Latest / Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast / Football At Four: Update On Zach Ertz's First Practice, Possible Movement At Safety For Eagles

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Football At Four: Update On Zach Ertz's First Practice, Possible Movement At Safety For Eagles · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hey, Philly fans, game day is stressful enough. Parking, traffic,
• 0:04
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• 0:51
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• 0:56
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• 0:59
  Speaker 2: It's football at four. Andrew DiCecco is here.
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: As he joins us now on the Sports Bash getting
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: ready for Monday Night Football with the Eagles.
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: And the Bears, Andrew, how are you, my friend?
• 1:11
  Speaker 4: Mike, real quick, who was the Eagles cornerback who got
• 1:14
  Speaker 4: poached off the practice squad this week?
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: Yeah, Langer, Baum, or Boom, or something to that effect.
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: You got me on that one. Did you hear that one, too?
• 1:21
  Speaker 4: Oh, I heard it. Robert Longerbeam.
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: Longerbeam.
• 1:26
  Speaker 4: In your backyard. Yes.
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: Robert Longerbeam. Yeah, so this is what happens.
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: You don't try to go a guy's name longer beam
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: off the top of your head without that thing written
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: in front of you. And you just took a shot,
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: or I just took a shot, and I was– man,
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: I really boomed.
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: On that one, huh?
• 1:43
  Speaker 4: I'll have to forward you the Eagles pronunciation guide so
• 1:46
  Speaker 4: you'll have that all squared away.
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: By the way, I sent you a text. You going
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: to go see Putty? I might.
• 1:54
  Speaker 4: I was actually in studio with him last year, and
• 1:57
  Speaker 4: I told him about– Me on the airplanes and how
• 2:00
  Speaker 4: I kind of just will sometimes stare at the back
• 2:02
  Speaker 4: of the seat, and he got a kick out of that.
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: For the people listening, the guy, Patrick Warburn, who plays
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: David Putty in the Seinfeld episodes, he's obviously in a
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: lot of other things. He's going to be doing a show.
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: It's actually my birthday, the day before my birthday. So
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: I figured it might be a good night. I know
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: we've been looking for something, maybe a showdown here. Maybe
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: that will be a good one. But, all right, let's
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: get into the Eagles and the Bears here. The Eagles-Bears
• 2:27
  Speaker 3: Monday night. First off, let's talk about the week that
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: has happened here. Zach Ertz's role, what's your feeling on
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: him Monday night, and is this an adequate replacement for
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: Dallas Goddard these next couple weeks?
• 2:39
  Speaker 4: Well, you can't rule out him playing on Monday night, Mike.
• 2:43
  Speaker 4: I would imagine it's going to be a small package
• 2:44
  Speaker 4: of plays. He has to get familiar with the system.
• 2:47
  Speaker 4: A lot of the players this summer spent the entirety
• 2:50
  Speaker 4: of training camp getting up to speed with Sean Manning's
• 2:53
  Speaker 4: system as he was installing it. Now, Zach Ertz is
• 2:55
  Speaker 4: a veteran. so there may not need to be so
• 2:58
  Speaker 4: much of an acclimation period, but they really need him,
• 3:01
  Speaker 4: and they have two blocking-centric tight ends on the roster
• 3:03
  Speaker 4: right now in EJ Jenkins and Johnny Muntz, and I
• 3:07
  Speaker 4: think Zach Ertz gives you a pass catcher who can
• 3:11
  Speaker 4: get open in the short to intermediate levels. He's a
• 3:13
  Speaker 4: good route runner, not overly explosive. He's 35 years old,
• 3:17
  Speaker 4: so you first have to figure out where he is physically,
• 3:20
  Speaker 4: then get him up to speed with the offense, but
• 3:24
  Speaker 4: I think that there's some intrigue when you look at
• 3:27
  Speaker 4: what he was able to do last season, 50 catches, 5-0-4,
• 3:30
  Speaker 4: four touchdowns with the commanders before having that devastating knee injury.
• 3:34
  Speaker 4: It shows you that he does have a little bit
• 3:36
  Speaker 4: left in the tank, but I think expectations should obviously
• 3:38
  Speaker 4: be tempered. He's not going to come in and save
• 3:41
  Speaker 4: the Eagles' tight end room while Dallas Goddard is mending
• 3:44
  Speaker 4: from the sprained MCL.
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: Right, and then obviously a little bit of a surprise,
• 3:49
  Speaker 3: Kenny Moore, which you'll read on why Kenny Moore, you know, they,
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: you know, Obviously, he's a veteran player, so the thought
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: would be you're bringing him in, probably plays. Do you
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: see him playing right away? I mean, yesterday, Vic Fangio
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: acted like he never heard of the guy before, which
• 4:05
  Speaker 3: I thought was quite humorous. But give us your read
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: on why Kenny Moore is here.
• 4:10
  Speaker 4: Yeah, he did that with Devin White and Adoree Jackson
• 4:12
  Speaker 4: as well, if you remember back. But with Kenny Moore,
• 4:16
  Speaker 4: he's a veteran who gives you versatility at nickelback and
• 4:19
  Speaker 4: at safety. He's played a lot of football, and for
• 4:22
  Speaker 4: a while there he was viewed widely as one of
• 4:25
  Speaker 4: the better nickelbacks in the NFL. 21 career interceptions, 123 games,
• 4:30
  Speaker 4: 111 starts. And I should also mention there's an added
• 4:33
  Speaker 4: bonus for bringing someone like that in. He was a
• 4:36
  Speaker 4: four-time captain for the Colts. So you like the leadership
• 4:39
  Speaker 4: and the potential mentorship there. that he can bring for
• 4:42
  Speaker 4: some of the younger players, namely Cooper DeGene and Quinion Mitchell.
• 4:47
  Speaker 4: I look at it through the lens similarly to Michael Carter.
• 4:51
  Speaker 4: You're bringing in a player that gives you optionality. Maybe
• 4:54
  Speaker 4: Kenny Moore becomes a factor in the safety equation if
• 4:57
  Speaker 4: you have to move some pieces around. But it's more
• 5:00
  Speaker 4: so just bringing in someone who is an accomplished player.
• 5:04
  Speaker 4: Last season he played in 14 games. I thought he
• 5:06
  Speaker 4: did some good things. 55 tackles, had an interception, I
• 5:09
  Speaker 4: think six passes defended. So he can still play. We
• 5:13
  Speaker 4: just don't know how much he has left. And much
• 5:15
  Speaker 4: like with Zach Ertz, Mike, expectations should be tempered. He's
• 5:18
  Speaker 4: going to have to learn the Vic Fangio system. And
• 5:21
  Speaker 4: if you look back to Ja'Cory and Bennett, it took
• 5:24
  Speaker 4: him a little bit of time to really feel comfortable
• 5:28
  Speaker 4: within it. And he didn't really factor all that much
• 5:30
  Speaker 4: last season. So he's a player that's a name brand player,
• 5:35
  Speaker 4: if you will. He's a household name. But until he
• 5:38
  Speaker 4: gets in the building and maybe we'll get a chance
• 5:40
  Speaker 4: to to hear from him this week, I don't really
• 5:43
  Speaker 4: get a sense of how he's going to fit and
• 5:44
  Speaker 4: when he was going to fit into this defense.
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: Yes, so obviously we'll see if they look at him
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: as a safety, do they look at him as a
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: nickel guy, and I know a lot of people just
• 5:56
  Speaker 3: think Marcus Epps seemingly is the guy that would be
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: the odd man out here.
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: Do you look at Epps and say that, hey, he struggled?
• 6:04
  Speaker 4: He didn't have a good week, too. I thought that
• 6:06
  Speaker 4: there were moments in week one where Epps He showed
• 6:09
  Speaker 4: that he can be a really competent run defender. He
• 6:12
  Speaker 4: got hurt for a little bit, came back in, and
• 6:14
  Speaker 4: I don't think he was overly exposed in week one,
• 6:17
  Speaker 4: but he was caught flat-footed a couple times, took some
• 6:19
  Speaker 4: bad angles in the run game as well. So for
• 6:22
  Speaker 4: a veteran player, you would like to see that cleaned
• 6:25
  Speaker 4: up a little bit, but Vic Fangio really likes and
• 6:28
  Speaker 4: trusts Marcus Epps. There's a confidence level there, whereas I
• 6:32
  Speaker 4: think if you were to insert someone like a Michael Carter,
• 6:34
  Speaker 4: that elevates the ceiling of the defense significantly. But you
• 6:37
  Speaker 4: have to be mindful that there are going to be
• 6:39
  Speaker 4: some growing pains because he really hasn't repped all that
• 6:41
  Speaker 4: much at safety, but he does offer the ability to
• 6:44
  Speaker 4: take the football away. But I would pump the brakes
• 6:47
  Speaker 4: a little bit for those wanting a swap out or
• 6:49
  Speaker 4: expecting a swap out because of what Vic Fangio thinks
• 6:53
  Speaker 4: of Marcus Epps, the player. Now, I don't think the
• 6:55
  Speaker 4: leash is going to be overly long when it comes
• 6:57
  Speaker 4: to Epps because there's always so many more times you
• 7:01
  Speaker 4: can touch the stove and recognize that it's hot. But
• 7:04
  Speaker 4: I think that he'll give it another week or two.
• 7:07
  Speaker 4: And if you're still seeing those same issues surface, then
• 7:10
  Speaker 4: you might see some toggling on the back end. And
• 7:13
  Speaker 4: I'm really curious personally to see what Michael Carter can
• 7:15
  Speaker 4: do because I believe that he had the better training
• 7:18
  Speaker 4: camp relative to Marcus Epps.
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: All right, Andrew, check with Football 4 here. Of course,
• 7:22
  Speaker 3: the Eagles getting ready for the Bears. Before we get
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: to the Bears. I want to get your thoughts on,
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: while we're talking defense, the defense against Tennessee. Some people
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: would look at it and say, a little uneven performance there.
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: Do you think they had a standout day against Tennessee?
• 7:41
  Speaker 4: No, it certainly wasn't their best effort. You look at
• 7:43
  Speaker 4: the pass rush, I know they got a number of pressures.
• 7:46
  Speaker 4: Jay Wicks Hunt being among them. Nolan Smith got a sack.
• 7:49
  Speaker 4: Jalen Carter got a sack. But you like to see
• 7:52
  Speaker 4: them be able to take advantage of offensive lines that
• 7:55
  Speaker 4: are fairly vulnerable. Outside of Peter Skowronski, they didn't have
• 7:58
  Speaker 4: a bona fide stud there on the offensive line, and
• 8:01
  Speaker 4: that seemed like a matchup that was ripe for the
• 8:03
  Speaker 4: Eagles to take advantage of, and they weren't able to
• 8:05
  Speaker 4: do that. I also thought that they were a little
• 8:07
  Speaker 4: susceptible on the ground, where Tony Pollard ran for 64
• 8:11
  Speaker 4: tough yards. There were moments where you have to be
• 8:15
  Speaker 4: able to corral these players and stop their momentum. I
• 8:17
  Speaker 4: didn't think they did. A great job at that. Then
• 8:19
  Speaker 4: you have Tajay Spears, who I mentioned on your show
• 8:22
  Speaker 4: last week, as someone that I had highlighted as an
• 8:24
  Speaker 4: X factor, because when the temperature climbs, and it was
• 8:28
  Speaker 4: 95 degrees, later in the game, a player like that
• 8:31
  Speaker 4: where you have to chase him around, he's really slippery
• 8:33
  Speaker 4: in the open field, sometimes fatigue sets in, and your
• 8:36
  Speaker 4: fundamentals go a little bit by the wayside, whether you
• 8:39
  Speaker 4: realize it or not. And he was able to take
• 8:41
  Speaker 4: advantage of that third and 22. So you like to
• 8:43
  Speaker 4: see the tackling become more proficient, more effective, secure in
• 8:47
  Speaker 4: the open field, and I would like to see the
• 8:49
  Speaker 4: pass rush. But in this game against the Bears, Mike,
• 8:52
  Speaker 4: run defense has to be at the top of the list.
• 8:55
  Speaker 4: You look at what they did going back to last
• 8:57
  Speaker 4: Black Friday where they gashed them in the run game
• 8:59
  Speaker 4: with DeAndre Swift and Kyle Menungai, and maybe that gives
• 9:03
  Speaker 4: them some added motivation going into this game to make
• 9:05
  Speaker 4: sure that that doesn't happen again, especially with a backup
• 9:08
  Speaker 4: quarterback presumably under center.
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah, they could be on their third quarterback here.
• 9:12
  Speaker 3: We'll get to that in a second because I do
• 9:14
  Speaker 3: want to get your thoughts on The Eagles rush against
• 9:17
  Speaker 3: the Bears' offensive line. The first couple weeks, we thought
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: the Washington line was a suspect. We thought the Tennessee
• 9:24
  Speaker 3: line was suspect. How is this matchup with the Eagles'
• 9:28
  Speaker 3: defensive front against the Bears' offensive line?
• 9:32
  Speaker 4: Well, I do like the Bears' offensive line. Darnell Wright
• 9:35
  Speaker 4: in particular, their right tackle is tremendous. He caved in
• 9:39
  Speaker 4: the right side last year when the Bears had a
• 9:43
  Speaker 4: lot of success on the ground. I think that there
• 9:46
  Speaker 4: are some opportunities, though, but they have more players that
• 9:50
  Speaker 4: I feel confident in if you're Chicago than the Titans did.
• 9:54
  Speaker 4: But you're playing against an immobile veteran quarterback who... I
• 10:01
  Speaker 4: think he might hold the ball a tick longer. I
• 10:03
  Speaker 4: feel like the Eagles secondary has largely been up to
• 10:06
  Speaker 4: the challenge through two games in terms of just holding
• 10:09
  Speaker 4: up their end. There's been a lot of pressures that
• 10:12
  Speaker 4: I would chalk up to coverage pressures because they're holding up,
• 10:17
  Speaker 4: but Yeah, I mean, this is not a, you know,
• 10:22
  Speaker 4: when you look at this offensive line, I don't think it's,
• 10:24
  Speaker 4: I think it's a step above what they saw last
• 10:27
  Speaker 4: week against Tennessee. But they still have to be able
• 10:30
  Speaker 4: to provide pressure, but mostly get home, Mike. When you
• 10:33
  Speaker 4: get home and you get to the quarterback, you've got
• 10:35
  Speaker 4: to finish. I think that's really where the problems lie
• 10:38
  Speaker 4: right now.
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: No doubt.
• 10:39
  Speaker 3: And if we go back to the Black Friday game,
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: they pounded you on the ground. You mentioned, you know,
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: Swift and Menunga. I mean, that was an embarrassment that Friday.
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: and with the third-string possible quarterback here, you could see
• 10:50
  Speaker 3: potentially a similar blueprint here.
• 10:54
  Speaker 4: Right, and that's why it just has to be front
• 10:55
  Speaker 4: of mind, because with Case Keenum or Bajan, if he's
• 11:00
  Speaker 4: able to clear a concussion protocol, you have to know
• 11:03
  Speaker 4: that there's not going to be this prolific aerial attack,
• 11:06
  Speaker 4: certainly not with Quinion Mitchell, Cooper DeGene, and Rick Wolin
• 11:10
  Speaker 4: on the back end there for Philadelphia. So knowing that,
• 11:13
  Speaker 4: you've got to go in there with the mindset of
• 11:15
  Speaker 4: they're going to try to pound the football, they're going
• 11:17
  Speaker 4: to change it up with two different running backs that
• 11:19
  Speaker 4: provide unique skill sets, and really try to go back
• 11:23
  Speaker 4: to the tape from last season and recognize what they
• 11:25
  Speaker 4: did to you and find a way to combat that.
• 11:27
  Speaker 4: Let's not forget that in that game, Jalen Carter really struggled.
• 11:32
  Speaker 4: And then at the end of that game, in the
• 11:34
  Speaker 4: locker room, I remember him specifically saying, alluding to him
• 11:37
  Speaker 4: dealing with something, and then that's where the shoulder injury occurred.
• 11:41
  Speaker 4: came to the forefront. So maybe that is another factor
• 11:45
  Speaker 4: in this game, but I think they're going to use
• 11:47
  Speaker 4: this as a point of pride to go out there
• 11:49
  Speaker 4: and establish the line of scrimmage and sort of dictate terms.
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: All right.
• 11:53
  Speaker 3: Obviously, you've got the possibility of seeing Case Keenum in
• 11:58
  Speaker 3: this game.
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: I want to ask you this question. Keenum, a veteran.
• 12:03
  Speaker 3: Does that actually help the Bears out a little bit
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: that he has been through the games and seen some
• 12:08
  Speaker 3: Fangio stuff and possibly that they can simplify things and
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: limit the amount of mistakes?
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: Not as opposed to Caleb Williams, obviously.
• 12:20
  Speaker 4: It could also work against them because there's plenty of
• 12:22
  Speaker 4: tape out there on Case Keenum as well. And when
• 12:25
  Speaker 4: you're talking about a defense that I believe, yes, that's right,
• 12:28
  Speaker 4: through two weeks, I still believe this Eagles defense is
• 12:30
  Speaker 4: among the best in the NFL despite some of the blemishes.
• 12:33
  Speaker 4: that have showcased themselves over the first two games. I
• 12:36
  Speaker 4: really do think the Eagles have the advantage. There's a
• 12:39
  Speaker 4: lot of tape out there on Case Keenum. He is
• 12:42
  Speaker 4: sort of statuesque back there, and yes, you can look
• 12:45
  Speaker 4: at it and say he can push the football down
• 12:47
  Speaker 4: the field. He knows a little bit about Vic Fangio.
• 12:51
  Speaker 4: I would imagine Vic's been around for a number of years,
• 12:54
  Speaker 4: but I don't know that he gives them any sort
• 12:57
  Speaker 4: of added advantage being someone that's just been around the game.
• 13:01
  Speaker 4: You have to go out there and execute, and I
• 13:02
  Speaker 4: don't know that I mean, he hasn't thrown a pass, Mike,
• 13:06
  Speaker 4: since 2023.
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: Not ideal, right? Not ideal for the Bears.
• 13:12
  Speaker 4: Your first exposure to live action again in the regular
• 13:15
  Speaker 4: season is against Vic Fangio's defense. Yeah, not great if
• 13:19
  Speaker 4: you're Case Keenum.
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, and listen, no turnovers. He mentioned it. Yeah,
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: we're due.
• 13:25
  Speaker 3: I'm just saying as opposed to possibly Bajent who, you know,
• 13:28
  Speaker 3: doesn't have a lot of experience and you throw him
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: out there in a game against Vic Fangio defense, maybe
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: more prone to making a mistake or something. Obviously not
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: as opposed to Caleb Williams, but if your two options
• 13:40
  Speaker 3: are Bajan and, you know, Case Keenum, maybe having Keenum,
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: you know, now listen, you're right. He hasn't played all
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: that much and he wasn't all that good to begin with.
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: We'll see.
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: The moral of the story is the Eagles defense needs
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: to start getting some pressure, getting home, and creating some turnovers.
• 13:56
  Speaker 3: That's what they're the best at. How about the Eagles offense?
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: What did you like about what they did against Tennessee
• 14:01
  Speaker 3: that maybe they can build on against the Chicago defense,
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: which really struggles against the run?
• 14:08
  Speaker 4: Well, I really like what I've seen from Jalen Hurts
• 14:10
  Speaker 4: through two games. He's putting the offense on his shoulders.
• 14:12
  Speaker 4: I believe he's elevating the talent around him. He's throwing
• 14:16
  Speaker 4: with timing more often than not. He's trusting his receivers,
• 14:20
  Speaker 4: and he's putting it where only they can catch it,
• 14:22
  Speaker 4: and he's willing to fit the ball into tight windows.
• 14:25
  Speaker 4: You look at the interceptions last week, and you might say, yeah,
• 14:30
  Speaker 4: that's a bad mark on someone's stat line, but it's
• 14:34
  Speaker 4: the willingness to attempt those throws in past years that
• 14:38
  Speaker 4: I believe will ultimately elevate this offense to another level
• 14:41
  Speaker 4: where you're taking some of those chances and not being
• 14:44
  Speaker 4: so risk-averse. But Jalen Hurts has been phenomenal, and I
• 14:46
  Speaker 4: would also say their commitment to the running game, even
• 14:49
  Speaker 4: though things haven't gone so foundationally, that's what they want
• 14:53
  Speaker 4: to do. They want to run the football. They want
• 14:55
  Speaker 4: to establish that line of scrimmage and be able to
• 14:58
  Speaker 4: reset it, and it hasn't worked for them, but they're
• 15:01
  Speaker 4: not shying away from it. They're not forcing themselves into
• 15:03
  Speaker 4: becoming a one-dimensional team. So those are sort of the
• 15:09
  Speaker 4: hallmarks that I'm looking at right now with this offense
• 15:12
  Speaker 4: that they can hang their hat on, but I really
• 15:14
  Speaker 4: don't know what to make of the Sean Manning offense
• 15:16
  Speaker 4: right now through two games, Mike, because I think a
• 15:19
  Speaker 4: lot of it has been successful due to the play
• 15:21
  Speaker 4: of your quarterback.
• 15:22
  Speaker 3: Yeah, no doubt. Hurts has played great. That drive was awesome.
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: And obviously he stepped up big on third down. You
• 15:29
  Speaker 3: can't live with that all season long, though. I would
• 15:31
  Speaker 3: ask you this. The run game has me worried mainly
• 15:34
  Speaker 3: because the offensive line has me worried a little bit.
• 15:37
  Speaker 3: I don't know how much better this line gets. Do
• 15:39
  Speaker 3: you think the line gels a little bit more as
• 15:42
  Speaker 3: Juergens gets into this and this run game should improve?
• 15:45
  Speaker 3: Or do you have concerns big picture about this run game?
• 15:49
  Speaker 4: I don't have concerns big picture just yet. I think
• 15:53
  Speaker 4: we need to learn a little bit more. I look
• 15:54
  Speaker 4: at this offensive line, Mike, and you need more time
• 15:57
  Speaker 4: on task. When you're putting in someone like Cam Juergens, who,
• 16:00
  Speaker 4: by the way, had never played left guard in his life,
• 16:04
  Speaker 4: and he makes the sacrifice to put Drew Kendall in
• 16:07
  Speaker 4: his second-ever start in the NFL at a position in
• 16:10
  Speaker 4: which he majors in at center, it's going to just
• 16:12
  Speaker 4: take more time, more reps, more games. knowing how one
• 16:16
  Speaker 4: another plays, Cam Juergens playing alongside Jordan Mailata. Everything needs
• 16:20
  Speaker 4: to become synchronized, and that's not something that you're going
• 16:24
  Speaker 4: to see in one. And Cam Juergens, by the way,
• 16:27
  Speaker 4: what a tough first task to go against Jeffrey Simmons,
• 16:31
  Speaker 4: where he had to see a lot of them. I
• 16:32
  Speaker 4: would also say this. Going back and on initial viewing
• 16:35
  Speaker 4: of that game, it didn't look like Cam Juergens had
• 16:38
  Speaker 4: all that good of a game. Two or three times,
• 16:41
  Speaker 4: and there's– They're signs of promise, and it's very difficult
• 16:46
  Speaker 4: to make any determinations about how a certain player did
• 16:49
  Speaker 4: or didn't fare without knowing their responsibilities, without talking to coaches.
• 16:54
  Speaker 4: So I don't know that he did as bad as
• 16:56
  Speaker 4: I initially thought, and I think he and the offensive
• 16:59
  Speaker 4: line in general will continue to improve as they go
• 17:02
  Speaker 4: on here. And this is going to be their offensive
• 17:05
  Speaker 4: line configuration in the meantime. They seem to be pretty
• 17:08
  Speaker 4: committed to this, and now it's about trying to iron
• 17:11
  Speaker 4: out the kinks.
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: All right, Andrew, every week you generally have an X-Factor
• 17:15
  Speaker 3: for the game. I know it's Monday night. What is
• 17:18
  Speaker 3: your X-Factor this week for Eagles and Bears?
• 17:22
  Speaker 4: Yeah, my X-Factor is going to be Tank Bixby in
• 17:24
  Speaker 4: this game. I think Tank did some good things despite
• 17:28
  Speaker 4: running games, the run game not being there. But he
• 17:31
  Speaker 4: runs very tough. If Saquon Barkley is limited in any capacity,
• 17:35
  Speaker 4: and again, we're going to find out more throughout the week,
• 17:39
  Speaker 4: Tank gives you a really– dynamic player he's explosive i
• 17:43
  Speaker 4: love the way that he runs he runs with urgency
• 17:45
  Speaker 4: and desperation he fights for yards and i think that
• 17:49
  Speaker 4: to be reckoned with if he's given more of a
• 17:51
  Speaker 4: workload a game like this so bigsby would be it
• 17:55
  Speaker 4: for me and i imagine the eagles are going to
• 17:56
  Speaker 4: want to try to establish that run game once again.
• 17:59
  Speaker 3: All right we hope so uh it sounds like uh
• 18:01
  Speaker 3: you don't think that saquon barkley will be available for
• 18:04
  Speaker 3: the game is that uh how you're feeling right now.
• 18:06
  Speaker 4: No, no, that's not accurate. I just think we need
• 18:08
  Speaker 4: to learn more throughout the week before I just sign
• 18:11
  Speaker 4: him up for being the starting running back and playing
• 18:14
  Speaker 4: all the snaps and all that. We have to see
• 18:16
  Speaker 4: what the practice report looks like, and that extra day
• 18:20
  Speaker 4: could actually help Saquon. So we'll have to wait and
• 18:25
  Speaker 4: see on that.
• 18:25
  Speaker 3: All right, Andrew, you can check out more of his
• 18:28
  Speaker 3: work over at InsideTheBirds.com, the Inside the Birds podcast, and
• 18:31
  Speaker 3: right here on Football at Four on the Sports Pass Live.
• 18:35
  Speaker 3: on 97.3 ESPN. It's the Eagles and the Bears on
• 18:37
  Speaker 3: Monday night, and you can listen to the game right
• 18:40
  Speaker 3: here on 97.3 ESPN. All right, Andrew, we'll talk to
• 18:43
  Speaker 3: you again next week, man.
• 18:45
  Speaker 4: All right, Mike, take care.
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: Have a great weekend.