 7:37Speaker 2: little bit more.
- 7:38Speaker 1: And I'll tell you who's flashed and if he makes it,
- 7:42Speaker 1: it's he's not gonna see much time if he plays
- 7:44Speaker 1: it all on offense. But Britain Covey had a number
- 7:47Speaker 1: of catches in Thursday's practice. Yes, I know they're not
- 7:50Speaker 1: in paths or anything. It's the practices are life. But man,
- 7:53Speaker 1: he is. They they don't even a slot receiver because
- 7:56Speaker 1: they've got lemon. They don't even back.
- 7:57Speaker 3: Up slot receiver. It's not necessary.
- 8:00Speaker 1: But man, Britain Covey, he's got good quicks for a
- 8:03Speaker 1: small guy. It's just the key here is what could
- 8:07Speaker 1: he provide other than Putt returning, not much else and
- 8:10Speaker 1: that's going to be the challenge for him.
- 8:12Speaker 2: Britain's a hard worker man.
- 8:13Speaker 4: Every summer that he's been in Philadelphia, he flashes here
- 8:16Speaker 4: and there with some receptions. He does have really good
- 8:18Speaker 4: Sharia quickness that's really fascinating to watch when you watch
- 8:22Speaker 4: the receivers go through individuals. Him and DeVante Smith have
- 8:25Speaker 4: a really unique quickness to them when they're doing the drills.
- 8:28Speaker 4: But it's going to be very difficult for him, needless
- 8:31Speaker 4: to say. But I don't know. I feel like he's
- 8:33Speaker 4: a player that is going to be someone in the
- 8:35Speaker 4: preseason who really flashes. Now, being that far down in
- 8:39Speaker 4: the depth chart, you're not likely to see a role,
- 8:41Speaker 4: but he is sort of interesting as a potential manufactured
- 8:45Speaker 4: touch player. I just don't know that that would be
- 8:48Speaker 4: the case here because of all the players in front
- 8:50Speaker 4: of him.
- 8:50Speaker 1: Yeah, and believe this or not, he actually turns thirty
- 8:53Speaker 1: years old in March.
- 8:56Speaker 3: That's hard he.
- 8:56Speaker 4: Actually, believe it or not, a little fun fact we
- 8:59Speaker 4: share the same birthday here.
- 9:00Speaker 3: You really, Yeah, you're a little bit older right now. Yeah,
- 9:04Speaker 3: just a tad It's just a tad set.
- 9:06Speaker 1: So as we as we continue on offense, you know,
- 9:09Speaker 1: the number one thing coming into this situation with hurts
- 9:12Speaker 1: with the timing, but also very important is the health
- 9:16Speaker 1: of the offensive line. And I know they're not in pads,
- 9:17Speaker 1: they're not hitting the Temple's way faster and it was
- 9:20Speaker 1: though in the OHA's If you've watched the lineman, what
- 9:24Speaker 1: have you seen from them?
- 9:27Speaker 4: The angles are something that you're going to notice right away,
- 9:30Speaker 4: the first look that you have at the offensive line.
- 9:33Speaker 4: I'm speaking to those who haven't seen it yet. I
- 9:35Speaker 4: think it should alleviate some pressure from them, and relative
- 9:38Speaker 4: to the grueling nature that they adopted under just that
- 9:41Speaker 4: one for many years, it should preserve them a little
- 9:43Speaker 4: bit more. But adam to a larger point here, from
- 9:46Speaker 4: a health perspective, they seem to be right where you
- 9:50Speaker 4: would expect them to be. There doesn't appear to be
- 9:52Speaker 4: any lingering effects from last season, and that's all you
- 9:55Speaker 4: can ask for at this stage. But it's among the
- 9:57Speaker 4: most prominent storylines going on into the fall and really
- 10:01Speaker 4: throughout the season, because as I'd mentioned to you, and
- 10:03Speaker 4: I've said it on the The Check with Daily podcast, it
- 10:05Speaker 4: doesn't much matter how much of an evil genius Sean Manny.
- 10:08Speaker 4: It is in the words of Jordan Mylotta, it doesn't
- 10:10Speaker 4: much matter how well Jalen Hurts takes the offense. If
- 10:13Speaker 4: you don't have a healthy offensive line, you know, pave
- 10:17Speaker 4: in the way that there's always so much that.
- 10:19Speaker 2: You can do.
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- 13:47Speaker 1: Yeah, so on the one of the guys I felt
- 13:49Speaker 1: and I watched them a little bit on Thursday is
- 13:55Speaker 1: John Ojokuo who is the who's an undirector free acher
- 13:58Speaker 1: with the Titans at twenty three. I was on and
- 14:00Speaker 1: off the roster several times. But man, he is athletic.
- 14:04Speaker 1: He can move like they list him over three hundred pounds.
- 14:07Speaker 1: He looks smaller than that, but he's over six foot five. Andrew,
- 14:10Speaker 1: what do you know about this guy?
- 14:12Speaker 4: I'm glad you brought him up at him because John
- 14:15Speaker 4: Adjuku and Jake Majors are two players that are kind
- 14:17Speaker 4: of under the radar. But I will be keeping an
- 14:20Speaker 4: eye on them not only throughout training camp, but also
- 14:22Speaker 4: in the preseason. Ujuku has played in sixteen games nine
- 14:25Speaker 4: starts with the Tennessee Titans. He's an undrafted free agent
- 14:28Speaker 4: in twenty twenty three, I believe out of Boise State,
- 14:32Speaker 4: And if I remember correctly, and I have to go
- 14:34Speaker 4: back and check the notes, I think they may have
- 14:36Speaker 4: used him a little bit at guard, cross train him
- 14:38Speaker 4: a little bit in the spring. So I think when
- 14:41Speaker 4: you look at the reserve offensive lineman, there's not a
- 14:44Speaker 4: ton of experience there from a tackle perspective, and he's
- 14:47Speaker 4: kind of an interesting player that I think will have
- 14:51Speaker 4: a decent shot at maybe grabbing one of those final
- 14:54Speaker 4: spots there if he's able to put together a consistent summer.
- 14:57Speaker 1: Yeah, we know Fred Johnson'll be on the roster, then
- 15:00Speaker 1: Marco Bell obviously, Drew Kendall, then after that Andrew. It's
- 15:05Speaker 1: I mean, Michael marsh should be He's drafted six round,
- 15:08Speaker 1: you know, the developmental guard.
- 15:09Speaker 4: I should mention that he left injured on Saturday's practice,
- 15:13Speaker 4: so we'll have to wait and see what the extent
- 15:14Speaker 4: of it is. But yeah, Worth mentioning.
- 15:16Speaker 1: Right, and Holland pierces back. I know the cross room
- 15:19Speaker 1: a little bit of guard. He's not a really natural guard.
- 15:21Speaker 1: You're right, man, there's just in terms of certainties of
- 15:26Speaker 1: Michael Jordan. Obviously he's a guy they brought in a
- 15:28Speaker 1: veteran to compete for a.
- 15:29Speaker 3: Backup guard job.
- 15:30Speaker 1: I just don't have a lot, just don't have a
- 15:32Speaker 1: lot of depth. That was a it was a problem
- 15:35Speaker 1: last year. It's a concern this year. We'll learn more
- 15:37Speaker 1: about it again. They've only had three practices, no pads,
- 15:40Speaker 1: no hitting, no nothing. So but when we go to
- 15:43Speaker 1: the practice schedulingdo this week? We now now we got
- 15:45Speaker 1: a full week. They practice five days Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, walkthrough, Friday,
- 15:50Speaker 1: Saturday practice, Sunday off. So five practices this week a
- 15:55Speaker 1: full week.
- 15:55Speaker 3: For the Eagles Andrews.
- 15:56Speaker 1: So as we continue on offense here, so let's get
- 16:00Speaker 1: over to Jalen Hurts and the quarterbacks. Overall again, only
- 16:03Speaker 1: three practices. What are your feelings about this group with
- 16:06Speaker 1: this offense early on?
- 16:08Speaker 4: Yeah, patience is going to need to be exercised here,
- 16:10Speaker 4: and that should have been the sentiment going into training camp.
- 16:13Speaker 4: I understand that expectations aren't always that, but that's the
- 16:16Speaker 4: reality of the situation. When you're talking about doing something
- 16:19Speaker 4: that's a drastic departure from anything the Eagles have done
- 16:21Speaker 4: in the past. There's going to be days where the offense,
- 16:24Speaker 4: maybe down the line here thrives or has some bright moments.
- 16:28Speaker 4: There's going to be days where they're going to struggle
- 16:29Speaker 4: a little bit, but I think by and large Jalen
- 16:32Speaker 4: Hurts especially. I'm talking more about the first two practices.
- 16:35Speaker 4: I thought that he had some positive moments delivering the football.
- 16:38Speaker 4: There are moments where I think all of the quarterbacks,
- 16:41Speaker 4: including Jalen, hold the ball tick longer than you'd like
- 16:43Speaker 4: to see. That's something I still notice through three practices.
- 16:47Speaker 4: But you'd like to see the offense be able to
- 16:50Speaker 4: generate some more positive plays than what we've seen, even
- 16:53Speaker 4: though you know you're taking everything into context here.
- 16:56Speaker 3: All right.
- 16:56Speaker 1: And by the way, no one gives any awards Andrew
- 16:58Speaker 1: after three days, but Darius Cooper man, he is just
- 17:04Speaker 1: he's got a No. It's one thing to make the team,
- 17:07Speaker 1: which it would not be a surprise, but we know
- 17:10Speaker 1: the top three receivers are with Smith, Wix and Lemon.
- 17:15Speaker 1: After that it's open. I know, Hollywood Brown's going to
- 17:17Speaker 1: make five million whether he's on the team or not.
- 17:20Speaker 1: But Darius Cooper Andrew has been really, really good. He
- 17:22Speaker 1: flashed to me for those three days.
- 17:24Speaker 2: Yeah, he absolutely has.
- 17:26Speaker 4: And you know, just when you're ready to count him
- 17:27Speaker 4: out and you look at the receivers in front of him,
- 17:30Speaker 4: I would say that through three practices, if I had
- 17:33Speaker 4: five receivers, he would be my fifth receiver. And he's
- 17:36Speaker 4: been getting at least on Saturday, was really notable more
- 17:39Speaker 4: first team reps than Johnny Wilson.
- 17:41Speaker 2: He seems to.
- 17:42Speaker 4: Make a play every day that reminds you of, oh,
- 17:44Speaker 4: this guy can play and he shouldn't be written off.
- 17:47Speaker 4: So I think with Darius Cooper, there's such a maturity
- 17:50Speaker 4: to him, and that's something that talking to different people
- 17:53Speaker 4: and even talking to Darius himself, that's very evident. And
- 17:55Speaker 4: he approaches it like a business. So every day he's
- 17:58Speaker 4: out there looking to earn his spot and never complace it.
- 18:02Speaker 4: And I think because he has those qualities, that's going
- 18:05Speaker 4: to give him a better shot more often than not.
- 18:08Speaker 1: All Right, now it's time to look at the defense.
- 18:13Speaker 1: So Andrew, we know that Gernard is going to be
- 18:14Speaker 1: out a bit with his practorial strain. It's a bummer
- 18:18Speaker 1: obviously for them and him getting acclimated to Vic Fangio's
- 18:22Speaker 1: scheme because he has a practice since last season, that's
- 18:24Speaker 1: a concern, but they they made it clear he's gonna
- 18:28Speaker 1: be ready for the start of the season. But my guy,
- 18:31Speaker 1: who's I mean the time I've been there and then
- 18:34Speaker 1: what I've heard when I'm been told jaylex Shun has
- 18:37Speaker 1: been great.
- 18:38Speaker 3: What does he look like to you when you've watched.
- 18:40Speaker 4: Yeah, I think there's a lot of candidates that you
- 18:42Speaker 4: can make the case for for being defensive standouts, Jay
- 18:45Speaker 4: when Carter being one of them as well, But I'm
- 18:47Speaker 4: going with Jay obxhon here because from pillar to post,
- 18:50Speaker 4: from the first practice to the to where we are
- 18:53Speaker 4: going into day four, he's thrived throughout and you see
- 18:56Speaker 4: the first step quickness, the refined approach when it comes
- 18:59Speaker 4: to pass rush. He seems to have a better understanding
- 19:02Speaker 4: of how to defeat offensive tackles, and he mentioned his
- 19:06Speaker 4: attention to detail. He mentioned this back in the spring
- 19:09Speaker 4: as being an element of his game that he feels
- 19:11Speaker 4: has grown the most, and I think it's very evident
- 19:14Speaker 4: when you watch him play out there, he is He's
- 19:16Speaker 4: filled out his frame that was last season as well.
- 19:19Speaker 4: He's become an effective two way player. But I really
- 19:22Speaker 4: do feel at him that he has the necessary ingredients
- 19:25Speaker 4: to make a big jump here in year three.
- 19:29Speaker 1: On that point you just made about year three, someone
- 19:33Speaker 1: asked me this and I couldn't answer it. I said, look,
- 19:36Speaker 1: I need time to think about it. So I'm gonna
- 19:37Speaker 1: throws to you and then I'll respond after you let
- 19:40Speaker 1: us know what you think. Sure, what is the upside
- 19:42Speaker 1: of this player?
- 19:45Speaker 2: That's a great question.
- 19:46Speaker 4: Yeah, and I gus my first thought immediately is double
- 19:51Speaker 4: digit sack potential. And I don't think that that's being
- 19:54Speaker 4: a prisoner of the moment. You can see it with him,
- 19:57Speaker 4: and if you look at where he's grown from year
- 19:59Speaker 4: one to year two, he played two hundred and forty
- 20:01Speaker 4: one snaps as a rookie six hundred ninety three last year,
- 20:04Speaker 4: he's grown into being a dependable player for vic Vanjaeol.
- 20:07Speaker 4: Just listen to how he's you know, he speaks about him.
- 20:10Speaker 4: He speaks relatively glowingly about jayaloxs hunt and behind the scenes,
- 20:15Speaker 4: there's a lot of diligence in his preparation behind the scenes.
- 20:18Speaker 4: So not only are you seeing it on the field,
- 20:19Speaker 4: but he's putting in the work behind the scenes to
- 20:22Speaker 4: make sure that he's doing all the necessary things to
- 20:24Speaker 4: take that leap. He's a player that if you're looking
- 20:27Speaker 4: to buy some stock, buy some stock into jayoas.
- 20:30Speaker 1: Hunt so with Jylex Hunt right combine size six three
- 20:34Speaker 1: and three quarters.
- 20:35Speaker 3: But this is where it gets fascinating.
- 20:37Speaker 1: He's got left tackle arms Andrew thirty four and three arms,
- 20:41Speaker 1: wingspan eight to.
- 20:43Speaker 3: A third almost eighty three inches.
- 20:44Speaker 1: That's unheard of, really for a guy that out of
- 20:48Speaker 1: Texas Christian who only played edge two years in college.
- 20:53Speaker 1: He's a safety at Cornell. He had that crazy Lake
- 20:55Speaker 1: Growthsburg by the way, hand sized ten which is really good.
- 21:00Speaker 1: Four forty was his official. But he plays. He's explosive.
- 21:03Speaker 1: His vert was thirty seven and a half inches. Andrew,
- 21:05Speaker 1: he's a guy that, Yeah, I would say to move
- 21:08Speaker 1: this along here, He's got everything in his body.
- 21:11Speaker 3: To do he let's put it the way.
- 21:13Speaker 1: Joshua was a really good player for a while with Eagles.
- 21:17Speaker 1: This is a I'm gonna make a bold statement here.
- 21:18Speaker 1: I believe he's got a chance to be better than josh.
- 21:20Speaker 3: What that's what I think? It's upset is okay.
- 21:23Speaker 1: Sweats, Yeah, but he's so explosive, he wants it very coachable.
- 21:31Speaker 1: I don't know, man, you're in the locker room a lot.
- 21:33Speaker 4: Uh.
- 21:34Speaker 1: He's a really sharp guy. I've heard a lot of interviews.
- 21:36Speaker 1: I go, you know, this guy is like you know Cornell, Okay,
- 21:38Speaker 1: I get it, But he's for a guy that's new
- 21:41Speaker 1: to this. This is only fifty years an che rusher,
- 21:43Speaker 1: seems wise behind his ears.
- 21:45Speaker 2: Yeah, he's very charismatic too. But I agree with you, Adam.
- 21:48Speaker 4: I actually I do believe that he has he offers
- 21:51Speaker 4: higher upside than Josh Sweat. And that's not to short
- 21:55Speaker 4: change Josh Sweat at all, but I just believe I'm
- 21:58Speaker 4: so bullish on Joke's kind of had been during the
- 22:00Speaker 4: pre draft process. Everything that I've gathered about him behind
- 22:03Speaker 4: the scenes leading up to the draft suggested this is
- 22:06Speaker 4: a player that maybe needed a year or two to
- 22:09Speaker 4: marinate a little bit, but the upside was apparent, and
- 22:11Speaker 4: I think you're starting to see the development happen right
- 22:14Speaker 4: before your eyes. And I'm curious to see what he's
- 22:17Speaker 4: able to do going into the season with Jonathan Bernard
- 22:19Speaker 4: opposite him, where he's Jonathan Barnard's naturally going to command
- 22:23Speaker 4: a lot more attention, which should unlock the full potential
- 22:26Speaker 4: of Jay lox Hunt.
- 22:27Speaker 2: Year three.
- 22:27Speaker 3: YEP.
- 22:28Speaker 1: I would agree with you, then, But Arnold Abakeetti, who
- 22:31Speaker 1: the they brought in. They pay him decent coin to
- 22:33Speaker 1: be a backup. And remember with Garnard out, it's Hunt,
- 22:37Speaker 1: it's Smith and Ebiqetty are your three? Epanessa's in there?
- 22:41Speaker 1: A Keishan, James Neuby. Did he get hurt?
- 22:43Speaker 2: He did? He got hurt on Saturday and not there's
- 22:46Speaker 2: no update?
- 22:47Speaker 3: Yes, okay, okay.
- 22:48Speaker 1: And Josh Waver who's the undirected free agent, who's you know,
- 22:52Speaker 1: he's running third and fourth team. So it's it's it's
- 22:54Speaker 1: gonna be a while there. But the thing is, even
- 22:56Speaker 1: without Gernard, they've got there. They're okay, like they've got
- 22:59Speaker 1: a guys there. And Epanessa. I don't know about you,
- 23:02Speaker 1: but man, he does not look to eighty. He looks
- 23:05Speaker 1: like two point fifty. More information from the other teams.
- 23:07Speaker 1: But so when I asked me, hey, could they be
- 23:09Speaker 1: a number one defense? And I was like, well, if
- 23:11Speaker 1: this happens, this happens, and this happens potentially, what are
- 23:14Speaker 1: your thoughts on that?
- 23:15Speaker 4: Yeah, I still need more information. There's there's obviously some
- 23:17Speaker 4: other units out there, the Denver Broncos and others, but
- 23:21Speaker 4: just watching the Eagles and how you have all three
- 23:24Speaker 4: levels that are operating in Unison. They're playing together and
- 23:27Speaker 4: they have this continuity which I think is the secret
- 23:30Speaker 4: ingredient here.
- 23:31Speaker 2: And it's it's it's you don't have to squint to
- 23:34Speaker 2: see it.
- 23:34Speaker 4: I think there's a possibility where that can happen, and
- 23:37Speaker 4: I don't know that that's hyperbole. When you watch the
- 23:39Speaker 4: way they play, you look how deep they are at
- 23:41Speaker 4: key positions, whether it's edge rusher or defensive line. They
- 23:45Speaker 4: have two All pros on the back end. They have
- 23:47Speaker 4: a player who they're really high on, Andrew mccooba. Now
- 23:50Speaker 4: it just becomes about putting it all together and being consistent.
- 23:53Speaker 1: Yep, before we get out of here today's practice, we'll
- 23:56Speaker 1: see if it's raining then because overnight on Sunday we
- 23:59Speaker 1: got we got a lot of range, So we'll see
- 24:01Speaker 1: what happens. But uh, the first full week is always
- 24:04Speaker 1: interesting because guys get so hyped for the pads. So
- 24:08Speaker 1: the coaches it's very important it look the days of tackling.
- 24:12Speaker 1: They don't do that here. Okay, they don't know any
- 24:15Speaker 1: read sures heck did when he was in Philly, but
- 24:16Speaker 1: they don't tackle. But it's the feeling of pads being
- 24:19Speaker 1: on and it's just there's something to it. Andrew, your
- 24:23Speaker 1: first what your first practice?
- 24:24Speaker 3: What? Twenty one?
- 24:25Speaker 1: Twenty twenty one? Yeah, twenty one. Okay, did you see
- 24:29Speaker 1: them ever hit?
- 24:33Speaker 2: No that year or no?
- 24:36Speaker 1: I would say the only time I saw them hit
- 24:38Speaker 1: was at the Link when they would do the evening
- 24:40Speaker 1: practice and they let the threes hit, which.
- 24:42Speaker 3: I thought, yeah, yeah, right, yeah right. But it's just
- 24:45Speaker 3: it's it's not like it used to be.
- 24:47Speaker 1: But I do we know when they're going to be
- 24:49Speaker 1: in past this week if they if they said that yet.
- 24:52Speaker 4: No, I would I would imagine it might be Tuesday, Wednesday, okay, okay,
- 24:56Speaker 4: somewhere around there. But that's always the best day of
- 24:59Speaker 4: the because you can just feel the intensity in the
- 25:02Speaker 4: air is palpable, and that's where the intensity intensity ratchets
- 25:06Speaker 4: up a little bit.
- 25:06Speaker 2: So yep, I can't wait.
- 25:08Speaker 1: For that awesome also, right, So, so stay tuned this
- 25:10Speaker 1: week for Andrews to checko daily reports from practice. Andrew
- 25:14Speaker 1: and I will be back together Wednesday morning. You and
- 25:17Speaker 1: I will be together at Tuesday's practice, which looks rain
- 25:20Speaker 1: free as of now. Knock on wood, let's hope that
- 25:23Speaker 1: holds up. Mosher will be back later this week, Jeff's
- 25:26Speaker 1: have assignment where we don't know.
- 25:28Speaker 3: He's somewhere on assignment.
- 25:29Speaker 1: Yeah, we'll talk about that later as we keeps buying it.
- 25:32Speaker 3: We're joking, but.
- 25:33Speaker 1: Overall, guys, looking forward to the first week of full
- 25:36Speaker 1: Eagles practices. For Andrew Ducheco, I'm Adam Kaplan. We'll see
- 25:40Speaker 1: you next time.