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Football at Four: DiCecco's Tuesday Eagles Notebook · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

0:00
Speaker 1: Andrew DiCicco is in on a Tuesday as we look
0:02
Speaker 1: at the Eagles moving forward now post all of the
0:06
Speaker 1: craziness from yesterday and look this team's got a lot
0:09
Speaker 1: of issues on top of the fact that yesterday was
0:11
Speaker 1: completely mishandled by the team but they must move forward.
0:16
Speaker 1: Washington loses last night. Obviously, Dallas lost. The Giants lost
0:20
Speaker 1: the division. Seemingly up for grabs, Andrew DiCicco. What is
0:24
Speaker 1: the state of this team now with all the injuries
0:27
Speaker 1: and where they are and what happened the last couple
0:30
Speaker 1: of days? It seems like a team that has got
0:34
Speaker 1: some chaos surrounding it.
0:36
Speaker 2: Yeah, and we're only entering week seven, if you can
0:39
Speaker 2: believe that. There's just so much going on with the
0:42
Speaker 2: team right now, Mike, and They're really banged up, as
0:45
Speaker 2: you outlined. But they have a really critical stretch of
0:48
Speaker 2: games coming up here with NFC East opponents. And so
0:52
Speaker 2: technically the season is still on. And it's not a
0:57
Speaker 2: lost season, depending on how they come out and play
1:00
Speaker 2: against the Dallas Cowboys. Now I know that some may
1:03
Speaker 2: be groaning hearing that comment, but that's the reality of
1:05
Speaker 2: it when you're in a division that's not very– uh...
1:09
Speaker 2: not very high-powered right now so we'll see where the
1:12
Speaker 2: injuries lie this week there's players i'll be keeping an
1:15
Speaker 2: eye on such as saquon barkley and drew kendall who
1:19
Speaker 2: was active for the game but you know sort of
1:21
Speaker 2: an emergency player you don't want to go into a
1:23
Speaker 2: game with seven offensive linemen getting those two guys back
1:27
Speaker 2: would would be a huge asset to the offense so
1:30
Speaker 2: we'll see where things go we're really early into it
1:33
Speaker 2: but that's that's kind of where things stand at the moment.
1:35
Speaker 1: Yet you know obviously the injuries have really hurt this
1:40
Speaker 1: team and getting healthy. When you look at it, when
1:43
Speaker 1: you tell a fan that Andrew, like, well, you know,
1:45
Speaker 1: the next three weeks they got games in the NFC East.
1:47
Speaker 1: You almost have people that are like, I don't care
1:49
Speaker 1: if they win the division. I don't see a path
1:51
Speaker 1: to much bigger things. This offense, I'd like to get
1:55
Speaker 1: your perspective on, do you see a path to this
1:59
Speaker 1: offense improving? Like, should I be like, By week seven
2:03
Speaker 1: or week 12, this offense is going to look much better.
2:06
Speaker 1: Do you see this offense improving at all?
2:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, I can't in good faith tell you yes, because
2:12
Speaker 2: we haven't seen anything through six weeks, Mike. Now, if
2:16
Speaker 2: you're looking at it with some silver lining here, you
2:20
Speaker 2: could potentially get Landon Dickerson back, which just adding his
2:23
Speaker 2: size and power at left guard should be able to
2:26
Speaker 2: help pave the way and get the running game going
2:28
Speaker 2: at least a little bit. Having maybe Drew Kendall back
2:31
Speaker 2: at center adds a little bit more stability there. I
2:33
Speaker 2: think he was doing some good things. And then if
2:35
Speaker 2: you get Saquon Barkley, maybe you're able to have some
2:38
Speaker 2: semblance of a running game, which should be able to
2:40
Speaker 2: complement what you're trying to do offensively, which, to be
2:43
Speaker 2: honest with you, I'm not exactly sure what the Eagles
2:46
Speaker 2: are trying to accomplish offensively. But there were moments in
2:49
Speaker 2: that game against the Carolina Panthers where it seemed that
2:52
Speaker 2: there were times where Tanner McKee was settling in a
2:55
Speaker 2: little bit, made the really nice touchdown throw to Devontae Smith,
2:58
Speaker 2: and perhaps another week with the starters, and the more
3:01
Speaker 2: he plays, the more comfortable he'll be. But in terms
3:05
Speaker 2: of what the offense is, I think right now it's
3:07
Speaker 2: really simple. You have to, if you're Sean Manning, get
3:10
Speaker 2: with Tanner McKee, figure out what works for him, what
3:13
Speaker 2: he's comfortable running, and sort of tailor your offense around
3:16
Speaker 2: that and try to establish some semblance of an identity
3:19
Speaker 2: because right now they don't have one. And now you
3:21
Speaker 2: need to play the strengths of an entirely different quarterback
3:24
Speaker 2: and and try to almost work your way from the
3:27
Speaker 2: ground up. But it's not going to be easy, and
3:29
Speaker 2: it's probably not going to be pretty. I'm going to
3:31
Speaker 2: be honest with you here, and I think a lot
3:34
Speaker 2: of it's going to stem from what they're able to
3:36
Speaker 2: accomplish in the running game, and they could have some
3:40
Speaker 2: key pieces to establishing that in place this week.
3:44
Speaker 1: No, and I'm glad that you're saying it in that
3:46
Speaker 1: aspect because, you know, obviously they've got a lot of
3:48
Speaker 1: young guys out there, especially– You know, Majors, you've got Lampkin.
3:53
Speaker 1: Those two guys played a lot last week. In fact,
3:55
Speaker 1: I believe they played every single snap. McKee, the quarterback.
4:01
Speaker 1: And as you said, I don't know in good faith
4:03
Speaker 1: you're looking at this offense. How disappointed are we? Like,
4:06
Speaker 1: I get it. You're playing with some backup guys. But
4:10
Speaker 1: this is historically bad. We don't know what they want
4:14
Speaker 1: to try to do. They're not running the ball. They
4:16
Speaker 1: threw the ball like 45 times. I mean, it seems,
4:18
Speaker 1: do we get the feeling that Mannion is in over
4:21
Speaker 1: his head? Is somebody kind of interfering here? Like what
4:24
Speaker 1: do we make of the ineptitude of this offense? Is
4:26
Speaker 1: it simply their personnel just isn't good enough or is
4:30
Speaker 1: it something bigger than that?
4:32
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think part, I think it's a little bit
4:34
Speaker 2: of both Mike. And I would say that right now
4:37
Speaker 2: it seems that Sean Mannion is overmatched and That's complicated
4:40
Speaker 2: by the fact that you don't have your full arsenal
4:43
Speaker 2: of playmakers to build your offense around. Now, what I'll
4:47
Speaker 2: tell you is this offense, and really after week two,
4:51
Speaker 2: it looked nothing like the offense that I saw in
4:53
Speaker 2: the spring and the summer. I'm talking about under center
4:56
Speaker 2: play action, quick game, all of those things, and we
5:00
Speaker 2: really just haven't seen it. It's gotten further away from that,
5:03
Speaker 2: and you're seeing more of a closer resemblance of the
5:06
Speaker 2: 2025 and even prior offenses. So I think, yes, you're
5:11
Speaker 2: seeing the growing pains and some challenges there from a young,
5:14
Speaker 2: first-time play caller, but the attrition that the Eagles are
5:18
Speaker 2: withstanding right now isn't doing him any favors either. So
5:22
Speaker 2: you couple that, you take all that into consideration, and
5:25
Speaker 2: it's very difficult for me to see the offense being
5:28
Speaker 2: able to be what we expected going into the season,
5:31
Speaker 2: which was a competent, relatively high-scoring offense that stays on schedule,
5:38
Speaker 2: and forces defenses, you know, kind of, uh, uh, you know,
5:42
Speaker 2: in flux a little bit with the motion and all
5:45
Speaker 2: those things. But I, I do think that you're going
5:47
Speaker 2: to see something better than what you have seen because
5:50
Speaker 2: it just simply has to get better. But Mike, these
5:52
Speaker 2: three and outs are at an alarming rate and they
5:55
Speaker 2: have not been able to clean that up. And the
5:58
Speaker 2: thing that's been on my radar really over the last
6:00
Speaker 2: three or four weeks is this defense, aside from the
6:03
Speaker 2: Tennessee game has been on the field for over for
6:06
Speaker 2: 70 snaps or more. And is that sustainable? No, it's
6:10
Speaker 2: not sustainable. And you're seeing late in games from susceptibility.
6:14
Speaker 2: And that's where they're sort of crumbling. They're unable to,
6:17
Speaker 2: to hold the lead as long because they're back on
6:19
Speaker 2: the field after they give the ball back to the offense,
6:22
Speaker 2: three plays later, they're back on the field. So that
6:25
Speaker 2: to me is something that I'm going to be keeping
6:27
Speaker 2: an eye on because we're entering week seven and you're
6:29
Speaker 2: not seeing anything close to complimentary football on the offensive side.
6:33
Speaker 2: And until that happens, It's going to be some rocky waters.
6:36
Speaker 1: Well, and you just said it, complimentary football. They didn't
6:38
Speaker 1: even try to run the ball last week. I mean,
6:40
Speaker 1: they're throwing the ball 45 times with Tanner McKee, and
6:44
Speaker 1: they're going under center. You know what's happening. They can't
6:46
Speaker 1: turn around and hand it off. They're running play action,
6:48
Speaker 1: even though they can't run the ball. Do you look
6:51
Speaker 1: at them and wonder, why aren't they trying to run
6:54
Speaker 1: the ball? Or do you say, listen, they just can't
6:56
Speaker 1: run the ball. I understand it.
6:58
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't accept the fact that they simply can't
7:01
Speaker 2: run the ball. And that may be what they're thinking, Mike,
7:04
Speaker 2: but you have to find another way to generate some
7:07
Speaker 2: kind of a running game. And I think the screen
7:11
Speaker 2: passes that you saw Tanner McKee throw to Damian Pierce
7:15
Speaker 2: and even the one to Carson Steele that he got
7:17
Speaker 2: hurt on is sort of an extension of that. But, man,
7:20
Speaker 2: you have to mix it up. You have to create
7:22
Speaker 2: some kind of variations. And if you're Chris Cooper and
7:24
Speaker 2: Ryan Mahaffey, the run game coordinator– you have to collaborate
7:28
Speaker 2: on this and figure out a way because just having
7:30
Speaker 2: your backup quarterback drop back 45 times, that's not acceptable.
7:34
Speaker 2: And I understand that the personality of the game dictated that,
7:37
Speaker 2: but early in that I was expecting them to make
7:40
Speaker 2: a more concerted effort to run the football because you
7:42
Speaker 2: have a backup quarterback, someone who just simply hasn't played
7:45
Speaker 2: a ton in his career. And why not alleviate some
7:49
Speaker 2: pressure from Tanner McKee by trying to get Damian Pierce
7:52
Speaker 2: and Carson Steele going and, I think right now they
7:56
Speaker 2: just don't have a ton of answers, and I also
7:58
Speaker 2: look at the protection schemes. That's something that has been
8:01
Speaker 2: problematic really all season, and they haven't been able to
8:04
Speaker 2: find an answer in-game and certainly going into it. So
8:07
Speaker 2: I think you're seeing a lot of the root of
8:09
Speaker 2: the problems there along the offensive line.
8:12
Speaker 1: I'm glad you brought that up because I wanted to
8:14
Speaker 1: get your take on the role. You know, a lot
8:17
Speaker 1: of people, oh, the offensive line's been a disaster. How
8:20
Speaker 1: much is it that the talent is just not good enough?
8:24
Speaker 1: or is it their protection schemes and some of the
8:27
Speaker 1: stuff they're doing up front is not conducive to success
8:31
Speaker 1: with this offense?
8:33
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a fair question. I think that there's more
8:35
Speaker 2: that Chris Cooper and Sean Mannion can do to accentuate
8:39
Speaker 2: the strengths of the players that you have. You see
8:41
Speaker 2: coaches around the NFL all the time that find a
8:44
Speaker 2: way to make it work. These are NFL players, and
8:47
Speaker 2: I may be in the minority here, but I happen
8:49
Speaker 2: to think that Willie Lampkin and Jake Majors are just fine.
8:52
Speaker 2: I think they've had moments of lapses, certainly. You look
8:56
Speaker 2: at the snap that Majors had. But I think individually,
9:00
Speaker 2: they're handling their assignments. And I look at the blocking
9:02
Speaker 2: scheme and some of the intricacies of what they're being
9:05
Speaker 2: asked to do, and I ask myself, is that really
9:07
Speaker 2: conducive to what this offensive line is really going to
9:11
Speaker 2: be good at? And I think until you establish that,
9:15
Speaker 2: or until you maybe reconfigure your approach... that you're not
9:19
Speaker 2: maximizing the talent that you have to work with. And
9:22
Speaker 2: I can't help but look around the NFL. It's never
9:24
Speaker 2: going to be a perfect situation, but a lot of
9:27
Speaker 2: coaches find a way to make it work. And I
9:29
Speaker 2: think these players are good enough that they can sort
9:31
Speaker 2: of navigate the interim and help you, or at least
9:34
Speaker 2: be competent enough to have an offense that can generate
9:39
Speaker 2: more than 14 points in a game.
9:41
Speaker 1: They're in the game. It's 19-14. I mean, they get
9:45
Speaker 1: a 10-play drive. They finally get some semblance and they
9:47
Speaker 1: get a punt blocked. Essentially, it feels like that this
9:52
Speaker 1: team is undisciplined, has no plan or no idea what
9:55
Speaker 1: they want to be offensively or can't be. Then the
9:58
Speaker 1: special teams for the second strike. week has gotten involved here.
10:01
Speaker 1: I mean, how disappointing is it that you are actually
10:06
Speaker 1: hanging around this game against Carolina? Because as you mentioned, Andrew,
10:11
Speaker 1: the defense kind of kept them around and to get
10:14
Speaker 1: a punt block. What happens on that play?
10:17
Speaker 2: Well, it definitely sucked the energy out of the stadium.
10:19
Speaker 2: You could feel it there. Honestly, special teams has been
10:24
Speaker 2: the dominant unit throughout the exception of that moment in
10:28
Speaker 2: the Jacksonville game for the entirety of the season. And
10:31
Speaker 2: I should also point out that Will Shipley is the
10:35
Speaker 2: personal protector normally. Now he's on injured reserve. So you
10:38
Speaker 2: don't have your personal protector there navigating and directing traffic.
10:43
Speaker 2: And those things matter. No one really talks about special
10:46
Speaker 2: teams until– you see a blunder like you saw. But
10:50
Speaker 2: that's why every player on the roster is important. That's
10:53
Speaker 2: why I try to make sure that I cover not
10:55
Speaker 2: just players 1 through 22, the starters, also 1 through
10:58
Speaker 2: 53 in the practice squad. But, yeah, I mean, what
11:02
Speaker 2: you're seeing now is sort of a defense that they
11:05
Speaker 2: do a lot to keep you in the game, and
11:07
Speaker 2: they do a lot of the heavy lifting, believe me.
11:10
Speaker 2: But they eventually cave, and when you're playing 70-plus snaps,
11:14
Speaker 2: That's natural. Your fundamentals go by the wayside, whether you
11:17
Speaker 2: intend to or not. And that's where fatigue sets in.
11:21
Speaker 2: And what you're seeing is a unit that does most
11:24
Speaker 2: of the heavy lifting. And then at the end, that
11:25
Speaker 2: dam breaks. And I don't know how much longer that
11:29
Speaker 2: can continue to happen. And we're only entering week seven.
11:32
Speaker 2: I know that I've mentioned that a few times here.
11:33
Speaker 1: It's fair.
11:35
Speaker 2: These have been prevailing themes. And it's not just this year, Mike.
11:38
Speaker 2: Last year, they had a lot of three and outs
11:41
Speaker 2: as well. And it felt like the defense was always
11:43
Speaker 2: out there on the field. For the Carolina game, it
11:46
Speaker 2: felt like much of the second half they were on
11:48
Speaker 2: the field. Every time you look up, the defense is
11:49
Speaker 2: out there. And I just don't think it's fair or
11:52
Speaker 2: realistic to continue to lean on them. At some point,
11:55
Speaker 2: this offense needs to be able to hold up their
11:57
Speaker 2: end of the bargain. And until that happens, I think
12:00
Speaker 2: you're going to continue to see that. They're only human.
12:03
Speaker 2: there's always so much you can do in a game
12:05
Speaker 2: to try to keep it competitive, and you need the
12:08
Speaker 2: offense to be able to pick up the tab.
12:09
Speaker 1: Yeah, and listen, we had so many injuries, and you mentioned,
12:12
Speaker 1: you know, what's the deal with Landon Dickerson? Is he
12:14
Speaker 1: going to be able to come back? And if that happens,
12:16
Speaker 1: can they run the ball with a little bit more?
12:17
Speaker 1: You mentioned that, you know, the offensive line, especially that's
12:22
Speaker 1: the center spot and the guard spot. You've got two backups,
12:24
Speaker 1: and they're really third-string guys. When you look at it,
12:26
Speaker 1: Lampkin's the third. You know, you've got the third center
12:30
Speaker 1: in majors. You've got this backup left guard. with Lampkin there. So,
12:34
Speaker 1: I mean, it is a challenge there. But getting the
12:38
Speaker 1: guys they want back in there, if you get Kendall
12:40
Speaker 1: and you get Dickerson and Barkley's back with Tanner McKee
12:44
Speaker 1: playing quarterback, do you think that this offense can at
12:48
Speaker 1: least attempt to be what they were hoping for? Or
12:51
Speaker 1: has that ship sailed?
12:54
Speaker 2: I think that might be a stretch, but they can
12:56
Speaker 2: certainly be a lot more competent than what you've seen.
12:58
Speaker 2: if you are able to solidify at least a little
13:01
Speaker 2: bit on the offensive line, you're getting back in Saquon
13:04
Speaker 2: Barkley back in the mix, and he's going to be
13:06
Speaker 2: a key factor here for the rest of the season
13:08
Speaker 2: because a lot of what they do is going to
13:09
Speaker 2: be built around Saquon. Yeah, I think it's fair to
13:13
Speaker 2: expect them to be able to muster more than 14
13:16
Speaker 2: points in a game and have an offense that isn't
13:19
Speaker 2: sort of churning out these three and outs at such
13:21
Speaker 2: an alarming rate. So I think that it's easy to
13:25
Speaker 2: look at the season six weeks in and you lose
13:28
Speaker 2: your starting quarterback to just an unsettling set of circumstances here.
13:34
Speaker 2: Your right tackle, your future Hall of Fame right tackle, retires.
13:39
Speaker 2: Cam Juergens traded all of the attrition that we outlined,
13:42
Speaker 2: and it's easy to look at that and say, well,
13:44
Speaker 2: it's a lost season. Technically, it's not because, as I mentioned,
13:48
Speaker 2: this is the critical point in the season, but they
13:50
Speaker 2: have to get it corrected in a hurry, Mike, because
13:53
Speaker 2: it can start to spiral quickly. just after Monday night.
13:57
Speaker 1: Well, you're right. I mean, you know, and you're down there.
13:59
Speaker 1: Does it feel like a team that's rudderless? Does it
14:01
Speaker 1: feel like a team that's looking around saying, when are
14:04
Speaker 1: we going to be at week 17 already?
14:09
Speaker 2: No, I would say, honestly, Mike Thursday, when I was there,
14:13
Speaker 2: there was a lot of optimism. It was notably upbeat
14:16
Speaker 2: and Jordan, my lot of sort of keeping things together.
14:19
Speaker 2: I can't say enough about Jordan, my lot of the
14:22
Speaker 2: person and Jordan, my lot of the leader and, trying
14:25
Speaker 2: to do his best to continue to pour into the
14:27
Speaker 2: young guys and still confidence and, and his messaging of
14:31
Speaker 2: it's the next man up and we're still in this. And,
14:33
Speaker 2: you know, you gotta, you gotta, you know, you gotta
14:36
Speaker 2: keep marching forward. I go back to something that I
14:39
Speaker 2: was talking to Jake majors about. And I, I asked
14:42
Speaker 2: him about what was mentioned on the broadcast leading into
14:45
Speaker 2: the Jacksonville game. And they mentioned that he was talking
14:48
Speaker 2: to Jordan Milata before the game, you know, this is
14:50
Speaker 2: crazy as a, and Jordan Milata put his hands on
14:52
Speaker 2: his shoulders and said, if not you, Then who? And
14:56
Speaker 2: that's kind of the confidence that he's imparting on some
14:59
Speaker 2: of these younger players who are now having to step in.
15:01
Speaker 2: And so going into that game against Carolina, I thought
15:05
Speaker 2: that the Eagles were going to be at least have
15:08
Speaker 2: the right frame of mind to go in there. And
15:11
Speaker 2: they weren't going to come out flat because of the
15:13
Speaker 2: messaging and everything that I gathered leading into it. But
15:17
Speaker 2: then after the game, just the sentiment that I got
15:20
Speaker 2: is that they're just searching for answers, Mike. They don't
15:23
Speaker 2: have anything to hang their hat on. There's no reinforcements
15:27
Speaker 2: really coming that's going to save the day. They need
15:30
Speaker 2: to be able to look inward and figure this out.
15:32
Speaker 2: And Jordan Mailata said it comes down to focus and
15:34
Speaker 2: want to. And those were two things that sort of
15:37
Speaker 2: raised my antenna. I think he was speaking in generalities there,
15:41
Speaker 2: but I think it speaks to a larger point beyond
15:44
Speaker 2: scheme and the play callers and all these other things
15:47
Speaker 2: that we've been talking about. You have to sometimes look
15:50
Speaker 2: internally and figure out, you know, what version of yourself
15:53
Speaker 2: are you going to put forth out there and do
15:55
Speaker 2: your part.
15:55
Speaker 1: All right, Andrew, check the football for a couple quick
15:58
Speaker 1: ones here. I want to get your thoughts on how
16:00
Speaker 1: they've used Lemons so far in his role in this offense.
16:06
Speaker 2: I think they're using him a little bit better than
16:08
Speaker 2: what they were doing the first few weeks where you're
16:10
Speaker 2: seeing these screens and the ghost motions that just weren't
16:14
Speaker 2: blocked up well. I don't know that you're accentuating what
16:17
Speaker 2: the player does well. I think using him as a
16:19
Speaker 2: traditional wide receiver to work the middle of the field,
16:23
Speaker 2: he's good at attacking the football. If they can get
16:26
Speaker 2: him in space, he's good at running after the catch.
16:29
Speaker 2: But I have seen some positive developments there with Makai
16:32
Speaker 2: Lemon and And I would like to see Sean Madden
16:35
Speaker 2: use him as more in a traditional role where he's
16:39
Speaker 2: best suited. Work the middle of the field and try
16:42
Speaker 2: to get him the ball in space so he can
16:45
Speaker 2: pick up yards after the catch. He's really physical. And,
16:49
Speaker 2: I mean, you've got to stay away from these screens.
16:52
Speaker 2: It's just not working. But I have seen promising glimpses here.
16:56
Speaker 2: in terms of Makai Lemon, and hopefully they continue to
16:59
Speaker 2: use him in that capacity.
17:00
Speaker 1: All right. He was the first-round pick this year. Campbell
17:03
Speaker 1: last year. What's going on with his season?
17:07
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, he started the game, and he played
17:11
Speaker 2: far more snaps than Jeremiah Trotter Jr., but they are rotating,
17:14
Speaker 2: both players, Mike. And I think there's something to be
17:18
Speaker 2: said for Vic Fangio here because he doesn't traditionally rotate linebackers.
17:23
Speaker 2: It's clear as day watching the game that– There are moments,
17:27
Speaker 2: and there have been moments throughout the season where Jihad
17:29
Speaker 2: Campbell looks to be swimming a little bit out there.
17:32
Speaker 2: Maybe he's unsure of his assignments. Sometimes the instincts aren't
17:36
Speaker 2: necessarily there. I always tell you this, but I feel
17:40
Speaker 2: it needs to be reiterated. There's a lot of film
17:42
Speaker 2: warriors out there that like to fixate on one player.
17:45
Speaker 2: There's the still shots and all that, and they like
17:48
Speaker 2: to highlight Jihad Campbell, but without talking to a coach,
17:51
Speaker 2: without hearing what Vic Fangio has to say, it's impossible
17:54
Speaker 2: to know whose responsibility it is, or whether or not
17:58
Speaker 2: he was expecting help and so forth. But Vic Fangio
18:01
Speaker 2: has given you the answers. He's rotating Jeremiah Trotter in
18:03
Speaker 2: there because he brings something to the table that they're
18:06
Speaker 2: not getting from Jihad. But he is a first-round pick,
18:10
Speaker 2: and you've got to continue to let him work through
18:12
Speaker 2: some of these challenges. But he needs to be able
18:15
Speaker 2: to be more disciplined and fundamentally sound because those are
18:19
Speaker 2: hallmarks of what Vic Fangio looks for. And right now, Mike,
18:22
Speaker 2: he hasn't been as consistent as what they were hoping.
18:25
Speaker 2: And until that happens, until that rectifies, you're going to
18:28
Speaker 2: see Jeremiah Trotter continue to be in the mix here.
18:31
Speaker 1: I know you're looking at draft choices. Some young guys there,
18:35
Speaker 1: Lemon this year, Campbell, Makuba at safety was a high
18:39
Speaker 1: pick second round. What are you making so far his season?
18:44
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's been up and down. I mean, Vic Fangio
18:47
Speaker 2: said that he's been pleased with Drew Makuba's play, but
18:50
Speaker 2: there are moments where you can see him take poor
18:53
Speaker 2: angles to the ball carrier. He, will sometimes get caught
18:56
Speaker 2: peeking in the backfield. There's been not as much busted
19:00
Speaker 2: coverage as there were earlier in his first season, but
19:03
Speaker 2: I think he's been fine. There's been a rotating cast
19:07
Speaker 2: of characters playing opposite him. That's not good for continuity
19:10
Speaker 2: purposes or communication purposes. But I think he's been okay,
19:14
Speaker 2: and I know that naturally when you see the defense
19:17
Speaker 2: give up some plays late in games, it seems like
19:20
Speaker 2: the focus always goes to Drew McCuba and Jihad Campbell. But,
19:24
Speaker 2: you know, taking everything into account, I think he's been
19:27
Speaker 2: all right. I think the pairing of Makuba and Michael
19:29
Speaker 2: Carter II, now he missed last week with the abdomen injury.
19:32
Speaker 2: I think that's been their most successful tandem. Kenny Moore
19:35
Speaker 2: got the start. Marcus Epps started earlier in the year.
19:39
Speaker 2: So I think that that position in itself is really
19:41
Speaker 2: trying to work itself out.
19:43
Speaker 1: All right, so we'll get out on this. This NFC
19:46
Speaker 1: East has been a disaster, but they play Dallas, so
19:48
Speaker 1: someone's got to win. You would think anyway, a loss
19:53
Speaker 1: on Monday night, Andrew, do you start to think about trading,
19:59
Speaker 1: breaking up, moving on? Like, is that eight weeks in your,
20:03
Speaker 1: you're looking at this team saying two and five and say,
20:07
Speaker 1: What's the next move for this team? Is that how
20:09
Speaker 1: big Monday night could be?
20:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think at that point it's fair to start
20:14
Speaker 2: having those conversations or at least start getting the wheels
20:16
Speaker 2: turning and thinking about it. That's a very critical division game.
20:20
Speaker 2: It's at home. It's on Monday night. You've got to
20:22
Speaker 2: go out there and really put your best foot forward
20:25
Speaker 2: and put up some points, get out to a fast start,
20:28
Speaker 2: and alleviate some pressure from your defense. And I think
20:30
Speaker 2: if they're able to do that, that maybe sets forth
20:34
Speaker 2: some progress here. But I think, yeah, Mike, if that
20:38
Speaker 2: game doesn't go well and that's a divisional game and
20:41
Speaker 2: you start to see things slipping away, yeah, I think
20:44
Speaker 2: those conversations start to become more of a reality.
20:47
Speaker 1: All right, well, we'll keep an eye on that. Andrew,
20:49
Speaker 1: the Checo Football 4, powered by the Inside the Birds
20:51
Speaker 1: podcast here on a Football 4 Tuesday as the Birds
20:54
Speaker 1: get ready for the Dallas Cowboys. Both teams really struggling
20:58
Speaker 1: and need this game on Monday night. And, of course,
21:01
Speaker 1: we'll break it all down on Football 4 all week long.
21:03
Speaker 2: Andrew, thank you, man. No problem.
21:06
Speaker 1: Good breakdown as we look at a lot of things
21:08
Speaker 1: that are happening with the Eagles outside of the Hurts.