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The DiCecco Daily: Takeaways from Eagles First Day of Media Availabilty For Week 1 · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Hey, what's going on, everybody? Welcome into another episode of
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: the Checo daily. It's Andrew to Checo Eagles beat reporter
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: for inside the birds dot com. And Wednesday marked the
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: first day of media availability to start the week off
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: leading up to week one, which means it was also
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: the first day that we were in the locker room.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: And the first day that we were on the practice field,
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: a lot to get to. But we'll start with the
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: injury report. I know Jeff and Adam have you covered there,
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: so I don't want to delve into it too much.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: But limited for the Eagles, outside linebacker Jonathan Grenard with
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: the peck and tight end Eli Stowers with the hamstring.
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: So if you remember, Eli Stowers suffered a hamstring injury
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: late in training camp. It kept him out of the
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: preseason finale. and it was encouraging to see him back
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: on the practice field. We'll see how things progress leading
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: up to week one, but that's where things stand currently.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: With Jonathan Grenard, it's really interesting because this was the
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: first time that he's been in pads since being a
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: member of the Eagles, but the fact that the Eagles
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: put him on the 53-man roster, it suggests that he's
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: trending in the right direction, and if you have the
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: sense that he's going to be back within that four-week period,
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: you keep them on the 53 and we'll have to
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: see how things go the rest of the week. Nick
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: Sirianni pretty much said it's, you have to kind of
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: let it play out more or less when he spoke
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: this afternoon. So with Grenard, it's a, it's interesting because
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: of the nature of the injury that he sustained. It's
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: not a hamstring. It's not a, you know, it's not
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: a foot or anything like that. It's, it's a pack.
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: So that, presumably precludes you from being able to lift
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: weights and do some different things like that. And you
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: have to wonder where he is from a physical standpoint
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: in terms of just building up that strength, regaining that
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: from a stamina perspective as well. We'll see if he's
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: able to play Sunday. I still am a little skeptical
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: at this stage of the game. We're still early in
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: the week, but who knows? Who knows? And he's not
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: going to be able to play if he does. The
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: full complement of snaps because of the injury and you
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: have to, I know this term in Philadelphia is not popular,
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: but you, I would imagine you're going to, it's going
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: to necessitate a ramp up period to get him where
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: the Eagles and Grenard feel comfortable. from a health perspective.
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: But really encouraging news to see him out there. And
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: as I've mentioned before, if there were a position where
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: the Eagles could withstand a player of Grenard's caliber to
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: not be on the field for a week, two weeks, heck,
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: maybe he's available for week one, but it would be
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: edge rusher because they are pretty deep at that position.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: I mentioned Jalux Hunt, the summer standout. Of course, there's
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: Nolan Smith, who I thought had a quietly productive summer. A.J. Epinesa,
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: Arnold Ebikady, both players have combined for 158 games and
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: 31 starts. So they're well-stocked at that position. So in
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: the event that Grenard isn't able to help the Eagles
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: in the immediacy, and by that I mean week one
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: and week two, they have enough there to navigate the interim.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: But encouraging news to start the week, and that's the
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: big news of the day. And we'll just see where
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: things go from there. Nick Sirianni also mentioned that Offensive
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: coordinator Sean Manning will probably be up, meaning will probably
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: be up in the booth for his first game calling
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: plays Sunday afternoon at 425 versus the Washington Commanders. My
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: take on it, I think that it makes a lot
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: of sense. It's sensible because... I would think that it
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: just gives you that all-22 view where you can see everything.
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: There's not the distractions that I imagine are commonplace when
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: you're on the field. There's so much going on. There's
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: a lot of moving parts. For a first-time play caller,
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: I would imagine that being up in the booth, and
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: by the way, Vic Fangio does that, one of the
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: best defensive coordinators, in my estimation, the best defensive coordinator
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: in the game. He calls a pretty good game from
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: the booth, and you're able to Sort of separate any
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: kind of distractions and really focus in on the task
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: at hand. And by the way, you get a bird's
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: eye view of what's going on on the field. So, yeah,
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: you're not able to necessarily have those immediate conversations with
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: your quarterback. When they're coming off the field, you can
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: still talk to them. But I think that there's a
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: lot of value from calling plays in the booth. And
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: I think he called plays in the booth when the
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: Eagles played the Patriots in the preseason. And their offensive
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: showing was a lot better than it was in the
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: first game. Now, we're not going to base our assessment
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: here off preseason play, but it is worth noting. And
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: that's where Sean Mannion will be week one. At least
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: Nick Sirianni said that's probably where where he will be.
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: And I think there's a lot of sensibility there that
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: he's going to do that. It makes some sense. There
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: hasn't been any clarity with regard to the backup quarterback position.
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: Both Tanner McKee and Andy Dalton both have said that
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: they haven't been told if they're the number two quarterback.
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: And I was there for Andy Dalton. I wasn't there
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: for Tanner McKee. But Andy Dalton's a professional. Tanner McKee's
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: a professional. They go about their business. They have those
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: friendly competitions going back and forth. And it's not something
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: that Nick Sirianni wanted to reveal in his press conference.
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: They're keeping that close to the vest for competitive advantages.
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: But a part of me also wonders that, and this
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: is just me trying to find an explanation for it,
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: maybe they're waiting for an injury around the league to
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: see if an injury around the league happens. And then
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: all of a sudden you have one of those quarterbacks
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: that all of a sudden becomes appealing to a team.
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: And you don't want to show your cards just yet
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: because whoever isn't the number two becomes the number three.
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: And then maybe in the minds of an organization, they
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: lose a little bit of, of value and, and allure.
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: But I can tell you that both quarterbacks have been
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: nothing but consummate professionals. They're, They're just like all of
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: us right now, kind of waiting to hear what the
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: situation will entail. And we won't really know until you
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: get to pregame warm-ups and you're able to kind of
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: see on the field the way that the reps are going.
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: But it's been a mystery all summer long and something
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: I still have yet to wrap my head around as
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: a reporter. That's something that it bugs me a little
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: bit because I don't really have a good read on it.
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: And they've been toggling back and forth with both quarterbacks.
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: They've had their bright moments, both of them. They haven't
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: been consistent enough. I thought Andy Dalton finished the preseason strong,
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: stronger relative to Tanner McKee. I thought Tanner McKee had
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: a really good game against the Patriots. And towards the
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: end of training camp, he was probably the more consistent
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: of the two quarterbacks. But if it were me and
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: I were making those calls, which clearly I'm not, I
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: would probably lean towards Andy Dalton as the number two
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: quarterback because of the value that he brings with regard
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: to experience and He is familiar with this system. I
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: think he can be a really good sounding board in
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: the moment for Jalen Hurts. If something were to arise,
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: to be clear, if you don't have Jalen Hurts on
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: the field, you're probably swimming upstream without a paddle. That's
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: not a good situation to be in.
• 7:55
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  Speaker 1: I think I'm really taking into consideration Andy Dalton's body
• 11:14
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• 11:16
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• 11:20
  Speaker 1: just the institutional knowledge that he has of the position
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: and how to adjust on the fly. I think there's
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: a lot of value there. Again, both quarterbacks had uneven
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: training camps and clearly no one has separated. That's why
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: we're in this situation right now. But I did find
• 11:37
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  Speaker 2: and up.
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: Neither quarterback has been told one way or the other.
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: So the Eagles are seemingly taking this up to game
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: time before they have to make a decision. And they
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: don't have to declare it to the public, to be clear.
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: Other teams have, the Minnesota Vikings being one of them,
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: but the Eagles don't have to give you that information.
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: And I know that there's a lot of folks out
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: there that would like that information, but they're not there yet.
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: As I mentioned, it's an interesting conundrum that they have
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: at that position. They have four quarterbacks. And all things
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: being equal, I would probably lean a little bit towards
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: Andy Dalton as the number two. But that's just me.
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: I know Tanner McKee has been around for a while.
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: The organization really values what he brings to the table.
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: And that counts for something. He's a younger quarterback. He
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: has more arm talent at this stage, certainly. A lot
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: of Andy's passes die when they sort of go past
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: the short to intermediate levels of the field. But there's
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: something there, and I think I'm probably just getting hung
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: up on the experience that he brings. All the starts
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: that he's had, I think that that adds a tremendous
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: amount of cachet and credibility to that position. But it's
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: something that we're going to have to wait and see
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: how it plays out. We're all going to find that
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: out together. Those of us who are there at the
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: game will be able to tell you what we're seeing
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: out there. So that is that. Oh, and by the way,
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: we have our Rookie Diary subject for the 2026 season.
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: Guard Micah Morris, who the Eagles drafted in the sixth
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: round out of Georgia. And he had a really nice summer.
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: He was always going to make the team. He was
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: a draft pick. I thought he did some good things,
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: especially in pass protection. But he got a lot of
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: really valuable reps. We got into a good conversation about
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: the growth that he demonstrated throughout the summer, working against
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: players in college of the likes of Jalen Carter and
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: Nolan Smith, Jordan Davis, and how that helped him. And
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: then I asked him, I know that you're picking the
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: brains of Landon Dickerson and Tyler Steen, but... Is the
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: inverse true as well? Are you also talking and communicating
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: to Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis and Nolan Smith and
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: saying and asking them what they're saying so that you
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: can maybe add that to your game? And well, I'm
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: not going to give away the answers, but you'll you'll
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: learn about it when you hear and read the conversation. Um,
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: that we had because I, I really, I very much
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: enjoyed it. He's a movie buff like myself. He was
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: showing me a lot of the movies that he just
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: saw in the theaters. Um, I mentioned some of the
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: ones that I saw and he has a, uh, very
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: bright uh personality i think you all really enjoy getting
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: to know him and to be clear you guys know
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: this you know my first year it featured eli ricks
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: the second year featured will shipley third year mac mcwilliams
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: this year michael morris and what i really prioritize more
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: than anything is really educating folks about who the person
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: is behind the helmet who they are as a person.
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: And I think while the football conversations are always great,
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: there's something that I really take a lot of joy in,
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: getting to know the person off the field. What are
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: their likes? How are they acclimating to the city? And
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: different food conversations. I know that Micah mentioned that he
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: tried Del Rossi's, which is a tremendous cheesesteak. But those
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: are conversations that I like. It adds some– a different wrinkle,
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: a different layer to the conversation, and it's really important
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: to me to really showcase who they are as a
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: person more than anything because the football questions are– Those
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: are always going to be top of mind. But I
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: like going a little bit deeper with these. And you
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: guys know that if you followed along. And I'm very
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: much looking forward to bringing that to you all season.
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: Great conversation with Micah and already have one in the book.
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: So we'll have that to you pretty soon. The Eagles
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: are back on the practice field tomorrow. You'll hear from
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: the coordinators as well. Vic Vangio, Sean Mannion, Michael Clay.
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: And another round of locker room. First game of the
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: NFL season tonight, Wednesday night. Patriots, Seahawks. I can't wait
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: for that. Still have a lot of work on the docket.
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: I'll get to the game as soon as I can.
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: But I just wanted to give you a very quick
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: synopsis off of what occurred today. Update you on the
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: rookie diary this season. I'll have more for you tomorrow
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: and throughout the rest of the week. That's going to
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: do it for this episode of the Checo daily. I'm
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: Andrew to Checo and I'll catch you all on the
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: next one.