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The DiCecco Daily: Inside All The Eagles Happenings On First Official Day Of New Year · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Hey, what's going on?
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: Welcome into another episode of the check O Daily Andrew
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: D'checko Here Eagles beat reporter Friendsidethebirds dot Com.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: A lot going on today, so we're gonna move fast.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: The topic of the day was rig woman who met
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: with us for the first time at the Jefferson Health
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: Training Complex. There is, of course a couple of signings
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: and a roster maneuver that we'll get to and in
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: former Eagal retired somewhat suddenly today.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: We'll get into that as well.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: But Rik Wohan, he was all smiles when he took
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: to the podium, never quiet, never bashful. He said, good afternoon,
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: Then there was sort of a silence, and then he
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: pretty much said are you all asleep?
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: Wake up?
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: So that kind of is the personality that he's been
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: known for, charismatic, bringing the jew in the energy, which
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: I think is very important, certainly when you played a
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: defense like this. And he was asked point blank to
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: start what factor into your decision to come to Philadelphia?
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: He said, another opportunity, a great chance to play with
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: the great team. A lot of similarities that I had
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: with the Seahawks, great defensive line, great linebackers, just an
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: all round great culture and.
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: A great team and organization.
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: When talking about the defense and what excites him about it,
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: just the players on it. You got q you got Koop,
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: And with me being able to join those guys, I
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: know that we can be able to play different types
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: of looks. And I felt like it was kind of
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: the same way in Seattle. We had Spoon Devin Witherspoon,
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: and we had nick em and Moorey, and we'd be
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: able to play different ways. So to be able to
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: be along those guys and to play with a great
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: front with Carter and JD and some great linebacker play,
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: it's going to be a lot of fun. He spoke
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: glowingly as you might expect about Quinnon Mitchell, and he
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: mentioned that he met Quinn before Quinnyon got drafted, as
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: they were training at XPE in Florida. Quinnon was training
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: for the draft. Rik Willen was already in the NFL
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: at that time. He was drafted in twenty twenty two.
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: But he said, but other than that, we're gonna get
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: close when the season comes around, and he's lauded in
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: the past Quinnon Mitchell, and I thought it was interesting
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: that when he thought back to a game that really
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: impressed him about Quinyon. He circled back to the Eagles
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: Week four matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and he
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: was talking about how Quinyon and Cooper they were just
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: they were strapping guys up and he looks like, you know,
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: he was sort of saying.
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: Like, where do they go with the ball?
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: You know, with me in the mix now too, And
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: he was just talking about how they were playing the
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: Buccaneers in a few weeks after that, and they watched
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: that game, and he said that that was one that
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: really stuck out, and he was smiling as he was
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: sort of telling the story. But I also think that
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: he said some really interesting things about what's the next
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: step for him as a corner, And he said the
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: mental game a little bit. I sometimes get in my
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: head a little bit, But at the same time, I
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: like to show a lot of passion when I play,
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: and sometimes I can get out of control a little bit,
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: Oh Di it a little bit, But most of the
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: time I just feel like I'm being a great player.
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: And whenever you make plays, you just got to lock
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: in a little more and just focus and celebrate with
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: your teammates. It's crazy because ever since my rookie year,
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: I've gotten better every year, and tackling is one of
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: the main things, and I feel like I've got better
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: at tackling every year, and just me being comfortable in
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: zone coverage.
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: I had the most bust I.
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: Ever did when I was a rookie, and those went
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: away as the years came. So just continue to be
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: great in zone, continue to be great in the mental
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: point of the game, and continue to be great as
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: a tackler. I asked him about the conversion from wide
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: receiver where he spent his early years at UTSA took corner.
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: What sparked the move, and how has that helped him
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: as he transitioned to corner. He gave a great response
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: and he talked about the last game of twenty nineteen.
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: It was the first game that he played corner. Then
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: there were new coaches who came in in twenty twenty
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: one and they offered him the possibility of playing either
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: receiver or corner. He chose to play corner. Said he
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: was playing a lot of Cover one in Cover three
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: and made it seem like he was relying a lot
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: on his athleticism. But over time things started to resonate
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: and he started to become a little bit more fluid
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: and fluent in the verbiage and how to play the position.
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: And so I thought that was just an interesting nugget
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: in his career that I wanted to hit on there.
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: But he also said an interesting quote. He said, I
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: have to go out there have swagger. I've got to
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: have passion. God didn't make me a quiet person. God
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: made me to go show off my abilities and play
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: with passion and enthusiasm. And to fit in a culture
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: where a lot of players do play with passion enthusiasm
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: is going to be a lot of fun. I came
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: away from that really impressed with his opening press conference.
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: He was transparent, he was open, he was charismatic, and
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: I think he has a personality here that you'd like
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: to see at a defensive back, for one, but one
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: that I think is only going to fuel the energy
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: and the passion and the ball hawking nature that the
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: secondary possesses.
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: You have Quignan, you.
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: Have Cooper, you have tuerk riek Woe, and you're going
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: to have Drew mccooba returning. And Drew mccooba has been
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: known to take the football away had two interceptions last season,
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: but in college he was always around the football. So
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: I'm very much looking forward to seeing how all of
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: these pieces gel together and how they respond to the
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: new coaches that are worth working with them in Joe Casper,
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: the defensive passing game coordinator, and Pellegrino Mike Pellegrino, who
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: was formerly the Bill's Nichols coach and is now the
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: secondary coach in Philadelphia. And then of course Roy Anderson,
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: who I've talked to at the Super Bowl. You can
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: go and find that podcast here, but yeah, he's someone
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: that has prior experience working with Rike Wollen in Seattle,
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: as does defensive line coach Clint Hurt, who of course
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: was Rike Wollen's defensive coordinator for a time.
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: The Eagles also re signed.
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: One of their own, and that player is punter Braden Man,
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: who signs a four year, fourteen million dollar extension including
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: seven million guaranteed. That was the money was reported by
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: first reported by ESPN, and that's.
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: Really a sound signing. Now going into this.
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: A couple of days ago, when I saw former Chiefs
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: punter Tommy Townsend sign a two year deal worth up
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: to six million with the Tennessee Titans. I wondered what
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: the ramifications would be for Braidon Man on the open market.
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: Tommy Townsend, of course, is twenty nine years old and
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: he was once an All Pro and a Pro bowler
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: in twenty twenty two, and he's viewed as one of
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: the best punters in the game. Well, Braiden Man is
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: well compensated, and rightfully so, the Eagles are committing to him.
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: He had a really strong season last year and.
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: He was very key in bailing the offense out of
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: some really poor field position.
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: He flipped the field.
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: He put the Eagles continuously at an advantageous situation, and
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: I don't think that that was given the struggles for
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: the offense. I don't think braden Man's output and impact
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: was lost on anyone. But it's also worth mentioning that
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: he set a franchise record last season in gross punting
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: average forty nine point nine. And also last season, as
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: I mentioned on this podcast, he equaled a career best
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: and punts inside the twenty He had twenty and he
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: also recorded a punt long of seventy yards, which is
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: a feat he previously accomplished in twenty twenty four. The
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: fact that he can also handle inclement weather and the
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: rugged elements of the Northeast. Remember he was drafted by
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: the New York Jets in twenty twenty spent his first
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: three years there. He handled he has handled the rough
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: conditions here in Philadelphia at times, or even in Buffalo
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: last season when they had to go there in the
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: freezing rain, and he had a tremendous performance. But even
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: in the divisional round, if you remember that was the
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: snow game against the Rams, he had to clear a
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: path for Jake Elliott to kick his field goal. He
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: and some of the offensive lineman had a clear some space,
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: so everybody kind of got involved. But I remember asking
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: him specifically about that, and he talked about how the
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: coaching staff prepared them for that moment, and however, all
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: the linemen were excited to get in the mix and
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: get involved by clearing out the snow, and it was
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: sort of a group effort. But that was something that
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: I remember because not only did he have to punt,
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: but if you're clearing off snow, you have to make
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: sure that your grip and you're able to field the
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: ball when you're holding the snap, and there's an art
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: that goes into it, and so there's a lot of
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: things that he's done well, been a really steady performer
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: for the Eagles in his previous three years, and they
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: certainly committed to him for the foreseeable future, and that
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: I think is a valuable addition when you think of
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: his third phase impact.
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: The Eagles also.
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: Made a signing and it was later in the evening,
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: and so they signed cornerback Jonathan Jones. He's thirty one
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: years old. I'm sorry, he's thirty two years old. He
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: will be on his eleventh season. Spent his career with
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: the New England Patriots to start, was undrafted and in
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: twenty sixteen, spent nine years there.
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: Spent one year at the Washington Commanders.
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: He played in one hundred and forty four career games,
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: seventy eight stars, including seven in twenty twenty five for
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: the Commanders. And this is someone who, yeah, it's a
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: depth signing. He's thirty two years old, so he's a
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: little long in the tooth. He's also not ideal when
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: it comes to measurables. He's five foot nine, one hundred
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: and eighty five pounds, and i'd be given his age
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: and his size, maybe he can give you some nickel depth,
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: kind of like a Parry Nickerson in training camp.
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: I don't know that he'll make the team.
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: He may if he has a stew or summer, but
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: if he doesn't, I could see him on the practice
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: squad hanging around giving them some of that depth. But
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: right now, that's it's a smart signing because you don't
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: often find a player out there like that who it's
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: a low risk, low risk signing, and you're getting someone
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: who has seventy eight career starts, most some as recently
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: as last season, and so yeah, that's a good signing
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: by them. I suppose if for no other reason than
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: death purposes.
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: I don't.
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: I'm not over the moon, but I think that you
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: have to fill out the roster. You bring ninety players
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: to training camp, why not bring someone in there who
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: has that kind of experience and has played in different
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: systems and he knows how to line up, he knows
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: how to compete, and I would imagine that he's going
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: to get plenty of opportunities in training camp.
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: The Eagles also.
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: Restructured land and Dickerson, And for Landon Dickerson, he's battled
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: a lot of injuries in his career. I think he's
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: had thirteen surgeries, but last season he really labored through
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: the year, and not many players will be able to
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: withstand some of the toll that he was able to
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: go and play on Sundays with. And so this is
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: per Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, the Eagles in three time
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: Pro Bowl og Landon Dickerson, have agreed to a revised
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: two year contract at around thirty six million. He was
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: previously due thirty nine million and twenty six and twenty seven,
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: but can hit that with twenty twenty seven incentives. He's
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: due fifteen point seven million this year and it's no
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: longer under contract in twenty twenty eight.
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: So I imagine this had a lot to do with the injuries.
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: Knowing how close he probably was to walking away, he's
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: taken a haircut and helping the Eagles out a little bit. Look,
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: I would bet I don't believe he'll play beyond two years,
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: and we'll have to see how this year goes for him.
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: He's a warrior.
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: I've gone on records saying that many times there aren't
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: many players who are as tough as Landon Dickerson. But
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: knowing that it was a realistic possibilit You start to
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: make those contingency plan and try to figure out what
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: you can work out, And I think that's all this
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: was right here.
• 13:08
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• 13:10
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• 15:16
  Speaker 1: Then there was a retirement.
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: Former Eagles edge rusher Bryce Huff, retired at age twenty seven,
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: put out a video on his Instagram basically to sell
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: everything up. He has given his life to football and
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: now realizes that he has a lot more to offer
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: the world and there's a lot more to life than football,
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: and he's going to have a venture that he's going
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: to pursue. But he thanked all the different coaches and
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: teammates at each stop, talked about how his time in
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: Philadelphia wasn't the smoothest and just when he started to
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: get his headspace right.
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: He injured his wrist.
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: But he rebounded to San Francisco, had a little bit
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: of success there.
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: He's a Super Bowl champion, he got paid.
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: He accomplished something that I think no other undrafted player
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: is done. And when I say that, I mean get
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: that kind of a contract that he got from the
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: Philadelphia Eagles. But I think I'm not sure about this,
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: but I may have been the last local media member
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: to speak to Bryce Huff while he was a member
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: of the Philadelphia Eagles, because it was the final media
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: day leading up to Super Bowl fifty nine and everybody
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: sprawled out on different tables, different players are located different tables.
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: It was towards the end of the forty five minute
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: availability and I sit down and I have the conversation
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: with Bryce and we're talking and he's extremely transparent, but
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: I remember him specifically saying he wasn't really sure how
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: much he was really going to play in the Super Bowl,
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: if at all, and based on his body language, it
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: didn't seem like he was. But we had a great
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: conversation beyond that, and I remember getting up shaking his hand,
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: wishing him well. And I don't believe he spoke at
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: locker clean out, which would have been the official last time,
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: so it may have been me. I don't know, but
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: all the best to Bryce Huff, great guy, and I
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: will be certainly keeping up with his latest venture and
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: seeing where the next phase of his life takes him.
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: That's going to do it for this edition of The
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: Checko Dealy Andrew Dicheco here and I'll catch you all
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: on the next one.