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Football at Four: How is The Eagles Offense Progressing in Training Camp? · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

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  Speaker 1: Football four powered by the Inside of the Birds podcast
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  Speaker 1: a Monday edition of Football at four. What's up man,
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  Speaker 1: how's it going? How's the weekend? Yeah? Brother, I know? Football?
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  Speaker 1: Back back to work, back to the grind. Let's uh
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  Speaker 1: get your observations. Let's start off with Jalen Hurts and
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  Speaker 1: this offense. Everybody wondering how he looks, how he fits in?
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  Speaker 1: What have you seen so far from Jalen Hurts in
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  Speaker 1: this new look?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah? I mean it's always going to be a work
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  Speaker 2: in progress. It's never going to be an overnight fix.
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  Speaker 2: They're not going to roll out of bed and have
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  Speaker 2: this offense operating an all cylinder, so it's important to
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  Speaker 2: keep that in mind. It's also important to keep in
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  Speaker 2: mind that they're going up against a tremendous defense among
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  Speaker 2: the NFL's elite every single day. So it's that old
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  Speaker 2: adage of our iron sharpening iron. But for the first
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  Speaker 2: three days, I would say the better part of the
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  Speaker 2: first three practices, the defense bested the offense and you
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  Speaker 2: could see that they were a little bit behind. But
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  Speaker 2: I thought today told it a little bit of a
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  Speaker 2: different story with the offense coming alive a little bit.
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  Speaker 2: Jalen Hurtz had some really nice throws in the first.
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  Speaker 1: Day of pads.
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  Speaker 2: Andy Dalton had a really impressive day as well. I
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  Speaker 2: think I think it was a little bit more balanced,
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  Speaker 2: But it looks like he's really taking to this, you know,
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  Speaker 2: taking to the offense, working through some things. It's all
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  Speaker 2: new to him and it's what you look for at
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  Speaker 2: this stage of the game is you want to see
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  Speaker 2: you want to see players. You want to see that
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  Speaker 2: side the ball grow and take strides forward in the
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  Speaker 2: right direction throughout some throughout training camp. So that's what
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  Speaker 2: I'm looking for.
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  Speaker 1: I want to get your thoughts on the offensive line, Andrew,
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  Speaker 1: and how their role might be different this season with
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  Speaker 1: the new coaching staff and the new offense.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, they're they're just going to be blocking differently.
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  Speaker 2: I mean the angles will be different, their their focuses,
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  Speaker 2: and their assignments will be different. Uh, They're going laterally
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  Speaker 2: instead of moving north and south, getting vertical, and so
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  Speaker 2: it should really accentuate their athleticism. And it should also
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  Speaker 2: help the running backs and allow them to do some
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  Speaker 2: different things. Unlock them, get them in the open, open space,
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  Speaker 2: and I think just overall alleviate some of the pressure
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  Speaker 2: from these offensive linemen. It maybe preserve them a little
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  Speaker 2: bit more and they don't necessarily have to always adopt
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  Speaker 2: that growing nature that they had to that they were,
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  Speaker 2: you know, beholden to with Jess Stutlin. Now, that was
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  Speaker 2: very successful and this remains to be seen if it's
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  Speaker 2: ultimately going to work. But the results or the reviews
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  Speaker 2: thus far have been pretty promising.
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  Speaker 1: Andrew checkout Football for You wrote a piece over at
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  Speaker 1: Inside the Birds dot Com that all of our listeners
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  Speaker 1: should go check out. It's about Mackay Lemon and the
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  Speaker 1: role that he might have so early on in this camp.
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  Speaker 1: What stands out Lemon so far?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think a lot of it was going into camp.
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  Speaker 2: There's the school thought and I also subscribe to that
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  Speaker 2: that it was going to take them a little bit
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  Speaker 2: of time to learn the offense, knowing that he had
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  Speaker 2: some time, you know, he had to make up for
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  Speaker 2: lost time he had the hamstring injury during the spring.
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  Speaker 2: And what I've seen right now is the Eagles wasted
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  Speaker 2: little time getting him involved with the first team. He
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  Speaker 2: hasn't had a lot of success in terms of receptions
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  Speaker 2: and the volume hasn't been there, but they have been
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  Speaker 2: targeting them. There's a few different occasions on Saturday's practice
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  Speaker 2: where they tried to get it to him, whether it
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  Speaker 2: was in the red zone and there was a flag
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  Speaker 2: drown on Trotter Junior, whether there was a deep shot
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  Speaker 2: and it was a hair off a little bit too
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  Speaker 2: far in front of him, but he did have some
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  Speaker 2: a step down the field on Cooper Degene or or
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  Speaker 2: something like that. But I think it is notable that
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  Speaker 2: they're getting him in the mix early there's not the
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  Speaker 2: onboarding process. Now. What I will add is being there today.
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  Speaker 2: He was there for individuals, but I did not see
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  Speaker 2: him participate in any team drill. So not exactly sure
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  Speaker 2: what's going well, you know what the what the reason
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  Speaker 2: for that is, but it's something I'll be monitoring for
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  Speaker 2: Tuesday's practice right now.
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  Speaker 1: He had some hamstring issues back in the OTAs. Is
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  Speaker 1: that what left him out the last time? Not connected
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  Speaker 1: or maybe connected.
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  Speaker 2: I don't know. I'm not sure all right.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Lemon obviously and Eli Stowers the tight end the
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  Speaker 1: early part of this camp. Does he look like a
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  Speaker 1: guy who could have a role or a bigger role
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  Speaker 1: in this offense.
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  Speaker 2: He's gotten off to a slow start. Again, it's never
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  Speaker 2: a sign, you know, it's never costs for concern. Players
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  Speaker 2: progress at different rates. But he's clearly a little bit
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  Speaker 2: further down the pecking order with tight ends. Johnny want
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  Speaker 2: is pretty comfortably the number two tight end right now.
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  Speaker 2: He even had to catch during one of the team
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  Speaker 2: periods earlier in practice. But so Tours has been targeting.
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  Speaker 2: He was a targeted a couple of times today and
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  Speaker 2: hasn't done anything really remarkable. But it's not something that
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  Speaker 2: you sound any sort of alarm, He went again, kind
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  Speaker 2: of like with the offense, you want to you want
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  Speaker 2: to see that the player is taking steps forward in
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  Speaker 2: the right direction throughout the summer, and it's not. It's
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  Speaker 2: it's gonna take a little bit of time. You know,
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  Speaker 2: he's gonna need a little bit of seasoning there. He's
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  Speaker 2: gonna have to grow and evolve as a blocker and
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  Speaker 2: that's all part of the process.
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  Speaker 1: Andrew, you wrote about Marcus Epps. I think a lot
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  Speaker 1: of people have questions about how big of a role
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  Speaker 1: he might have this season. What are we see in
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  Speaker 1: early on from the veteran who you know, they brought
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  Speaker 1: him back last year late in the year and he
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  Speaker 1: had probably a bigger role last year than people thought
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  Speaker 1: he would. What are you seeing from EPs and what
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  Speaker 1: kind of role he might have this year.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, as far as Epps or Michael Carter the second
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  Speaker 2: neither player has made any big play. There hasn't been
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  Speaker 2: a splash play yet, but they've been steady. And I
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  Speaker 2: think sometimes when you don't hear a safety's name that
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  Speaker 2: that ind case that they're doing their job and being
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  Speaker 2: where they are supposed to be. But yeah, Marcus EPs
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  Speaker 2: is right now the front runner to be the safety
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  Speaker 2: opposite through mccouba when the Eagles are in Nickel. Let's
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  Speaker 2: not forget then when Eagles are in base, that will
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  Speaker 2: be Cooper Degene at safety. With Marcus Epps, you're not
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  Speaker 2: getting there's sort of a tradeoff because you're not getting
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  Speaker 2: the super charge athleticism, the range that meant you might like,
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  Speaker 2: but you are getting someone who's fundamentally sound, who's trusted
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  Speaker 2: with Vic Fangio, which, by the way, when he was
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  Speaker 2: talking about the back end communication, he mentioned how capable
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  Speaker 2: Marcus was and doing that, And I don't know that
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  Speaker 2: you need to be a superstar to be an effective
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  Speaker 2: safety and a Vic Fangio defense players like red Blanket
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  Speaker 2: Ship and you kind of look at some of the
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  Speaker 2: safeties that he's work within his career. If you're assignment sound,
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  Speaker 2: if you're disciplined, if you're not a high variance player,
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  Speaker 2: and you have a high level football intelligence, more often
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  Speaker 2: than not, they're going to find a way to maximize
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  Speaker 2: what you do well. And I think right now there's
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  Speaker 2: a reason why Marcus EPs is in the driver's seat
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  Speaker 2: there at the moment. Although I am pretty intrigued with
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  Speaker 2: Michael Carter the second because of how he moves. I
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  Speaker 2: liked him quite a bit as a nickelback with the Jets,
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  Speaker 2: and we'll see if he's able to sort of apply
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  Speaker 2: some of his coverage acumen to the safety position. I
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  Speaker 2: like that.
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  Speaker 1: I want to get your thoughts on Jalx Hunt because
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  Speaker 1: I think he's a very interesting guy. This is year
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  Speaker 1: number three. You take a look at you know, he
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  Speaker 1: was a third round pick. I think that probably is
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  Speaker 1: further along than they thought he would be in his
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  Speaker 1: first couple of seasons. Where do you see him this year?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's fair. I think Jayox Hunt's going
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  Speaker 2: to be and I've said this for three four months
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  Speaker 2: now because I could see the progress and talking to
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  Speaker 2: some people, you just get this sense that he is
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  Speaker 2: primed for a breakout. That's my twenty twenty six defensive
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  Speaker 2: breakout for the Eagles. That just a really fluid athlete,
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  Speaker 2: good burst. He's a more well rounded player, and I
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  Speaker 2: think he's grown and there's no coincidence that it just
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  Speaker 2: happens to coincide with snaps. He just needed reps and
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  Speaker 2: he's not too far removed from being a safety at Cornell.
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  Speaker 2: But you go to Cornell, You're a pretty intelligent dude,
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  Speaker 2: and so I think that that also helps him really
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  Speaker 2: just absorb his function within the defense and be able
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  Speaker 2: to kind of grow and evolve his role a little
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  Speaker 2: bit quicker than maybe some other players where might have
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  Speaker 2: been able to with that kind of experience. So I
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  Speaker 2: think the fact that he's playing opposite Johnathan Grenard should
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  Speaker 2: help him. And they have a very diverse group of
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  Speaker 2: edge rushers including Arnold McAdie, Nolan Smith, and Ajfns. And
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  Speaker 2: I think because of that, there's not any one player
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  Speaker 2: that you can key on. I just feel like Jaylex
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  Speaker 2: Hunt's ready to kick the door down in year three.
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  Speaker 1: I know you wrote about over inside the Birds dot
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  Speaker 1: Com the defense wins the day and you know this
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  Speaker 1: defense is very very good. Do you look at this
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  Speaker 1: defense right now? Is potentially better than the defense we
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  Speaker 1: saw last year?
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  Speaker 2: Yes, And you see I didn't hesitate there. It's because
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  Speaker 2: of the continuity. It's another year where a lot of
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  Speaker 2: the nucleus of this defense that is sending talent is
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  Speaker 2: they're playing together again for another year. You have two
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  Speaker 2: players in Cooper dejen and Quinja Mitchell coming off All
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  Speaker 2: Pro honors. Then you have Jay look Hunt, who was
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  Speaker 2: a good player last year, but I think he's ready
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  Speaker 2: to be to take it that next step and become
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  Speaker 2: a great player this year. I believe that Jonathan Grenard
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  Speaker 2: is a better pass rusher than Jalen Phillips. Now he's
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  Speaker 2: got to get on the field and he's going to
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  Speaker 2: have to work with the team because he hasn't taken
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  Speaker 2: any team reps since he's been a member of the Eagles.
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  Speaker 2: But the spirit of it, yes, that's an upgrade there.
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  Speaker 2: And then you also take into the equation that, at
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  Speaker 2: least in theory, Drew mccooba gives you more range and
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  Speaker 2: upside in that safety position than maybe a red blanket
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  Speaker 2: ship Jehad Campbell. His skill set, the range, the eighty
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  Speaker 2: inch wingspan should give you more athleticism and big playability
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  Speaker 2: at the second level. He's probably gonna sacrifice something in
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  Speaker 2: terms of run support. He's not going to be to
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  Speaker 2: Kobe Dean there, but he gives you a little bit
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  Speaker 2: more big playability. So yes, for all those reasons, I
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  Speaker 2: think that if everything goes according to plan, there's no
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  Speaker 2: reason why they shouldn't be.
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  Speaker 1: We'll get you out with this one. On you wrote
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  Speaker 1: about Jahad Campbell and his role possibly being bigger this season.
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  Speaker 1: He played well last year, but how could his role
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  Speaker 1: be different this year than it was last year.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I just think that he'll probably see Vic Fangio
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  Speaker 2: maybe give him a little bit more in terms of responsibility.
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  Speaker 2: Teams are they're going to look to attack him in
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  Speaker 2: a different way now that he has a year of
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  Speaker 2: tape on him. He looks like he's added some muscle
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  Speaker 2: to his frame. I think Zach Bonn even revealed as much.
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  Speaker 2: There's also the rushing the quarterback component.
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  Speaker 1: Now.
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  Speaker 2: I never viewed him as an edge rusher coming out
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  Speaker 2: of the draft. I viewed him as an off ball linebacker,
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  Speaker 2: and I know that I got Steward for that, But
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  Speaker 2: he's an off ball linebacker right now. I don't know that.
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  Speaker 2: I think you'll see him be able to tap into
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  Speaker 2: that dimension where he has that ability where he can
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  Speaker 2: rush the quarterback. But I think really where you're going
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  Speaker 2: to see him shine is in coverage, where he can
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  Speaker 2: cover tight ends, he can cover running backs. He's just
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  Speaker 2: a really fluid athlete and you don't often see players
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  Speaker 2: of his makeup as a linebacker in the NFL. I
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  Speaker 2: do believe that he has a big season awaiting.
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  Speaker 1: All right, well, we look forward to more training camp conversation.
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  Speaker 1: This week, The Birds are back the Inside the Birds podcast.
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  Speaker 1: Check that out on all podcasting platforms. Andrew to check Oh,
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  Speaker 1: he's in for Moosher this week, plus on Thursday we'll
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  Speaker 1: take a look at the NFC West, which has maybe
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  Speaker 1: two of the best teams in the NFC. We'll look
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  Speaker 1: at all of those guys later on this week with
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  Speaker 1: Andrew to Checko here on Football at fourth.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks man Mike Kevi, a great man as always.
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  Speaker 1: Andrew to Checko cover the Birds for Football at four
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  Speaker 1: here on the Sports Bast Live on ninety seven three ESPN.