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Football At Four: Keys For Eagles In Week 3 Matchup Vs. Bears On MNF · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hey, Philly fans, game day is stressful enough. Parking, traffic,
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• 0:58
  Speaker 1: and up.
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: The Eagles get ready to take on the Bears tonight.
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: On Monday Night Football, and Jeff, let's talk about the
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: two stories that kind of emerged this weekend. One is
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: that it appears, and are you hearing the same thing,
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: that Jonathan Grenard will play tonight?
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: I believe that's the case. He was a full participant
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: in the last practice. That was the first time he
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: participated fully in a practice, Mike. So usually the case is,
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: and even he said he's good to go, usually the
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: case when you practice in full on a Friday, or Saturday,
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: I should say Saturday, not Friday, so everything the day
• 1:31
  Speaker 3: later this week. When that is the case, usually that
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: means you're good to go, even though his list is questionable.
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: it sounds like he'll be good to go.
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I do think that somebody had reported that earlier today.
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: It may have been John Clark, yes. He tweeted out
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: a while ago that Jonathan Grenard is expected to make
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: his debut tonight. In your mind, Moshe, now it sounds
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: like he would be on a pitch count from listening
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: to Fangio, but what does Grenard now give this pass
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: rush once he's back and ready to go?
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: We've got to see. I mean, remember, it's his first
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: game since last year, and that was his first full
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: practice since last year. So we're talking about a long
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: healthy and 100%, because you've got a guy who's a
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: double-digit sack guy. He's a finisher. They haven't finished off
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: a lot of sacks this year, but he's always been
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: able to do that. But for tonight, what he gives
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: you is another body in that rotation. You know, the
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: Bears have a very good running game, and they're good
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: at even on their backup quarterback. They're just good at
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: being able to move the ball, control possession. They're going
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: to run a lot of plays, most likely. Even if
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: they're not doing great, they're probably going to figure out
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: a way to run more plays than normal. So Bernard
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: gives you another guy in the rotation to help you.
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: They hope that that gives them him, Jalex Hunt, and, of.
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: Course, The other news, it sounds like Zach Ertz will
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: be active, and he is expected to play tonight. What
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: kind of package, role, big role? I mean, obviously the
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: tight end's a big factor here, so I know it
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: hasn't played in a while, but sometimes you're like, hey,
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: guess what? You're my best option. You've got to get
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: out there. Or do you think he's very limited in
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: the game tonight?
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: I mean, this is a guy who's 30 going to
• 3:17
  Speaker 3: be 36 in about a week or two. I mean,
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: he's he's coming off his second reconstructed knee surgery. He
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: wasn't in a camp. He wasn't in an OTA. He,
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: I'm like, I mean, this is like Grenard, at least
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: has been with the team and work, you know, doing
• 3:31
  Speaker 3: what he can. Zach's had four practices under it, though.
• 3:35
  Speaker 4: What was the walkthrough?
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: Three practices. So I don't know exactly what they're expecting
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: from him. I think it would be miraculous if he
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: could play more than a handful of snaps, but if
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: a handful of snaps, helps them in some kind of way,
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: catching the passes a little bit without Goddard in there,
• 3:52
  Speaker 3: then that's what they're looking for.
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: Obviously, you know, the Bears last year ran the ball
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: straight down your throat all night long or all day long,
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: I should say. It was a Black Friday afternoon game.
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: When you take a look at that particular matchup in
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: this game, backup quarterback, third-string quarterback, really, Menungai Swift, do
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: you expect a steady diet of that again in this game? Yeah.
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: I mean, I always expect under Ben Johnson, he's going
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: to try to look to run the ball. He ran
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: the ball really well against the Eagles last year. We
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: all remember that on Black Friday and that's not a
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: one game thing. That is the recipe to his team's success.
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: I think whether Caleb Williams is starting or Jason Bajan
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: or Even Case Keenum, he is going to look to
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: put two and three tight ends. He has leaned into
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: the three tight end craze, Mike. He will play all
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: three of them. That's Cole Komet, that's Colson Loveland, Sam Roush,
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: the rookie. He will put all three of them on
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: the field and try to pound the ball as much
• 4:52
  Speaker 3: as possible and then work off of play action.
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: Moshe, no Caleb Williams versus Vic Fangio. Keenum is 3-0
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: against Fangio defenses. Does the loss of Williams maybe change
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: Vic Fangio's scripted all here. Does he try to do
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: something a little different? Or, you know, he's got Keenum,
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: and he thinks he's got the better defense than Case
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: Keenum can beat.
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: I mean, we have seen times in the past with
• 5:20
  Speaker 3: Vic where he kind of smells a little blood in
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: the water there, and he's willing to dial up the
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: blitzing a little bit more. And I wouldn't be surprised
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: if tonight– was one of those times where you just
• 5:31
  Speaker 3: know that the guy hasn't thrown pass in a while.
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: The offensive line can be had in pass pro in
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: certain areas. And if you're able to get them in
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: second and third and long, you know, you've got great
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: cover corners and Mitchell and recalls off to a good start.
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: Why not? Why not force the issue and try to
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: not just hurry the passer, but hit them cause a
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: fumble cause a takeaway. I think we've seen case Keenum, uh,
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: I have a few giveaways against the Eagles in the past.
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: I can't exactly remember when, but there are a couple
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: moments that might stand out to me. Do you guys
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: remember any Case Keenan turnovers.
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: Against the Eagles?
• 6:06
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: One does kind of stand out. What was that game?
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: Was it Patrick? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I do remember that.
• 6:12
  Speaker 3: Patrick Robinson. Yeah, yeah.
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: Pretty big one. By the way, it is official. Zach
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: Ertz has been elevated to the active roster for the
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: game tonight, so he will play. in the game. Jeff
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: Mosher's here for Football at Four. Let's get a couple more.
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: Is this the night for the run game? This is
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: a run game that only averages just over 110 yards.
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: The Bears defense is not great against the run. Is
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: this a game that you should run? And if they can't,
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: should we start to get really concerned on what this
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: run game will be this year?
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: I mean, I think we're already concerned, aren't we? I mean,
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: didn't we have this exact conversation about the Titans? Because
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: the Titans got ran over by the Jets of all teams. So,
• 6:51
  Speaker 3: I mean, it's a bad situation. It's tough. They're beat
• 6:54
  Speaker 3: up on the offensive line, haven't run the ball well,
• 6:56
  Speaker 3: and going back to the start of last year. And,
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: you know, they got to get it going, though. It's
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: not like a thing where if the run game doesn't work,
• 7:06
  Speaker 3: then Jalen Hurts and the passing offense can just keep
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: bailing them out and bailing them out, third and long,
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: third and long. Now, the whole point of the offense,
• 7:12
  Speaker 3: the new offense, is to be able to marry the
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: run and the pass to make things look like passes
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: when they're runs, to make things look like runs when
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: they're passes. And if you're not running the ball well,
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: then the foundation of what you want to do is.
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: Broken.
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: It's either broken or just adjusted. And that's not good
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: because you never want to foundationally have to change who
• 7:35
  Speaker 3: you are.
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: Jeff, obviously the run game is struggling here. You're leaning
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: on Jalen Hurts to play a clean game on the road.
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: He played very well, obviously, but this is an opportunistic
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: Chicago secondary. They're a little banged up over there. But
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: do you think if the Eagles need to again, can
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: you do this every week? Hey, we can't run the ball.
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: Jalen Hurts, go on the road and win us a
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: game again.
• 8:02
  Speaker 3: You can do it some weeks. You can do it
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: against teams that stink. But, I mean, listen, I haven't
• 8:08
  Speaker 3: done a deep dive onto this. Maybe I will, but
• 8:11
  Speaker 3: I'm going to guess that there haven't been that many
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: Super Bowl winning teams or even deep playoff run teams
• 8:18
  Speaker 3: that spent more time in third and long than they
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: did or as much as they did in third and
• 8:24
  Speaker 3: long as... third and short and third and medium combined
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: because that's what the Eagles did last year and that's
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: what the Eagles are doing right now. They have as
• 8:32
  Speaker 3: many snaps of third and long as short and medium combined.
• 8:35
  Speaker 3: That is not a recipe for any kind of success
• 8:38
  Speaker 3: other than a few good spurts of weeks against bad teams.
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: I'm intrigued by Wicks again this week. Can this be
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: a third week in a row? where they kind of
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: get him going because it looks like Hurts and him
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: have a little something going here. And who that third
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: option will be tonight, Jeff? If they have a third
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: option tonight, you know, you got Smith, you got Wicks.
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: Who's that third option in the pass game tonight?
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a great point. It's got to be Makai Lemon.
• 9:02
  Speaker 3: I mean, that's what he's here for. And it's not
• 9:05
  Speaker 3: just missing Goddard. You know, Barkley's beat up, and I'm
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: not sure they want him in there for pass pro,
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: which means they probably don't want him in there third down.
• 9:13
  Speaker 3: So you're talking about no Goddard and no Barkley on
• 9:17
  Speaker 3: third and when you want to, you know. Third down,
• 9:19
  Speaker 3: those are two of your four best weapons. So it's
• 9:22
  Speaker 3: got to be more D'Antavion Wicks, and it's got to
• 9:25
  Speaker 3: be more Kyle Emmons. It's got to be better. And
• 9:28
  Speaker 3: the offensive scheming for him has to be better as well.
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: I wonder how long of the leash it is for.
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: for lemon too i mean do you start to get
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: to the point where hey we got elijah moore here
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: we've got darius cooper and if we're not going to
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: get any production there you know because they haven't got
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: production on that third receiver spot for all for years
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: now it was always aj and smith the third guy
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: dotson or whoever it was never really played a factor
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: but for this offense to go does it the third
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: guy have to play a role.
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: I mean yeah i would say that for any offense
• 9:58
  Speaker 3: i mean you know.
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: Well but here they never really needed the third guy.
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: I mean, the third guy was invisible.
• 10:05
  Speaker 4: Well, I would argue that they did need the third guy,
• 10:08
  Speaker 4: but they didn't have one. So the ultimate benefit, if
• 10:11
  Speaker 4: a guy loses a round, of the playoffs, right? I mean,
• 10:16
  Speaker 4: even when they went to the Super Bowl and won it,
• 10:19
  Speaker 4: I mean, the first time they went, Wes Watkins was
• 10:22
  Speaker 4: a good third guy, okay? I mean, he wasn't great
• 10:24
  Speaker 4: and he hurt them in the Super Bowl, but he
• 10:26
  Speaker 4: was an overachiever at that point. And then, you know,
• 10:30
  Speaker 4: when they won it, you could argue that the third
• 10:33
  Speaker 4: guy was really, it was like almost Saquon twice.
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: I mean, he was just so good. Their running game
• 10:39
  Speaker 3: was just unbelievable.
• 10:40
  Speaker 4: So they had A.J.
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: Brown, they had Devontae Smith, and the run game was
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: like the third guy.
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah, no doubt. I mean, obviously, the year that they won,
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: they had that 2,000 yards out of Saquon Barkley and
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: the third guy. And quite frankly, you could say the
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: third guy has been Goddard or will be Goddard or
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: the tight end. That's why not having him there, who
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: steps up in that role? It's a big one for
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: the Eagles. If they win, they get to 3-0. And,
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: of course, with the Rams losing last night, they fall
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: to 1-2. That's a team that many people thought would
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: be up there for the number one seed. The Bears
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: are a team... that a lot of people like. If
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: they lose, they would be 1-2. The Niners are the
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: only team with Minnesota that are perfect in the NFC
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: right now. So Philly wins, they get to 3-0, and
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: they would drop the Bears to 1-2. You can listen
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: to the game right here with pregame coverage starting at 7.
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: Merrill Reese and Mike Quick have the call at 8-15.
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: And football at 4 has you tomorrow. Early edition. 12.30,
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: football at four tomorrow with Adam Kaplan. Jeff will be
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: on at 12.30 on Wednesday as we will have two
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: earlier shows for football at four, Tuesday and Wednesday this
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: week here on the Sports Bash. All right, Jeff, appreciate it, man.
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: You got it, Mike. Take care.