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Football at Four: Taking an Overview of Eagles Defense Going Forward · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

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  Speaker 1: And Football at four is powered by the Inside of
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  Speaker 1: the Birds podcast. It is brought to you by the
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  Speaker 1: Fanatic Sports book at Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City.
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  Speaker 1: And of course the Eagles take on the Packers Monday night.
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  Speaker 1: A lot to dive into on this Football Friday and
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  Speaker 1: a Football at four Andrew to check oh from the
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  Speaker 1: Inside the Birds podcast, Inside the Birds dot Com and
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  Speaker 1: of course the sports Bash Football at four we take
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  Speaker 1: a look at the Eagles and the Packers all the
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  Speaker 1: matchups that we're looking for. Do want to get Andrew's
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  Speaker 1: thoughts on the new look defense that has been assembled here,
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  Speaker 1: so let's bring him in on this Football Friday Eagles
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  Speaker 1: Packers edition.
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  Speaker 2: Andrew to CHECKO. Welcome back friend. How are you.
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  Speaker 3: I'm doing great, Mike el au Man.
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  Speaker 1: All is good and obviously getting ready. You know, the
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  Speaker 1: Eagles did not play last week and now they're holding
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  Speaker 1: us off to Monday. This almost feels like you're getting
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  Speaker 1: ready for the first game of the season because they
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  Speaker 1: got some new players here. Let's get your thoughts on
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  Speaker 1: first Jalen Phillips and how he fits into this defense
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  Speaker 1: and what kind of role he might have almost immediately here,
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  Speaker 1: and how he could change things.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I really like the Eagles going after the Jalen Phillips.
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  Speaker 3: That's the splashy trade edition, right, and he immediately comes
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  Speaker 3: in and headlines this group and the sense that he
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  Speaker 3: can play the run, he can play the pass. He's
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  Speaker 3: their most accomplished pass rusher behind only Brandon Graham, of course,
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  Speaker 3: and I think when you look at his you know
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  Speaker 3: what the Eagles gave up to get him, You're gonna
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  Speaker 3: want to try and get him involved as soon as possible,
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  Speaker 3: knowing that you only have a limited amount of time
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  Speaker 3: with him, including nine games in the regular season, then
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  Speaker 3: whatever the postseason brings. So I would imagine that he
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  Speaker 3: is going to have some sort of a role on
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  Speaker 3: Monday Night when the Eagles play the Packers. And then
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  Speaker 3: let's let's not forget that Nolan Smith could soon be
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  Speaker 3: returning and they're going to have Brandon Graham as well,
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  Speaker 3: So it's a new look pass rush to help what
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  Speaker 3: I believe will be a new look secondary as well.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I want to get your thoughts on Jalen Phillips,
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  Speaker 1: and not to compare him to Joshua or anything, but
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  Speaker 1: like that level of impact, Like is he a steady
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  Speaker 1: he kind of got Or do you think he can
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  Speaker 1: actually be have a bigger impact than a player like
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  Speaker 1: sweat Dead, who's not like an elite elite pass rusher.
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  Speaker 1: He was more of like a six to eight sac
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  Speaker 1: kind of guy. You think Jalen Phillips can actually be
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  Speaker 1: a bigger impact than what Josh Wett was.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, well, you never want to get too carried away
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  Speaker 3: until you see the product on the field, of course,
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  Speaker 3: But I think Jalen Phillips even mentioned yesterday that you know,
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  Speaker 3: there is going to be an adjustment period. It's been
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  Speaker 3: nearly two years since he's been in Vic Vangio's system,
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  Speaker 3: and he's doing whatever he can right now to make
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  Speaker 3: sure that he's remaining diligent and learning the playbook and
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  Speaker 3: acquainting himself with teammates. But I think when he is
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  Speaker 3: integrated fully, you're going to see a player that I
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  Speaker 3: that I think can be a disruptive force off the edge.
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  Speaker 3: And yeah, I mean, I don't know that I want
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  Speaker 3: to put a number on how many SAX that he
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  Speaker 3: can provide, but this is a noticeable addition that I
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  Speaker 3: think is going to make his presence felt pretty early.
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  Speaker 3: I love the addition and for him. It's been the
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  Speaker 3: injuries that have hindered his progress. He had the achilles
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  Speaker 3: and twenty three. Howie Roseman mentioned that that happened on
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  Speaker 3: the MetLife Stadium turf, and then the acl and twenty
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  Speaker 3: twenty four that sidelined him. He played in only four
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  Speaker 3: games that year. Howie Roseman also mentioned that that happened
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  Speaker 3: to do with friendly fire with the teammates, and the
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  Speaker 3: Eagles obviously did a lot of you know investigating is
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  Speaker 3: to what was causing those injuries and before they made
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  Speaker 3: that trade. So I think that now that he's healthy,
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  Speaker 3: he's excited to get to you know, to be in Philadelphia.
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  Speaker 3: He was very eager. I wrote a story at Inside
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  Speaker 3: the Birds dot Com about that called it one of
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  Speaker 3: the best things that's ever happened to him, probably, And
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  Speaker 3: I think that shows you that he's ready to turn
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  Speaker 3: the page and start this new chapter here in Philadelphia.
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  Speaker 1: On that you talked about how he do in the backgrounds.
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  Speaker 1: He said the other day in let's turn our attention
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  Speaker 1: to Jayira Alexander, he said, sometimes you you know, you
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  Speaker 1: kind of get information or buying for it was almost
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  Speaker 1: like he's getting, you know, like calling a talent, getting
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  Speaker 1: information for a gambling game here right, like he got
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  Speaker 1: information from Baltimore. I know alex and spoke yesterday. He
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  Speaker 1: kind of seemed like, Yeah, they wanted to play some
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  Speaker 1: other guys. I'm healthy. Do you think that JayR Alexander
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  Speaker 1: can factor in and help this defense?
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  Speaker 3: Perhaps, but I don't know that it'll be immediately. In fact,
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  Speaker 3: I would imagine that it would be kee Lee Ringo
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  Speaker 3: who would start Monday night when the Eagles play the Packers,
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  Speaker 3: simply because it typically takes a little bit of time
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  Speaker 3: for a player that plays that position to be able
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  Speaker 3: to master all of the different intricacies of Vic Fangio's defense.
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  Speaker 3: There's cities there that have to be taken into account. Now,
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  Speaker 3: do I envision a scenario where Jaii Alexander could end
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  Speaker 3: up being the cornerback to down the line here down
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  Speaker 3: the stretch? I do, But a lot has to play
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  Speaker 3: out first because you don't quite know what player you're getting.
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  Speaker 3: This is someone who played two games sixty one snaps
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  Speaker 3: for the Ravens and was a healthy scratch for five games.
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  Speaker 3: There was a game where they were down heavily at
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  Speaker 3: corner and they still couldn't He still couldn't factor into
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  Speaker 3: their plans. Now, it could be something to the extent
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  Speaker 3: of maybe he just simply wasn't a scheme fit there.
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  Speaker 3: He talked yesterday about other players them giving other players
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  Speaker 3: an opportunity, But the sense that I got from from
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  Speaker 3: hearing what he had to say is that he's looking
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  Speaker 3: at this as a fresh start, a new opportunity to
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  Speaker 3: almost approach it with a chip on his shoulder, to
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  Speaker 3: go out there and and you know, prove himself once again.
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  Speaker 3: And he did talk about Christian Parker, the Eagles defensive
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  Speaker 3: backs coach, met with him. He said he met with
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  Speaker 3: CP about five times a day since he's been with
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  Speaker 3: the Eagles, So he's think he's almost become like my
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  Speaker 3: best friend, you know. So I think that they're doing
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  Speaker 3: everything that they can on their end to make sure
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  Speaker 3: that he's getting up the speed as quickly as possible.
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  Speaker 3: And he's kind of when I look at the acquisitions
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  Speaker 3: that they got, Mike, he's the one that I'm most
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  Speaker 3: curious to see because he did play at such a
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  Speaker 3: high level, but that was three years ago. We'll see
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  Speaker 3: if they're able to rekindle some of that some semblance
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  Speaker 3: of the player that he was back in twenty twenty two.
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  Speaker 2: All right, Andrew checkout football at four.
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  Speaker 1: Also, Howie Roseman, speaking the other day talking about Michael
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  Speaker 1: Carter and player, he called him a elite cover player
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  Speaker 1: and I'm wondering, hmm, that's interesting. If you think you
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  Speaker 1: have an elite guy, I find like you want to
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  Speaker 1: find a way to get that guy on the field.
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  Speaker 1: Did that comment stand out to you and does that
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  Speaker 1: you know, Hey, we got a player that we think
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  Speaker 1: is an elite player that could do slot, which means
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  Speaker 1: we feel pretty comfortable moving.
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  Speaker 2: Our other elite player out to a different role. What
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  Speaker 2: did you make of that?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, to me that that was a little bit strong.
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  Speaker 3: There there was a point in time where he was
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  Speaker 3: a very sticky nickel corner. In fact, he was once
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  Speaker 3: the highest paid nickel corner in football if I'm correct
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  Speaker 3: on that. So he was he was viewed in that
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  Speaker 3: same in that in that mold, in that class that
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  Speaker 3: Cooper dejen has looked at right now. But you have
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  Speaker 3: to look at the here and now and he hasn't
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  Speaker 3: necessarily lived up to his previous billing and maybe he
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  Speaker 3: can redefine himself a little bit here in Philadelphia. Sometimes
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  Speaker 3: the environment and the system that you're in you just
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  Speaker 3: need a fresh start. I like his versatility. He can
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  Speaker 3: play nickel, he can play safety. I kind of view
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  Speaker 3: him in the mold of and Avante Maddox and how
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  Speaker 3: they may utilize him there. And he does have experience
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  Speaker 3: with Joe Casper, the Eagles safety's coach. He overlapped with
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  Speaker 3: him at Duke University when Joe Casper was a defensive assistant,
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  Speaker 3: so our graduate assistant, excuse me. And then of course
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  Speaker 3: there's the familiarity with Joe Douglas who was with the Jets.
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  Speaker 3: Now he's with the Eagles, of course in a different capacity,
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  Speaker 3: so they know the player, they're familiar with them, and
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  Speaker 3: that counts for something. I do believe that he will
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  Speaker 3: probably factor earlier into the Eagles defensive plans. Then let's
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  Speaker 3: say at Jaiyr Alexander.
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  Speaker 1: Let me get your thoughts then on what happens with
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  Speaker 1: Johid Campbell here, Andrew, I'm a little interested and intrigue
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  Speaker 1: what you think?
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  Speaker 3: You know?
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  Speaker 1: Obviously, yat Dean Campbell's been getting some EDGs snap some
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  Speaker 1: not you know full, but that's where they've been kind
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  Speaker 1: of getting them some playing time. What happens that in
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  Speaker 1: that situation.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a great question, Mike, and one of my
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  Speaker 3: top storylines for this second half of the season. How
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  Speaker 3: are the Eagles going to distribute the snaps with the
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  Speaker 3: Kobe Dean and Jahide Campbell Because Johatt Campbell right now
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  Speaker 3: is going to have to be one would think exclusively
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  Speaker 3: an off ball linebacker, knowing how many bodies they now
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  Speaker 3: have at edge, and he didn't necessarily he needs a
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  Speaker 3: lot of work at EDS. That's not his position of
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  Speaker 3: trade right now. He's been focusing and making tangible strides
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  Speaker 3: at off ball linebacker. So I don't think if you're
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  Speaker 3: the Eagles that you want to deprive him of snaps
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  Speaker 3: and opportunities to continue to grow. He's had a lot
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  Speaker 3: of bright moments this year. That's not to say that
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  Speaker 3: you can't find a way to work to Kobe Dean
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  Speaker 3: and situationally as maybe a run defender for teams that
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  Speaker 3: are run heavy. I think that he has a certain role.
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  Speaker 3: He brings a lot of swagger and Jews zone setter.
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  Speaker 3: Vic Fango is a big na Kobe Dean fan, and
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  Speaker 3: I think that there's a place for both players. But
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  Speaker 3: I don't know that you want to incorporate na Kobe
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  Speaker 3: d at the expense of the growth and development of
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  Speaker 3: Jahat Campbell. And this is the game the Green Bay
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  Speaker 3: Packers I'm talking about that you would think would lend
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  Speaker 3: itself to seeing a lot more Jahid Campbell, knowing how
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  Speaker 3: the Packers like to spread teams out, and you might
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  Speaker 3: need a better athlete on the field who has more range.
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  Speaker 3: And I do think you're going to see more jo
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  Speaker 3: Hot Campbell, certainly more than you saw against the New
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  Speaker 3: York Giants.
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  Speaker 1: So these two teams played twice last year opening Day
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  Speaker 1: in Brazil and then obviously in a playoff game. Do
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  Speaker 1: you expect a similar style and field of these games
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  Speaker 1: or are these two teams different from the ones we
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  Speaker 1: saw play each other last year twice.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, different faces, as I think AJ Brown said yesterday.
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  Speaker 3: But I mean they're going to be They're vulnerable against
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  Speaker 3: the run. I think this is going to be another
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  Speaker 3: game in which they try to get Saquon Barkley going early.
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  Speaker 3: We all know that foundationally, that's what the Eagles hang
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  Speaker 3: their hat on. I think they may have unlocked something
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  Speaker 3: against the Giants in terms of finding different ways to
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  Speaker 3: get that running game on track. They're too talented of
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  Speaker 3: a team too talented of an offensive line to struggle
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  Speaker 3: in the way that they were, and I think that
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  Speaker 3: that will be their approach. But when they do take
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  Speaker 3: to the air, and I am expecting a balance attack
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  Speaker 3: to be clear, I think Kevin Patulo is starting to
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  Speaker 3: find his stride, hit his rhythm as a play caller.
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  Speaker 3: They have two beatable corners on the outside, Nate Hobbs
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  Speaker 3: and Keishawn Nixon. Nixon I really like as a kick returner.
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  Speaker 3: I think he's a good number two. But Nate Hobbs
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  Speaker 3: I'm expecting to get picked on. And this should be
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  Speaker 3: another game where AJ Brown feast and AJ Brown, by
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  Speaker 3: the way, was at practice the first day this week
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  Speaker 3: and said that all looks to be well with the hamstring.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, full practice.
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  Speaker 1: He was listed yesterday and obviously the game stuff will
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  Speaker 1: be coming out on Monday. Will have get a feel
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  Speaker 1: for what they were actually. I guess the designations will
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  Speaker 1: be out on Sunday, But yesterday's practice report AJ Brown,
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  Speaker 1: Saquon Barkley, Jacoryan Bennett, good to see him. Willie Lampkin
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  Speaker 1: another interesting name as a full participant. He's a guard
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  Speaker 1: center interior, so keep an eye on that. Situation as well.
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  Speaker 1: But you look at the offense. They had two guys
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  Speaker 1: rush for one hundred yards last week or two weeks ago.
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  Speaker 1: Obviously they finally got that was the best we saw
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  Speaker 1: the run game going. Did they do anything different, did
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  Speaker 1: they make any tweaks or they just happened to kind
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  Speaker 1: of get the offensive line flowing for the first time
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  Speaker 1: all year.
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  Speaker 3: Well, I mean they got some you know, Kevin Patulo
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  Speaker 3: got creative they were doing with some of the run designs.
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  Speaker 3: They did some more outside runs, which is they were
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  Speaker 3: just hammering home that inside zone for so long to
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  Speaker 3: start the season and it clearly wasn't being very effective.
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  Speaker 3: And I also think that having a center in brettoth
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  Speaker 3: who was healthy is healthy, goes a big way, a
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  Speaker 3: long way here. He was able to get to the
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  Speaker 3: second level and do some nice things with those reach blocks,
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  Speaker 3: those pinn and polls. So yeah, I mean, I think
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  Speaker 3: there's a lot that goes into it. Landon Dickerson looks
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  Speaker 3: like that looked to be his best game by a
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  Speaker 3: pretty wide margin this season. And I think the bye
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  Speaker 3: week is only going to help players like Landon Dickerson
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  Speaker 3: and well Cam Jurgens will have to wait and see about.
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  Speaker 3: But Jordan my Lotta, some of the players who have
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  Speaker 3: been you know, nicked a little bit this season. I
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  Speaker 3: think that that's going to help them. And this is
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  Speaker 3: the backstretch of the season is where I'm really expecting
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  Speaker 3: the Eagles rushing attack to start to take shape. And
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  Speaker 3: I do believe it when Jordan Alta kept saying miked
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  Speaker 3: they were hair off. I know that there were some
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  Speaker 3: who may have rolled their eyes and said, oh, yeah,
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  Speaker 3: you know that. You know, my eyes are telling me
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  Speaker 3: something different. But I believe that he was correct on that,
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  Speaker 3: and I think against the Giants proved it just one game, granted,
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  Speaker 3: but just getting things going. That sixty five yard touchdown
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  Speaker 3: run seemed to really get that momentum rolling forward knowing
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  Speaker 3: that they can do it. They do have that in them.
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  Speaker 3: They didn't lose that, and I think that's something they
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  Speaker 3: can use as a springboard moving forward.
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  Speaker 1: I agree that that first run was almost as if
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  Speaker 1: like they were like, all right, we're back, let's go,
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  Speaker 1: Like you get that confidence as an offensive line and
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  Speaker 1: you start rocking and rolling again really quickly. Last one
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  Speaker 1: for you, Andrew will get you out on this underlooked,
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  Speaker 1: under discussed, But I thought the return game helped them
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  Speaker 1: out too. The last couple of weeks, you're getting much
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  Speaker 1: better returns from the kick guys, and that's changing the
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  Speaker 1: dynamics of where they're starting.
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  Speaker 3: You know, I love this question, Mike. You always have
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  Speaker 3: a good knack for asking me things that are sometimes
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  Speaker 3: a little off the beaten path. So I don't talk
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  Speaker 3: about it as enough and the return game. You want
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  Speaker 3: to talk about the juice that Will Shipley has. He
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  Speaker 3: had a forty one yarder, I believe a thirty three yarder.
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  Speaker 3: He Sometimes you take those things for granted, but when
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  Speaker 3: you look at the poor field position for so much
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  Speaker 3: of the season, whether you're putting Tank Bigsby out there,
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  Speaker 3: who's grossly miscast as a kick returner, John metchi aj Dillon.
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  Speaker 3: But when you have someone back there, a healthy Will
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  Speaker 3: Shipley who just gets upfield, he has a good feel
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  Speaker 3: for space. And then Xavier Gibson. So you're pairing Will
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  Speaker 3: Shipley and Xavier Gibson. I think they have the right
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  Speaker 3: formula there. Xavier Gibson was acquired off waivers about a
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  Speaker 3: month ago from the Jets, and he was inactive for
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  Speaker 3: a while. I think there were a lot of folks
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  Speaker 3: that were kind of scratching their head. You know why
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  Speaker 3: I claim this guy if you don't have any plans
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  Speaker 3: to use them. He made a notable impact in the
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  Speaker 3: return game and also as a punt returner. He had
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  Speaker 3: a seventeen yarder that may be the longest punt return
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  Speaker 3: of the season for the Eagles, and that was his
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  Speaker 3: first return as an Eagles punt return. If I'm the Eagles, Mike,
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  Speaker 3: I'm sticking with Xavier Gibson as your punt and maybe
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  Speaker 3: you know, reprieving Johan Dawson from that role because to me,
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  Speaker 3: it doesn't look like he's overly comfortable with doing it.
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  Speaker 2: All right, Well, we'll see the game.
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  Speaker 1: Of course, we don't have Saturday, excuse me, a Sunday
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  Speaker 1: of Eagle football, but we will have Monday nights another
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  Speaker 1: day to kind of break this one down. But it's
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  Speaker 1: a fun game. Packers of course, coming off that loss
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  Speaker 1: and the Eagles coming off of a bye. You can
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  Speaker 1: listen to the game right here on ninety seven three ESPN.
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  Speaker 1: Get more coverage from the Inside the Birds guys over
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: at Inside the Birds dot com and check out the
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: Inside the Birds podcast that is Andrew to checko.
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  Speaker 2: This has been football at four. Andrew have a great weekend.
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  Speaker 3: Man, you too might take care man,