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Football at Four: What's the Eagles Plan on the OL? · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: This is football at four.
• 0:02
  Speaker 2: Their offensive line, they've struggled internally with pressure and with movement.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: It's just, it's not polished. It doesn't, and they got
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: a new offensive line coach, kind of new style. They
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: haven't found their coordinator. They haven't found a rhythm. It's
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: ugly right now. It's one of those where you want
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: to depend on your defense and they play well against
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: the Rams, but they've given up too much to this point.
• 0:21
  Speaker 3: Football 4 powered by the Inside the Birds podcast. And,
• 0:24
  Speaker 3: of course, it is powered by the Inside the Birds
• 0:27
  Speaker 3: podcast and brought to you by the Fanatic Sportsbook at
• 0:31
  Speaker 3: Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City. By the way, the
• 0:33
  Speaker 3: Eagles win totals at Vegas. They have dropped down to
• 0:37
  Speaker 3: eight and a half now. All of a sudden, the Eagles,
• 0:41
  Speaker 3: who opened the season last, at about 9 1⁄2, 10,
• 0:44
  Speaker 3: depending on your book. It is down to 8 1⁄2 now.
• 0:47
  Speaker 3: You had a retirement yesterday and a trade today. Adam Kaplan,
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: let's get into it right now on the Sports Bash
• 0:53
  Speaker 3: Live on 97.3 ESPN. For today, he's football at four. And, Adam, yesterday,
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: right about this time, we heard the news that Lane
• 1:02
  Speaker 3: Johnson was going to retire from the Philadelphia Eagles. And,
• 1:06
  Speaker 3: you know, I don't know that it's a major shock
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: or surprise, but he was here 13 years and four
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: games today. and we know the impact that he made
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: to this team, and now not having them. We know
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: their record without him. This offensive line now looks like
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: it's going to have some issues.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we'll do the Jurgens thing second, but the Lane thing, Mike,
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: some of us know this, he's probably going to retire
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: in training camp. Can't not at liberty say exactly what
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: was going on. I know a little bit of what
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: he was dealing with. And look, he put a lot
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: of it in a statement, focused on his mental health,
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: but Lane, I don't know him very well. I know
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: his agent, Kenny Sarnoff, very well. Lane is... You're talking about, really,
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: let's just be real here. One of the best offensive
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: linemen in the National Football League, right or left tackle,
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: in the last 25 years. Probably Jason Peters, ironically, left tackle.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: He's going to go in the Hall of Fame. The Eagles,
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: Hunter Howie Roseman, before that, Tom Heckert, and before that
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: with Joe Banner being involved. They've always had a great
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: offensive line. This is why, Mike, They seem to get it.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: And ironically, they made the trade with the Ravens and
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: acquiring Kim Juergens of the Ravens. They put a high
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: priority on the offensive line. Most teams don't. But the
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: Eagles do, and that's why they've been so good with
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: Lane Johnson. But, yeah, it's a tough deal. Mike, honestly,
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: the timing sucks. I'm not blaming Lane at all. He
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: decided to take care of himself, which he should do.
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: I applaud him for doing it. Timing's not good. If
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: he would have done it in training camp, it would
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: have been– Obviously, they've been able to handle it better.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: It's a tough deal now. Time is now for Markel
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: Bell to replace him. He was drafted to potentially replace him. Well,
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: they're going to find out very quickly because he's going
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: to start the rest of the way.
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: Right, so you just kind of said it there, but
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: we'll follow up with that. You think Bell, not Fred Johnson,
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: will be the guy at right tackle and just see, hey,
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: can the young man play?
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: I would be. I know Jeff and I, we kind
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: of argued over this one on our show yesterday, that
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: dropped today, Elaine. Fred Johnson's a jury man. He's never
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: been a full-time starter. He's a good backup. He's a
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: good backup. But one of the things that I know,
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: and I know every O-line coach I know would tell
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: me the same things, where they all agree, we don't
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: rotate offensive linemen unless we stink, unless we're bad there.
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: We don't substitute. We don't go game with this guy's
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: going to start this week, this guy's going to start
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: next week. We don't have tryouts in season. We don't
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: want to do that. To me, Markel Bell, by the way,
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: Markel Bell played way better than the fans think. Way better.
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: He had a personal executive for another team told me
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: he already graded the Eagles tape because it's his job.
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: That's one of the, I think, five or six teams
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: he is responsible for watching their tape and pro personnel.
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: He said he had four or five bad plays. Other
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: than that, he held his own. We talked about him
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: on Inside the Table on Monday with Greg Cosell, actually Tuesday.
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: With Greg, you can find it. If you want to
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: watch the video of it, you can find it on YouTube.
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: It's very easy to find on our Inside the Birds website.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: So Markel Bell, look, you've got to find out. Now,
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: let's be honest, Mike, and we'll get to Juergens in
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: a second. There's significant change here, Mike. Do you think
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: it's insane? They literally could, depending on what they do,
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: with Tyler Steen, whether they extend him now, wait until
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: after the season, or don't extend him. There is a
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: possibility that they'll have five changes from this year's opening day.
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: Five offensive line changes. That's... Not the way Eagles do business,
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: but circumstances have changed.
• 4:41
  Speaker 3: Yes, Lane Johnson yesterday, today Cam Juergens. And then obviously
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: this one's interesting because Cam had not been playing well.
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: It almost, this is my take, Adam, you can give
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: your expository as well, but it almost looks like he
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: got Wally pipped here. They moved him to attack, to guard,
• 4:59
  Speaker 3: and then said, you know what, we kind of like
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: the guy at center. I don't know where you're going
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: to play this guy. You're a declined player. Let's see
• 5:05
  Speaker 3: if we can get something for this guy. They got
• 5:06
  Speaker 3: a second-round pick, and they said, let's do it.
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: I'm going to disagree, Mike. My understanding is that the
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: absolute Eagles were not shopping him. This value, when I
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: got the alert from the Eagles on this thing, what
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: the trade is, I was like, how in the hell
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: did Howie Roseman get a two-four declining player? Let's call
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: it like it is, Mike. I know Cam was struggling
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: at left guard. He's played right guard before, not left guard.
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: centers is natural position which can play with for for
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: the ravens how we have leverage here he's just a
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: good friend of her to copy of the the ravens
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: general manager they've known each other for years they've the
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: other deals my understanding is like knowing what you've got
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: shopping them that they want it looked at that one
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: of the thing to work with camp now and then
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: obviously you go back to center once dickerson came back
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: but that's out the door now the fact that they
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: got a two and a five I don't know how
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: to give up seven, but for a declining player, Mike,
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: are you kidding me? If you and I are running
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: this personnel department, I'd say, Mike, tell the cost not
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: to hang up. Do the trade right now before he
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: could change his mind.
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: Well, that's what I mean. I'm not suggesting they were
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: chopping him. I'm saying based on the fact that they
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: feel comfortable with Kendall and they think Juergens is not
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: a guard, they figure, where are we going to play Juergens?
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: If you want to give us a second for it, sure,
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: we'll do it.
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't. I don't believe that. I haven't asked yet.
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: I'll look into it again because the trade's been done,
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: so it doesn't really matter now. I don't think that
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: I would, because Juergens' contract, it would have gone back
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: to Juergens, but I know he's in concussion protocol.
• 6:49
  Speaker 3: I don't know.
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: I don't know what's wrong with him. I know mentally
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: he missed. He's cognitively, in terms of understanding left guard position,
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: remember he had to learn this in season, step slow,
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: missed too many blocks. Now, I know they say, other
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: than the concussion, they think he's healthy. And by the way,
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: the trade's not complete until he passes the physical. But
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: the bottom line is, Mike, this is absolute robbery. And
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: I hope, look, I hope Cam plays great at center
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: for them. The Ravens are down three centers. They didn't
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: have a choice how he would leverage. He used it. Now,
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: let's go forward here, Mike. This doesn't help the Eagles
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: for the season. This makes them worse. You can say
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: what you want about what it looks like. William Lampkin's
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: going to start initially, as might have been my understanding.
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: Kennell is going to still be at center. We can
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: debate how good he is. He's done a good job.
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: Not bad, not great. Milata's left tackle, Markel Bell should be.
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: We don't know for sure, but he should be the
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: right tackle once Fred Johnson's cleared. And Tyler Steen has
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: done a fine job. He's not great. He's done a
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: fine job. But Mike, where's their depth? Michael Morris is
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: a major project. They're a six-round pick out of Georgia.
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: The rookie, Andrew DiCecco. Andrew DiCecco does the rookie diary
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: with them. By the way, he's really good. Him and
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: Andrew are really good. And there's that interview series. It's
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: really good. You can get it on all podcasting platforms.
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: And Fred Johnson. Now, they can look at the practice squad.
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: They have Jake Majors. We've talked about John Ojukwu, who's
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: actually had a good training camp. And Imagi Day was
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: a left tackle out of Yale, who was a draftee
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: of the Bears. But they don't have a lot, Mike.
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: So this does not help them. It helps the Eagles long-term,
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: but short-term, it does not help them at all.
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: If you look at going forward, do you think they're
• 8:35
  Speaker 3: going to play Lampkin at left guard? Primarily that's going
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: to be the first choice there?
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: Yes, for now. That's been my understanding, barring a shock. Mike,
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: that's the way they practice in training camp. Their front
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: office has a fascination with this player. But as Greg
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: Costell told our patron group last night, When I told him,
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: from what I heard, the Olympics could probably wind up
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: starting soon. One way or the other, Greg goes, boy,
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: that's going to be interesting. He's going to face Eric
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: Armstead at 6'7. He's over a foot taller. He's almost
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: a foot taller, Mike. It's crazy. So it could get ugly, Mike,
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: Sunday at 9.30. The good thing is it will be
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: over by 12.30 Eastern. It could be ugly, Mike. We're
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: going to talk more about it on Friday, but... I
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: don't know. I give the Eagles credit in the sloppy
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: conditions for almost winning. That shocked me. I picked the
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: Rams to win by way more than that. But I'd
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: be shocked if this game's closed on Sunday.
• 9:37
  Speaker 3: So what's the early word on the Jags? We just
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: did our 5-5, ugly five. I've got Jacksonville as my
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: number 14 right now.
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: Mike, I can't believe I'm saying this. I'm not a
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: Liam Cohen fan. That's another story for another time. I
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: have them as my number one team in the National
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: Football League. Wow. They are well coached. Anthony Campanelli... full
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: football family. He's going to be head coach someday. He's
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: like the next Jesse Minter. He's phenomenal. Now, Jesse, you
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: see what happens. Jesse Minter leaves the charges. The defense
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: is not very good. Trayvon Walker, Josh Heinz-Allen, Armstead, Devon
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: Hamilton's a really good player. D-tackle. local in the linebacker
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: because the face before with alana uh... not good that
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: the travis on of course the former first-round pick they're
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: not created quarter opposite him buster brown the use of
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: face for he's been a good story uh... if you've
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: got actually injury right now but their pressures good scheme
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: of phenomenal they execute mike it it's just going to
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: be hard it it but i feel that uh... no
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: offense to chris cooper But if Stout was still here,
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: he's the magic man. I felt somehow he could make
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: this offensive line service full for a short period of time, Mike.
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: It's just too much change, Mike. You wish they were
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: playing like the Cardinals or some bad team. But, hey, look,
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: we've all been wrong. The NFL's crazy. Things we don't
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: expect to happen happen. But I'd be very concerned if
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: I were an Eagles fan about what's going to happen
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: in this game.
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: Yeah, not only that, Adam. You have this game in London.
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: You're banged up. Your skill players are not available. It
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: looks like, by the way, Damian Pierce will have some role,
• 11:21
  Speaker 3: I would guess. Do you think it's going to be
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: Shipley that's going to be the main guy?
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: This is what I told in our show we did
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: on Tuesday. Pierce will be brought up from the practice squad,
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: and so will my senses. My senses, because you can't
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: go in the game without– you have to have three
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: running backs. Carson Steele should be the next guy. Jadon
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: Blue from the Cowboys, he's super explosive but very raw.
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: He had maturity issues. The Cowboys coaches did not want him,
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: as my understanding. They wanted him around. They had enough.
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: But he's really explosive. But Carson Steele, remember that crazy
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: preseason game he had a ton of pass targets? I
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: know Jalen would like to check it down, but Carson
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: Steele is a guy who's been there for a little bit.
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: And Damian Pierce is a former starter for the Texans,
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: so it's got to be Pierce. He's a straight-ahead runner.
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: He's a power runner. Shipley's got more juice, but, Mike,
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: they're so bad in press protection. Their backs, Mike, their
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: group overall might be the worst press protection backs in
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: the league. It's not good. Not good. Not good.
• 12:22
  Speaker 3: Obviously, shorthanded in a lot of areas. They are going
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: to get born back. Mitchell, well, we think they're going
• 12:27
  Speaker 3: to get born back. Mitchell was on the field today.
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: Watch Goddard this week. Just keep an eye on it
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: because this is around the time he might start practicing.
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: We'll see.
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: Okay, I like that. Not Landon Dickerson quite yet, but
• 12:40
  Speaker 3: some whispers that he's getting closer as well. So we'll
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: see if the Eagles can hold on. Carolina next week,
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: by the way. And then, Adam, three straight division games.
• 12:49
  Speaker 3: That'll be very intriguing.
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: I know. And Carolina, who I think they're on a
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: bye this week. Yeah, they are on a bye. Bryce
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: Young is playing great football. I know their fans are
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: frustrated with him the first couple years. He's playing really well.
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: Their offense could put up points. Ted McMillan was just
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: ridiculous in their last game. So let's see what happens, Mike.
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: But hope for the best when I talk to you Friday.
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: Maybe more guys are back than I expect. But I
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: just want this game to be competitive. It's not good
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: for our business at inside the berth when the Eagles lose.
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: We don't root. People think we're negative. We're not. I
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: want this... I can't root for them being a journalist,
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: but it would be great if they won and shocked
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: the world.
• 13:32
  Speaker 3: Last one for you. 65, will that be retired?
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: Oh, by the Eagles? Oh, yeah. Whatever they want to,
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: of course. Yeah, why would that even be in question?
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: Am I missing something?
• 13:43
  Speaker 3: No, just, you know, 65, 62, they're going to run
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: out of numbers here at some point.
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: I know, I know. Absolutely. Are you kidding me? This is...
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: One of Howie Roseman's best draft picks. I mean, this is...
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: We could always debate what are his top five. And
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: thank goodness the Dolphins were stupid to trade up for
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: Deion Jordan because the Eagles are going for Deion Jordan.
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: That's who Chip wanted. And Howie made sure that they got...
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: That once they traded up, they were going for Lane Johnson. Secondly,
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: it was Howie's call. He had control of the draft.
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: But Chip, do you know that they tried to trade
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: for Deion Jordan after he was... When Chip was the
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: head coach the second year, they tried to trade for
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: Deion Jordan. The trade got nixed because the Eagles found
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: out that he had an off-the-field problem. I remember that.
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: That was what I reported at the time. It's crazy
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: how lucky he gets or the Eagles have gotten by
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: the not-so-DeSean Watson trade. How Bailey Eagles wanted him and
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: they wanted Deion Jordan. It's funny how things work out.
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: Adam Kaplan, everybody. Friday's back for football at 4. We'll
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: get you ready for the Eagles and Jaguars over in London. And,
• 14:56
  Speaker 3: of course, we'll have that game for you right here
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: on 97.3 ESPN.
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: Thanks, Adam. Sounds good.