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Football at Four: How Should Eagles Handle Roster Management Going Forward? · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

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  Speaker 1: Football 4 is powered by the Inside the Birds podcast.
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  Speaker 1: It is, of course, a Thursday edition right here on
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  Speaker 1: the Sports Pass Live. We're at the Golden Nugget in
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  Speaker 1: Atlantic City, and they got a lot happening, including the
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  Speaker 1: sweepstakes drawing. The winner will be announced live on our
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  Speaker 1: show on February the 4th. Adam Kaplan is here from
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  Speaker 1: the Inside the Birds podcast as the Eagles get ready
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  Speaker 1: for the Dallas Cowboys. It is a kind of a,
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  Speaker 1: Interesting spot in the season for both of these teams, Adam,
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  Speaker 1: as both teams struggling. Philly really struggling offensively, but they
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  Speaker 1: might get a key player back, and that would be potentially,
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  Speaker 1: it looks like, Saquon Barkley. So we're going to look
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  Speaker 1: at how they'll manage this roster going forward because their
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  Speaker 1: name keeps coming up, Adam, as the trade deadline is
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  Speaker 1: going to be coming up soon. The trade deadline in
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  Speaker 1: football seems to be more active in recent years, doesn't it?
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  Speaker 2: It used to be, Mike, that it was so boring
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  Speaker 2: at SnoozeFest for many years, but what happened was several
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  Speaker 2: general managers went to the competition committee and said, hey, listen,
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  Speaker 2: this is ridiculous. Like, you can't be telling us, like, okay,
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  Speaker 2: six weeks, make a decision on our roster for the
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  Speaker 2: rest of the season. So over time, they kept moving
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  Speaker 2: it back. Now it's November 10th, I believe, so it's
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  Speaker 2: three and a half weeks away here. And it's good.
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  Speaker 2: And the funny thing is, because the division is so bad,
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  Speaker 2: The Eagles are tied for second place with the aforementioned
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  Speaker 2: Dallas Cowboys. But the Giants have all sorts of problems.
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  Speaker 2: They're switching to J.J. McCarthy, quarterback. They're not playing well.
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  Speaker 2: Their vision's clearly up for grabs, Mike. So, yeah, the
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  Speaker 2: Eagles are really in an interesting position. They could buy, sell,
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  Speaker 2: or hold. And I can't remember the last time Howie Roseman,
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  Speaker 2: the decision-maker for the Eagles, has been in that position.
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  Speaker 2: It's been a long time.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, well, let's take a look at how the Eagles
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  Speaker 1: should handle their roster management going forward here. What about
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  Speaker 1: Barkley and what they do behind Barkley here? I mean,
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  Speaker 1: everybody's banged up at this point. So how do you
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  Speaker 1: kind of take a look at the running back position
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  Speaker 1: behind Saquon Barkley, who we do anticipate will play on
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  Speaker 1: Monday night?
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  Speaker 2: It's looking good. So it's real simple. Anytime a skilled
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  Speaker 2: position player has a hamstring injury they've come back from
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  Speaker 2: for the first week, we start working, cannot even have
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  Speaker 2: a minor setback. minor setback, you're not playing. You're going
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  Speaker 2: to be out a while longer. So it's a long week.
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  Speaker 2: Today's the first day. You have to see how he
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  Speaker 2: reacts to this practice. If he takes three full days
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  Speaker 2: of practice, there is absolutely no question he'll start unless
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  Speaker 2: something happens in pregame war-ups or in the Sunday walkthrough
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  Speaker 2: because the game is Monday night in Philly. It's going
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  Speaker 2: to be a little chilly early next week. During the
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  Speaker 2: day it's going to be warm. It's going to get
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  Speaker 2: colder at night. Got to see how he feels, but
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  Speaker 2: right now it's looking good. Now here's why I want
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  Speaker 2: to talk about this position. Right, it called Peyton yet
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  Speaker 2: another running back on injury reserve for the Eagles. Pierce
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  Speaker 2: is a backup. He's done what he can. He's been
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  Speaker 2: inconsistent in pass pro. Had some good snaps in pass pro,
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  Speaker 2: but he's not a third down back. Eagles know this.
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  Speaker 2: Right now they've got a real problem because all they
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  Speaker 2: have is the off-injured Elijah Mitchell, who's back once again.
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  Speaker 2: He's on the Eagles practice squad. So he'll be the
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  Speaker 2: third back unless they sign another one. They're actually going
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  Speaker 2: to have to sign another running back. If Mitchell's up,
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  Speaker 2: you have to on your 69-man roster, which means 53
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  Speaker 2: plus 16, 53 active, 16 practice. You have to have
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  Speaker 2: at least four backs. You can't– because think of it
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  Speaker 2: this way. Let's say somebody gets hurt in practice this
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  Speaker 2: week and Mitchell gets called up. Well, who's your third back?
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  Speaker 2: You have to have one. So they're going to have
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  Speaker 2: to add a back soon. So keep an eye on that.
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  Speaker 2: But Elijah Mitchell, Mike, it should be known that he
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  Speaker 2: is a West Coast offensive zone running specialist. That is
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  Speaker 2: the sole reason why he's still playing at 28 years old.
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  Speaker 2: Been on inter-reserve four times. Terrible injury history, but when
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  Speaker 2: he's been healthy, particularly with the 49ers when he was
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  Speaker 2: drafted in 21, he looked outstanding. He was actually once
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  Speaker 2: a starting running back for them.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, well, guess what? As you just said, they've been
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  Speaker 1: going through running backs, so I wouldn't be shocked if
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  Speaker 1: he got some carries at some point during this year.
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  Speaker 1: What about a tight end behind Dallas Goddard?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, so Johnny Mudd does not look good, Mike. They
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  Speaker 2: are injured. The checkers said that they have told EJ
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  Speaker 2: Jenkins they're going to cut him. So that leaves two
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  Speaker 2: on the 53-man roster. They often heard Goddard and Mudd,
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  Speaker 2: who's 31 years old, does not look particularly good. At
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  Speaker 2: tight end right now, you've got Zach Gertz. He's the
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  Speaker 2: only other tight end. He's on their practice squad. He's
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  Speaker 2: out of elevation, so he would take up a roster spot.
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  Speaker 2: But here's the problem now with the roster. Lane Johnson
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  Speaker 2: will stay, as I'm told, on the roster the entire season. Why?
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  Speaker 2: If they were going to put him on the reserve
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  Speaker 2: retired list, the acceleration of the option bonus operation would
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  Speaker 2: be funneled to this year's cap. You can't do that.
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  Speaker 2: It's too massive. So he's going to take up a
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  Speaker 2: rush spot. It's just crazy for a guy who retired.
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  Speaker 2: So that's that. So they're going to have to add
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  Speaker 2: another 10-in. They know that. They worked out Evan Neal
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  Speaker 2: from a giant right tackle and guard. As I reported yesterday,
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  Speaker 2: they worked out Bowser, the former second-round pick. Tyce Bowser,
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  Speaker 2: second-round pick in 2017. He's an edge rusher who's 31
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  Speaker 2: years old, and they have interest potentially signing him over
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  Speaker 2: the next couple weeks or so. Mike, the depth of
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  Speaker 2: this team, which we thought was pretty good, has been
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  Speaker 2: decimated by injury.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely, and the tight end spot. By the way, Dallas
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  Speaker 1: Goddard is a free agent at the end of this
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  Speaker 1: year as well, so keep that in mind because he's
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  Speaker 1: been kind of on this free agent back and forth
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  Speaker 1: with the Eagles. We keep thinking he's gone, and they
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  Speaker 1: keep bringing him back. So at some point, they're going
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  Speaker 1: to have to find somebody to play that spot. We'll see.
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  Speaker 1: The center spot's interesting. I feel like this is, you know,
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  Speaker 1: we were talking about this earlier, believe it or not,
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  Speaker 1: mock draft season. I'm reading a mock draft last night, Adam,
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  Speaker 1: that's how bad it's gotten for the Eagles. And I said,
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  Speaker 1: if they actually had, they're at number six right now,
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  Speaker 1: if they had the sixth pick of the draft, it's like,
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  Speaker 1: what position would make sense for them, you know, to
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  Speaker 1: go after? The number one player in this draft is
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  Speaker 1: a wide receiver. You know, obviously some people would look
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  Speaker 1: at quarterback, but you know, you have a left tackle,
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  Speaker 1: you have a right tackle that you're hoping makes it,
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  Speaker 1: you know, you have a center. Kendall, so who should
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  Speaker 1: start at center? What's the center position looking like here?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's kind of complicated. So right now they want
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  Speaker 2: Drew Kendall to start. Drew Kendall was not ready last week.
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  Speaker 2: His pregame warm-up did not go well, so he was
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  Speaker 2: an emergency player, active, but he wasn't going to play.
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  Speaker 2: So Jake Majors has not played well enough. He's really
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  Speaker 2: a third-string center. He should not be on the 53.
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  Speaker 2: So what they want is Drew Kendall to start. Willie Lampkin,
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  Speaker 2: this is the way I see it. If Landon Dickerson
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  Speaker 2: could play this week at left guard and Kendall's ready
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  Speaker 2: to play, then there you go. There's your left-guard and center.
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  Speaker 2: If Kendall can't play and Dickerson's at left guard, you
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  Speaker 2: could certainly see Willie Lampkin over at Majors. I would
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  Speaker 2: expect that to happen. One thing I do want to add,
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  Speaker 2: remember Eli Stowers started practicing last week, come back from
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  Speaker 2: the quad strain. Let's see what happens. When he gets
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  Speaker 2: clear to play, Mike, he's going to have to play
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  Speaker 2: more than they wanted him to. They're in a desperate
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  Speaker 2: situation for an athletic pass catcher. This is the thing.
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  Speaker 2: When you're decimated like they are, guys are going to
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  Speaker 2: just have to play a little bit earlier than they expected.
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  Speaker 2: That's just the way it is right now. Plus, he's
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  Speaker 2: a second-round pick. They've got to get him ready to play.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, by the way, real quick, we mentioned Goddard. Apparently
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  Speaker 1: he was not at practice today. No, Devonta Smith or
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  Speaker 1: Dontavian Wicks were not on the.
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  Speaker 2: Practice field today. Yeah, watch that.
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  Speaker 1: Barkley back there, Landon Dickerson as well. So if they
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  Speaker 1: get Dickerson back, maybe, and Kendall. Because we could talk
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  Speaker 1: about that. At guard, I mean, is Dickerson, if he's
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  Speaker 1: back healthy, I would guess. Adam, they want to plug
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  Speaker 1: him back in.
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  Speaker 2: At left guard? No. He would be in, barring a
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  Speaker 2: major surprise. He's got a massive contract, though he took
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  Speaker 2: a pay cut. It's very small, by the way. They
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  Speaker 2: need massive stuff. We've talked about that. Lampkin's a nice story.
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  Speaker 2: He's under 5'11. You have to have someone like Dickerson
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  Speaker 2: in there. But it's a shame that they just cannot
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  Speaker 2: get out of their own way with these injuries. And
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  Speaker 2: then one thing I didn't mention at receiver is, Howard Brown,
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  Speaker 2: that $ 5 million that they guaranteed, I mean, it's clear
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  Speaker 2: these coaches don't want to play him. It is what
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  Speaker 2: it is. They had every opportunity to play him last week.
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  Speaker 2: They didn't. He was inactive. He could flat-out run. We
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  Speaker 2: know that, Mike. I don't quite understand what they're doing.
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  Speaker 2: But this is a week. Why wouldn't you do this
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  Speaker 2: against a bad secondary in the Cowboys? They lack verticality
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  Speaker 2: at receiver. He's the one guy who could get downfield.
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  Speaker 1: Yep, I like that take as well. All right, let's go. defense,
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  Speaker 1: the edge spot, you got a lot of injuries at edge.
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  Speaker 1: I think I saw they brought in, I think you
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  Speaker 1: actually reported this, that they had brought in, somebody hadn't
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  Speaker 1: played in like two years.
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  Speaker 2: Tyus Bowser, yeah, from Baltimore.
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  Speaker 1: There you go, yes, Tyus Bowser, who played in Miami,
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  Speaker 1: Baltimore before that. So, so many injuries, edge rusher, what
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  Speaker 1: are some options here?
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  Speaker 2: Yes, all right. Boy, Mike, this is another thing that's
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  Speaker 2: a mess. I mean, we really need an hour for
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  Speaker 2: this segment on injuries, but to give you a quick version,
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  Speaker 2: we've got to get out of here in five minutes.
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  Speaker 2: Bernard is going to play with the ankle injury, right?
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  Speaker 2: Hunt with an ankle knee. They don't know exactly what
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  Speaker 2: he's going to play. Donald Smith has a concussion, right?
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  Speaker 2: Arnold Epikady played. Epinesa was out with his back. So
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  Speaker 2: Keishon James Newby, who's basically a seventh-end rusher, had a
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  Speaker 2: play extent of steps last week. Actually, it didn't look
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  Speaker 2: too bad. He's just too small, Mike. But so let
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  Speaker 2: me answer the question on John Campbell. He really has
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  Speaker 2: not played at rush at this level. He's played what's
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  Speaker 2: called an add-in defender against the run. He's not played
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  Speaker 2: true edge to clear some stuff up. So, Mike, this
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  Speaker 2: might soon Vic Finchel say he doesn't want to do it.
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  Speaker 2: He's made it clear. He's probably going to have to
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  Speaker 2: play Campbell soon at edge. There are not enough players.
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  Speaker 2: Carter's played edge. Ojomo's done it a little bit since
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  Speaker 2: he's been there, very little. Mike, you've got to do it.
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  Speaker 2: Vic's had to do some things he didn't want to do.
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  Speaker 2: He didn't want to blitz as much as he did
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  Speaker 2: last week, but he had no choice because they ran
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  Speaker 2: out of at-rushers. The thing is, Mike, let's see if
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  Speaker 2: they blitz the corners, blitz the safeties a little bit.
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  Speaker 2: We know Cooper Dejean can do it. Let's see what
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  Speaker 2: happens going forward here. But they're in a crisis with
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  Speaker 2: this edge rusher group.
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  Speaker 1: No doubt about that. And, yes, Campbell. There's a lot
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  Speaker 1: of people that keep asking that you're right about Campbell.
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  Speaker 1: And I don't know if it's because of how he's
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  Speaker 1: played at linebacker or, like you said, just because they're
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  Speaker 1: down so many bodies at the edge rusher position. And,
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  Speaker 1: you know, when he got drafted, some people wondered, could
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  Speaker 1: he do that? Could he be an edge rusher? They
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  Speaker 1: haven't used him there. We'll see. Kenny Moore, safety. Should
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  Speaker 1: he be the guy the rest of the way? They've
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  Speaker 1: got so many bodies missing there.
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  Speaker 2: I'll be honest with you, Mike. It's one of the
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  Speaker 2: strangest things. So he never played safety in his life.
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  Speaker 2: The Colts caught on. They tried to trade him. No
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  Speaker 2: one had his contract. He was in his 30s now.
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  Speaker 2: Was one of the best nickels for many years. And
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  Speaker 2: Fancher did not really want to play him at safety.
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  Speaker 2: He was going to play him at backup nickel. Maybe
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  Speaker 2: cross-train at safety. Well, one thing led to another. Michael
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  Speaker 2: Carter got hurt. Marcus Epps got hurt, and they ran
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  Speaker 2: out of safety. No, Andre Sam was way injured. He
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  Speaker 2: got hurt several weeks ago, so they ran out of safety, Mike.
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  Speaker 2: And they had to do it, and Morris done okay.
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  Speaker 2: He's kind of– because he's really smart. And he's had
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  Speaker 2: to learn– it's not good that you're learning how to
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  Speaker 2: play the position in season. He's never played– this is
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  Speaker 2: not like– this is like sort of like 2023 over again.
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  Speaker 2: Now the century situation is way worse than 23. But
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  Speaker 2: here we are. Now, Michael Carter was on the field
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  Speaker 2: working today. We'll see how much he does. And, you know,
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: Koopas play more nickel than we expected this season because
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  Speaker 2: of what the other teams are doing with their offense.
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  Speaker 2: So here's where they're at, Mike. A lot of moving parts.
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  Speaker 2: We'll get to next week, and particularly if they lose
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  Speaker 2: this game. And, you know, you and I will be
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: together tomorrow, but we'll look towards the matchup. But next
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  Speaker 2: Thursday I will go over, Mike, My list of players
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  Speaker 2: who are candidates to be traded, especially if they lose.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, let me ask you this real quick.
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  Speaker 2: Five in a row.
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  Speaker 1: Two and five. They were two and five in Nick's
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  Speaker 1: first year. They ended up at nine and eight. They
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  Speaker 1: finished seven and three. That team pivoted. They started to
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  Speaker 1: run the ball behind that offensive line. That's the problem.
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  Speaker 1: You get to two and five. There's no pivot here.
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  Speaker 1: There's no change you can make. There's your problem.
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  Speaker 2: Mike, there's really just not much. That's the thing, as
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  Speaker 2: you just said. What are they going to do? I
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  Speaker 2: know some people want them to hire someone to be
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: the O.C. It would be Josh Grisard. He's next. He
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: interviewed for the same job, and he didn't get it,
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: so they hired him as the pass game coordinator. He
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  Speaker 2: would be up next. Sirianni can't run the step of offenses.
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  Speaker 2: This is not his deal. But it's not the coach's
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  Speaker 2: fault with all these injuries, but I thought Andrew DiCicco,
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: our Andrew... with our Patreon group on Tuesday night, really
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  Speaker 2: was very thoughtful in the way that he explained the
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  Speaker 2: struggles of his coaching staff. Like, there's things that you
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: can do to help these guys, and they're not doing
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  Speaker 2: a good enough job of it. I mentioned with you
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  Speaker 2: playing Hollywood Brown, they clearly didn't like Jaden Blue. They
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  Speaker 2: cut him, and he hasn't been brought back. He didn't fit.
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  Speaker 2: Coach didn't like him. Okay, we get that. But there's
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  Speaker 2: certain parts of the run game. I know the run game,
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  Speaker 2: you can't keep running. Jeff was right what he said.
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  Speaker 2: You just can't keep running to try to run it,
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  Speaker 2: especially when a guy like Pierce who doesn't run very well,
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  Speaker 2: he's stiff. He's a number three running back, not number two.
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  Speaker 2: Got forced into action. But you've got to do a
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  Speaker 2: better job of using the personnel that you have, and
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  Speaker 2: that's my point here.
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  Speaker 1: And this is where they sign Evan Neal, a former
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  Speaker 1: number seven overall pick, that in the past with Stalin
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  Speaker 1: you might be excited that he can get something out
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  Speaker 1: of him. So we'll see. That's because they're depleted on
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  Speaker 1: the offensive line as well. They signed him off the
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  Speaker 1: practice squad from the Raiders earlier today. So there you go.
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  Speaker 1: The Eagles decimated by injuries. Adam Kaplan with the breakdown
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  Speaker 1: here from Inside the Birds podcast and InsideTheBirds.com. Thanks, Adam.
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  Speaker 2: You got it. Thank you.