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Football At Four: Eagles Depth Chart Movement, Playing Time Expectations For Preseason Finale · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Big weekend. It's the Eagles final preseason game. Questions that
• 0:03
  need to be answered. Today is the final training camp
• 0:08
  practice and the Eagles getting ready for the New York Jets.
• 0:11
  And it's time for Football at four with Jeff Moscher
• 0:14
  from Philly Voice dot com and of course the Inside
• 0:18
  the Birds podcast.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: And there he is, nice shirt Mosher. Wow, look at
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  that Philly for the Phillies. The Philly shirt is a
• 0:27
  Philly shirt.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Look at that, well, Phillies button up shirt for Jeff mocher.
• 0:31
  All right, most Friday night. Obviously it's the last tune
• 0:34
  up here. And normally we would talk about the last
• 0:37
  preseason game with not a lot of attention because nobody plays.
• 0:42
  Will that be different this Friday night?
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: Well, it was poised to be.
• 0:47
  Speaker 3: You know, guys like Andrew mccouba would have ordinarily been
• 0:50
  in line to play as they continue the competition there
• 0:53
  at safety, but you know, with his injury, it looks
• 0:56
  like once again he won't play.
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: I'm I think we talk about this Monday, Mike.
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: I was of the mindset that Jihad Campbell probably not
• 1:04
  gonna play. And if you notice, they signed a camp
• 1:08
  body linebacker today and I think for that reason is
• 1:12
  because John's probably not gonna play. And I wouldn't be
• 1:14
  surprised if Jeremiah Trotter Junior also didn't make it onto
• 1:18
  the field, and if they just went with you know,
• 1:20
  smile Monden and Lance Dixon and the new guy that
• 1:24
  they brought in, and there's another linebacker in Campbell's name
• 1:27
  is escaping me. But I wouldn't shock me if you know,
• 1:30
  Bond is certainly not gonna play, John Campbell not gonna play,
• 1:33
  and I don't think Trotter is going to be out
• 1:34
  there either.
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, everything seems to be on the defensive
• 1:37
  side of the ball. That corner battle on Sunday night
• 1:40
  is how any kind of handicap what needs to happen
• 1:43
  Sunday orders that game not to be all end.
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: All, not to be all end all, but an important
• 1:48
  game for Jacoryan Bennett. He's gonna get a lot of action,
• 1:51
  gonna get a lot of reps. It wouldn't shock me
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  if Tori Jackson did not play, but not because he's
• 1:58
  won a starting job, but because at this point vic
• 2:01
  fan Joel probably knows, as he once said a couple
• 2:04
  of weeks ago, what Adri Jackson is.
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: And is not at this point.
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  Speaker 3: He needs to see ja Corey and Bennett get a
• 2:11
  lot of reps. He needs to see mac McWilliams get
• 2:13
  a lot of reps. And he needs to see Kille
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  Ringo continue to get ripped. If Ringo is healthy, if
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  if he's out with the injury, then he won't play. Obviously,
• 2:22
  if you remember last year, I think Devin White did
• 2:24
  not play in this game, and everybody thought that was
• 2:27
  like a sign that.
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  Speaker 2: Devin White made the team.
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: And you know, Adam and Jeff, what are you guys
• 2:31
  talking about that he's in jeopardy. Well, you know, as
• 2:34
  we know, he didn't make the team. And that's where
• 2:36
  I think Adri Jackson will fall into that same group
• 2:39
  of players who probably won't get reps.
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: But don't read too much into that.
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I guess because the safety spot, you might
• 2:47
  see a situation because Mcoopa probably will not play the game.
• 2:50
  Does that mean Sidney Brown gets a chance to you know, impress?
• 2:54
  Do they want to hold him back? I mean, that'll
• 2:56
  be a spot to keep an eye on Friday night.
• 2:58
  Speaker 3: You know, I honestly think it's not as much of
• 3:00
  a conversation at this point because they're both making the team, right,
• 3:03
  I mean, mccouba's gonna make the team, Sidney Brown's gonna
• 3:06
  make the team, and your four safeties are gonna be
• 3:09
  those two, along with Reid Blankenship and Tristan McCollum most likely.
• 3:13
  I mean, that's the only real question. I would think
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  McCollum's the lead candidate to make it. And then with
• 3:18
  Cooper to gene available to play safety and base, that
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  gives you another body if you want.
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: And he's practiced there, so you know, it sucks for mccooba.
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: He won't get a chance to get out there with
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  the injury, but he still has more two more weeks
• 3:32
  until the season starts, And if Vic thinks he needs
• 3:35
  two weeks of the regular season to get more practice,
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  that's fine. It's to me, it's like it's really it's
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  Sidney Brown didn't have a bad camp. So I think
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  we can all rest assured that whoever's out there doesn't
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  mean that they're gonna be great, but that they've gotten
• 3:50
  their reps, they've gotten.
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  Speaker 2: Their time in, they know the defense and the way
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  we go.
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  Speaker 1: Well, you know obviously that, but that position is not
• 4:00
  locked up by anybody yet.
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  Speaker 3: Right, correct, correct, it's it's to me, it's not locked up,
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  but it doesn't have to be.
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  Speaker 2: Just like you know, nickelback.
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  Speaker 3: Wasn't per se locked up last year when Avonte Maddox
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  started the first four weeks of the.
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  Speaker 2: Season and then they made the change to Cooper to Gene.
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  Speaker 3: So I'm not trying to sell everybody on the fact
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  that the safety spot is going to be great. What
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  I'm what I'm saying is like when you're trying to evaluate, well,
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  who's going to start who versus who this big competition, Well,
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  they're both.
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  Speaker 2: On the team, So what's the what's the point?
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  Speaker 3: I mean, the healthiest one and the one who can
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  play will play.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, well and listen, we know that safety is still
• 4:35
  not really locked up yet. Outside corner. What do you
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  think does Cooper de Gene have a different role this
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  year than he did last year?
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  Speaker 3: Yes, yeah, well he has an expanded role. That's not
• 4:48
  necessarily it is, it's different in that it's added.
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  Speaker 2: I do believe.
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  Speaker 3: I do believe that by the season opener he will
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  be playing on first and second down like rundowns, either
• 4:58
  at safety or pretend outside corner. But I do also
• 5:02
  believe that when they go to nickel. He will play
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  nickel unless something happens. The only caveat I'll say is
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  if Hollie Roseman swings a trade like a CJ. Gardner
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  Johnson like trade where he brings in some really good
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  nickel corner, right that and Vick is so comfortable with
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  this corner some.
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  Speaker 2: Name that I'm not thinking of right now.
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  Speaker 3: You know that he wants to play Cooper to Genets
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  as a safety.
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  Speaker 1: Well, there was a report earlier, I guess on Monday,
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  after the Eagles made the trade for John Metchi that
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  you know, some people still believe that there is another
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  trade coming. Could that be a edge rusher, could that
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  be a corner? But do you think that Hallie Roseman
• 5:46
  still has something he's kicking attires on?
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  Speaker 3: Well, I'll just tell you this. I mean, Howie does
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  his diligence. He's gonna be working the phones because he
• 5:55
  does every time. Down to cut down it would be great,
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  I'm sure on his mind is edge rusher, offensive guard
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  with Dickerson's you know, injury, and then cornerback potentially as well.
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  But those are two of those three positions. Corner and
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  edge are not positions. Guys are just trying. Teams are
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  just trying to trade away, you know, even their top
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  guys off the bench. Now, how he's got a lot
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  of picks. So you have to look for a situation
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  where maybe I was gonna say, well, maybe.
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  Speaker 2: A guy's not happy because of a contract.
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  Speaker 3: I know everybody's gonna think Trey Hendrickson, but that's not
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  who I'm I'm talking about.
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  Speaker 2: I'm just I don't have a name in mind. I'm
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  just simply saying.
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  Speaker 3: There might be some situations that exists where a team
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  is struggling to lock up a long term player and
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  they're a little issue washer on them, like you know
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  the Saints and TJ. Gardner Johnson where the Bills were
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  with Ronald Darby in twenty seventeen.
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  Speaker 2: That you know, just not on the top of my head.
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  But that's the only those are. Those are rare.
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  Speaker 3: They don't happen a lot, you know, once every five
• 6:55
  or six years. So those are positions that are harder
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  to solidify than say, offensive guard.
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: Speaking of offensive guard, Landed Dickerson Thursday night, yay nay,
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  and if may who takes that spot Thursday on September fourth.
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  Speaker 2: Man, The fact that he's walking around.
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  Speaker 3: I think you asked me about Aj Brown on Monday,
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  right and whether I was concerned, and I was told you.
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  Speaker 2: He's out at practice.
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  Speaker 3: And not only is Aj Brown out at practice, he
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  is throwing with the quarterback as he's throwing the ball
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  to wide receivers during drills. And I've watched it, right,
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  He's not just arm throwing either. He's stepping in and throwing.
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  Stepping in and throwing. That makes me think the hamstring
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  is getting really really close to being good, because why
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  would you allow him to do that using his lower
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  body if he was that banged up. And so with Dickerson,
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  he's walking around, he's got the leg sleeve on, you know,
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  he's having beers after practice with the other offensive lineman.
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  That to me trends well. It all depends on how
• 7:53
  well he's healing. I can't predict that, but I would
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  be more of the belief that he's going to play
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  than not going in a play in the season opener.
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  But Mike, make no mistake, that should not stop Howie
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  Roseman from trying to get some kind of starting caliber
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  guard who can be a backup like Tyler stem was
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  last year, like Steph Wiznowski in twenty seventeen, because you
• 8:16
  just can't depend right now on Landon Dickerson with all
• 8:19
  the surgeries at the last.
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  Speaker 1: Not only that it appears that you can't depend on
• 8:24
  the depth on this offensive line. Sounds like you think
• 8:27
  that it's taking a step back from where it's been
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  in years past.
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  Speaker 3: Well, last year your top backups were Fred Johnson as
• 8:35
  your swing tackle, who was adequate. I mean they were
• 8:39
  able to win games because the other four guys were
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  healthy and Fred could hold his own. But Fred, you
• 8:43
  could say you could you could obviously tell the drop
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  off and Tyler Steam would go in there at guard
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  first off the bench. So you have a third round
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  pick in year two and you had a veteran tackle
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  who had played, Like, who are we talking about right
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  now as your top two off the bench.
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  Speaker 2: We're not talking about Brett Toath. I'm not going there.
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  Speaker 3: So to me, we're talking about Matt Pryor, who I
• 9:06
  think can be as adequate per se as Fred Johnson.
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  Speaker 2: But I'm not sure. Kendall Lamb, It's not as sure.
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  Speaker 3: And who's your top backup interior offensive lineman? Is it
• 9:19
  Darien Knard? He's never played in the NFL. It's not
• 9:21
  like tyler'stean, right. He's not a high pick, is it.
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  Drew Kendall, He's a fifth round pick who's never played
• 9:27
  anything other than center.
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  Speaker 2: Outside of like a game in at guard.
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  Speaker 3: Okay, so yes, to answer your question, Yeah, I don't
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  think it's the same level.
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  Speaker 2: Of depth in the backups that they've had.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and you you mentioned you're not buying Brett Toat
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  is gonna play. Kon Green, who they traded for has
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  been hurt. Yeah, that group of rookies Kendall hinting, Cameron
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  Williams hitting, and Williams are both tackles. Trevor Keegan, you
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  know they drafted him last year or is he a
• 9:53
  guy that you know he makes.
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  Speaker 3: The one like that's the one where they're getting hurt
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  right now. He just has not played to the level
• 10:02
  that you would hope. I mean, I get it here
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  was a fifth I think a fifth round pick last year.
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  Speaker 2: But you would hope.
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  Speaker 3: This is a year under the belt Stotland tutelage that
• 10:09
  you would see this guy be the first off the
• 10:12
  bench by now. But you know, we talked about this
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  on inside the Birds when they drafted him. He was
• 10:16
  kind of a polarizing guy for NFL people, a little
• 10:19
  bit of a beat.
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  Speaker 2: Up lineman because he played at Michigan.
• 10:21
  Speaker 3: You get a lot of wear and tear on the body,
• 10:23
  and he just hasn't worked out yet.
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: All Right, you heard from Petuli yesterday and Siriani today
• 10:30
  on Mechi. Do you have a better thought in your
• 10:34
  mind as to his role, why he's here, why they
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  made this deal. Is he a guy that you think
• 10:39
  can contribute or nah?
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  Speaker 2: Not really, No, I think that he could.
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: I think things have to happen in order for him,
• 10:47
  first of all, to make the fifty three, which I
• 10:49
  think there's a better than fifty to fifty shot at it.
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  Speaker 2: If we did.
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  Speaker 3: Another inside the data today on Instide the Birds with
• 10:56
  Sam Finkel, who does really good at analytics and metrics,
• 10:59
  and sometimes you need to look at that more than
• 11:01
  the actual body of work, because there just aren't a
• 11:03
  whole lot of reps and catches for Johnny Metchi. He
• 11:07
  missed his entire rookie year from Lukimi. In the last
• 11:09
  two years, he's been buried on the depth chart behind
• 11:11
  guys like Nico Collins and Tank Dell and Steph Diggs.
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: Right, I mean these are pretty good players. So if
• 11:17
  you look at.
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  Speaker 3: Some of his athletic measurables and other analytics that I'll say,
• 11:23
  you have to listen to the podcast or get the
• 11:25
  full feel for it.
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: He kind of profiles similarly to the Johan Dotson.
• 11:30
  Speaker 3: And if there's a scenario where Johan Dotson has moved
• 11:35
  before the deadline, you know, as teams are looking for
• 11:38
  veteran receivers, that opens up an opportunity for Johnny Metchi,
• 11:42
  who plays a similar He's not a true slot, he's
• 11:45
  not a true ze.
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: He can play both.
• 11:47
  Speaker 3: He has played both, just like Johan Dotson has good hands.
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  You got a couple of weeks, you can still let
• 11:53
  get an Aya Smith and Johnny Wilson as long as Wilson's.
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: Healthy in there.
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  Speaker 3: I just think that there's so much similarities between those
• 11:59
  two that possibly Mechi could have a role if there's
• 12:03
  no john Dotson. But if they keep Johan Dotson and
• 12:06
  those are your top three, then it becomes a little murkier,
• 12:09
  right because I would think that.
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: Anaia Smith and Johnny Wilson have done enough to.
• 12:13
  Speaker 3: Make it, and Darius Cooper can no longer not make
• 12:16
  the fifty three you're on the Cooper team. I mean,
• 12:20
  how do you let him go? He's been as good
• 12:22
  as at any receiver in camp. So unless you want
• 12:25
  to be wild and keep one, two, three, four, a
• 12:29
  six wide receiver No. Seven right the top three, then
• 12:32
  Wilson for Smith five, Mechi six, and Cooper would be seven.
• 12:37
  If you want to keep seven just early on and
• 12:39
  then play some roster tangle after your initial fifty three,
• 12:42
  that might happen.
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: But I definitely think there can be a role for
• 12:46
  Mechi on this team.
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: All right, Well, that'll be interesting. And Mechi doesn't play
• 12:50
  special teams, right.
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: He hasn't to my knowledge, but I don't know if
• 12:55
  that means he can. In fact, I think they had
• 12:57
  him work in punk return at his first Eagles practice.
• 13:00
  I'm not sure if he did today or what what
• 13:02
  they what was up with that because they were in
• 13:04
  the pads today.
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: All right, uh Football at four with Jeff Boscher on
• 13:08
  this Wednesday. The Eagles play Friday night against the Jets,
• 13:12
  and you can listen to the game right here. It's
• 13:14
  a final preseason game that has a little bit more
• 13:16
  for the Eagles here, especially on defense offense. I would
• 13:19
  imagine you see nobody on the offensive side of the ball.
• 13:22
  I would imagine, what are you gonna get DTR and
• 13:25
  Kyle McCord again.
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: Uh dt R and Kyle McCord.
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: Absolutely, you're probably I wouldn't be surprised if you don't see.
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: Will Shipley.
• 13:35
  Speaker 3: It might be ah and maybe I'll only a little
• 13:37
  bit of aj Dillon. You'll probably see a lot of
• 13:40
  Montreal Harris, I'm not sorry, Montreal Johnson.
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: Uh.
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: You'll probably see a lot of shun Derreck Powell uh
• 13:45
  at at offensive I mean at running back.
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: You'll see you know, the receivers that we talked.
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: About, you know the efe Ayati whose name I just
• 13:53
  probably butchered pretty badly. So you know, you'll see the
• 13:57
  bottom roster guys.
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: All right, Well, Friday night right here on ninety seven
• 14:00
  three ESPN, the final tune up and the final time
• 14:03
  we see Jeff Mosher this week on Football at four.
• 14:06
  We'll talk to you Monday, man.
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: Look forward to a Mike Take care