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The DiCecco Daily: Elevations, Players To Watch For Eagles Vs. Rams · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Hey, what's going on everybody? Welcome into this edition of
• 0:12
  the check O Daily. It's Andrew decheco Eagles Rams tomorrow.
• 0:17
  This podcast is being recorded on Saturday afternoon, and minutes ago,
• 0:21
  the Eagles announced their two practice squad elevations and it
• 0:25
  was just like last week, that'll be tight end Cam
• 0:28
  Latu and safety Marcus Epps. Now Marcus Epps doubles as
• 0:33
  a special team standout, but also as the personal protector
• 0:37
  on punt Remember, Will Shipley's out for this game, and
• 0:42
  Cam Latu is going to continue to kind of fulfill
• 0:45
  that special teams role and also being that nasty blocker.
• 0:50
  He played six naps last week. That's the role that
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  Ben Van Sumeran would have played. Ben Van Sumeran, of course,
• 0:56
  is on injured reserve. So those are your two elevations
• 0:59
  and they're both gonna play a heavy hand in special
• 1:03
  teams this week. Not really a surprise, but this is
• 1:07
  the final elevation for Marcus Epps, who's been elevated for
• 1:11
  the first three games. Now if they could make a
• 1:14
  decision whether or not they want to sign him to
• 1:16
  the active roster, but as of right now, after this game,
• 1:20
  he's out of elevations. It feels likely, with the Eagles
• 1:23
  always having three true safeties on the fifty three man roster,
• 1:27
  that Marcus Epps will eventually be signed, but we'll have
• 1:30
  to wait and see how that plays out. Cam Latsu's
• 1:32
  second elevation for him, he also feels like a player
• 1:36
  who could eventually be signed if he continues to fill
• 1:39
  that Van suomer enroll because Ben would have had a
• 1:41
  season long role on the team.
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: And Latsu can also help on special teams.
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  Speaker 1: So if you already know you're gonna need both players
• 1:48
  for the season, it would make some sense to get
• 1:51
  them on the active roster at some point, but there
• 1:54
  needs to be some maneuvering.
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: That needs to take place in order for that to happen.
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  Speaker 1: But I talked to cam Lattu in the locker room
• 2:03
  earlier this week and he gave a really good answer,
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  and it kind of really illustrates his vision of how
• 2:10
  he goes about his job, and it really aligns with
• 2:14
  everything that I've said in terms of watching him block
• 2:17
  in training camp, that nastiness, that physicality. Nick Sirianni talked
• 2:21
  about him and mentioned that there's always going to be
• 2:24
  a place for someone who can play like that, with
• 2:26
  that kind of physicality, which aligns with the way the
• 2:29
  Eagles really pride themselves. And he said, I just wanted
• 2:32
  to be as physical as possible, play fast, but just
• 2:35
  be extremely physical because I know all my assignments were
• 2:38
  putting my hat on somebody's hat, like putting my face
• 2:41
  in somebody's face, just like crash out for real. That's
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  really what my job was. And I took it to
• 2:47
  heart and I tried to go play fast. Well. He
• 2:50
  certainly did. He had a really nice block two plays
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  before Jalen Hurts punched it in from a yard out.
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  He had a nice block on to Charles and Menihee.
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  He was in on the play and it was to
• 3:02
  the left of the formation. He drove off the ball
• 3:04
  full head of steam.
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: Drove him in the end zone.
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  Speaker 1: I wrote a short story about Latto and his role
• 3:10
  in what Sirianni had to say about him. But those
• 3:14
  are gonna be your two elevations this week. I want
• 3:16
  to talk quickly about a couple of players to watch
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  or even matchups, and that's gonna be Jared vers the
• 3:25
  edge rusher for the Rams, versus Jordan my Lot of
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  the left tackle versus is a player who is undersized
• 3:31
  but very quick. He was impactful in the matchups against
• 3:35
  the Eagles last season, playing with a ton of confidence.
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  Speaker 2: I think this game's gonna mean a lot to him.
• 3:39
  Remember he was trash talking with.
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  Speaker 1: The fans, and I just get the sense that he's
• 3:44
  gonna be really fired up for this game. AJ Brown
• 3:48
  versus cornerback Emmanuel Forbes Akello Witherspoon, the cornerback for the Rams,
• 3:53
  the top cornerback for the Rams. He's okay, but he's
• 3:56
  out for He's injured. He's out of this. I'm not
• 4:00
  quite sure if he's on IR. I think he may be.
• 4:03
  So that puts a Manuel Forbes into that top cornerback spot.
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  Speaker 2: There's also.
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  Speaker 1: A number of a couple of other players who are
• 4:11
  going to see work on the outside. And then Quentin
• 4:13
  Lake is the nickel corner that they have. He's really
• 4:15
  a safety, but he fills that nickel role. But Forbes,
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  if you remember two years ago, AJ Brown got him
• 4:21
  for one hundred and forty seven yards and two touchdowns.
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  He's a slight build, He's lean, very lean. AJ might
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  have forty pounds on him, but you could see that
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  he pretty much shattered his confidence a couple of years ago.
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  If the Eagles are going to get their passing game going,
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  you have to find a way to exploit that matchup
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  because aj will out muscle him all day long. It
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  should be there for the taking. I'm also looking at
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  the interior line for both teams, where Steve Avila is
• 4:51
  out for this game and they're going to have Justin
• 4:53
  Diditsch at left guard. And he's an undrafted free agent
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  in twenty twenty four ard four games, so he's got
• 5:02
  some experience, but he's better in pass protection. I think
• 5:05
  he's really held up relatively well. But he's now going
• 5:09
  against an interior defensive line of Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis
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  and Moro Jomo and Kevin Dotson their right guard. He's okay,
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  he's bigger. I liked him coming out of Louisiana Lafayette.
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  Speaker 2: He's with the Steelers for a while.
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  Speaker 1: But this is a matchup where I think the Eagles
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  can It could be sort of the game within the
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  game where I'm expecting the interior pressure to sort of
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  flush Matthew Stafford out of the pocket. Matthew Stafford can
• 5:34
  move well enough for being thirty seven years old, He's
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  also known for having those awkward arm releases, so just
• 5:39
  when you think you have a beat on him, he
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  can get rid of the football. But I think that
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  that's something to certainly key in on and keep an
• 5:47
  eye on. I'm gonna be looking also to see and
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  you can't have Quinya Mitchell roy travel on this game
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  because the Rams moved their receivers around a lot. But Pukaakua,
• 5:57
  who lines up mostly in the slot, you would see
• 6:00
  a lot of Cooper dejen So that's good on good
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  Cooper Dejeen has the athleticism I talk about, his football acumen,
• 6:07
  his ability to play in space and make those short tackles.
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  Speaker 2: He's custom made.
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  Speaker 1: He's tailor made to go against offenses like the Chiefs
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  and the like. He's going to see against the Rams.
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  But Pooka akup is a receiver who is a veteran.
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  He has a really good feel for how to find
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  the sawt spots in zone, precise route runner, good after
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  the catch. So they're gonna have to bring him down
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  when he gets the football because he can churn out
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  yards and turn a short completion into a large gain.
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  So that's something that they should be keeping an eye
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  on and if you remember back to last season, the
• 6:38
  only game I can recall Cooper Degen having any struggles
• 6:41
  was with Adam Thielen, another savvy route runner, doesn't at
• 6:44
  this stage of his career value with a ton other
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  than being that savvy veteran who knows exactly where to
• 6:50
  be and how to stack defensive backs. Pooka Nakoua can
• 6:54
  do all of those things, and he, like I mentioned,
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  he's elusive and he's tough to bring down when he
• 6:59
  gets the all. So that's a matchup I'll certainly be
• 7:03
  king in on. And I guess you could also look
• 7:05
  at how Matthew Stafford and the Rams Sean McVay, who's
• 7:08
  an offensive mastermind a lot of compressed, condensed sets. His
• 7:12
  offense is unlike most that you're gonna see in the NFL,
• 7:16
  in a league that's mostly copycat or you see some
• 7:18
  similarities from team to team.
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: His offense is very different.
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  Speaker 1: But I'm almost wondering if they're gonna find ways to
• 7:25
  exploit the middle of the field, the intermediate levels, particularly
• 7:28
  trying to find ways to get Tyler Higbe and Kuka
• 7:32
  Nakua involved over the middle to two atwell is a
• 7:35
  smaller receiver who has really good speed, Maybe get him vertical.
• 7:39
  But this is where you might see them try to
• 7:42
  test a rookie like Andrew mccouba in coverage, or even
• 7:45
  Jehad Campbell another rookie, and try to get Tyler Higbee going.
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: Maybe.
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  Speaker 1: But these are certain matchups to watch. But I think
• 7:53
  I know the Eagles are the better team, but there
• 7:56
  are certain matchups here that I think really favor the Rams.
• 7:59
  Of of course, you look at the second cornerback spot
• 8:01
  opposite Quinna Mitchell with Dori Jackson.
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: He's gonna go into this game with a.
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  Speaker 1: Target on his back, make the mistake about that. But
• 8:08
  I like his mindset. I had a really good conversation
• 8:10
  with a Dori Jackson earlier this week.
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  Speaker 2: He's meant for.
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  Speaker 1: Games like this where you know sometimes you're gonna experience
• 8:19
  the highs and the lows. But he's willing, He's ready
• 8:21
  to line it up and bounce right back. He doesn't
• 8:24
  necessarily let a bad play linger, and those are the
• 8:28
  type of play Those are the type of things you
• 8:30
  expect from a veteran corner. And Matthew Stafford I have
• 8:33
  to imagine based off the first two games. They're going
• 8:35
  to find ways to try to exploit whoever Dori Jackson
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  is covering, and I will have to wait and see
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  if he's up.
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  Speaker 2: For the challenge.
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  Speaker 1: But he'll be that corner this week and this is
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  his toughest challenge of the season, so we'll see how
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  he responds. I'm not going to sugarcoat it. It's a
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  daunting matchup going against either Devonte Adams or Pooka Nakua
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  or whoever else they want to work in into the mix.
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  But he probably is going to see a lot of
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  DeVante Adams's. That's a matchup that is tough for most corners,
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  but certainly one like a Dori Jackson who's struggling a
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  little bit, and the Eagles, if they're able to get
• 9:12
  some pressure, maybe they can sort of mask that a
• 9:14
  little bit. But yeah, I mean I wouldn't write a
• 9:17
  Dory off. I mean, he does have the Like I mentioned,
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  he has the temperament to be able to handle having
• 9:25
  a bad play or missed assignment and not letting it
• 9:28
  affect how he approaches the next play.
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  Speaker 2: We'll have to see what all that means.
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  Speaker 1: But I've seen a lot of comments about getting Jagoryan
• 9:36
  Bennett in there. We'll have to see what that would
• 9:38
  take to get Jagreyan Bennett in the game. But if
• 9:41
  Vic Fangiol saw Jaquoryan Bennett as a better option, Let's
• 9:44
  not forget Jacoryan Bennett got to the Eagles in early August,
• 9:47
  they would have put him out there. And when I
• 9:49
  asked Vic Vangiel about Jackoryan Bennett, I think it was
• 9:52
  before week one, he mentioned that, you know, he alluded
• 9:55
  to the fact that he could probably play some time
• 9:57
  this season. So we'll have I have to wait and
• 10:00
  see how it all plays out. But that is a
• 10:02
  matchup absolutely that you should be highlighting going into Sunday's game.
• 10:06
  The Eagles kickoff. Eagles and Rams kickoff at one o'clock
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  at Linking Financial Field. I cannot wait to cover this game.
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  I'll have all the news and notes as I always
• 10:15
  do for you on Inside the Birds dot Com and
• 10:17
  right here on the Checkodaily. For now, this has been
• 10:20
  the Checko Daily. I'm Andrew de Checo and I will
• 10:23
  catch you tomorrow for another edition. Take care