58 minutes ago, jwill2420 said:

I didn’t say a good one. Just a guy who could be a nice 3rd TE. 

Really?  What impressed you?  His quality routes?  His crisp cuts?  His hands?  Is in-line blocking?  Frankly, the only remaining TE on the roster that I had below Croom is Butler.  Croom doesn’t appear to be very agile in his routes.  Now Stoll is a rookie and it shows.  Seemed to block better than Croom. Stiff in routes but I think that may go to being a rookie.  I don’t remember that from his play at Nebraska. Stoll does fight tackles. Okay but not great hands.  Both are playing for a PS position unless Ertz gets traded.  More potential for upside from Stoll at this point, I think. 

29 minutes ago, austinfan said:

Chip wouldn't have wanted to work with anyone - he hired Gamble to be his "yes man" and hired an inexperienced college personnel guy. Chip wanted total control.

A stark contrast to Howie who is highly collegial with delegating control.

1 hour ago, Original Sin said:

Do not even go there with Arians implying that preseason games are worthless and/or dangerous for elite veteran and players.

Arians was hit with this concept on WDAE Radio yesterday and was adamant that nothing could be further from the truth.

"We don’t need game experience against Dallas. We gotta get some game experience before we play Dallas,” Arians said. "It’s too late [on Sept. 9], they’re way too good to all of a sudden get [caught] up to game speed.

"Game speed is something different. You know what I mean? If you’re going full speed, you ain’t getting hurt. It would be a freak thing and a freak thing is going to happen. But them not playing and the all of a sudden playing game speed on Thursday Night Football in front of the world. That’s way too fast to find out all of a sudden.”

Teams traditionally played the starters one series the first two games, a half the third game and benched them the fourth game.

However, they rarely scrimmaged with other teams, if the scrimmages are being played at game pace, then there's not much difference between them and exhibition games for veteran starters who don't go all out in meaningless preseason games.

We'll see how Sirianni handles the Jets game. With two scrimmages with 2s playing 2s on one field, he'll actually have more film than he'd get from a 4th exhibition game, so he may feel he can let the starters play since he knows enough to make the final roster decisions.

Sirianni was asked before Saturday’s practice what it was like negotiating a practice schedule with the all-time great coach.

"I think people would be shocked about how much detail goes into planning each and every practice,” he said before Saturday’s practice. "And you talk about each and every practice, but then you have to set the stage right at the beginning, like, ‘Hey, here’s how we practice.’ So, you start from the beginning and you just have to talk about every detail. And so, it was just like normal talking to other guys, and we’re still having ongoing conversations to get ready for practice on Tuesday.”

2 minutes ago, austinfan said:

Teams traditionally played the starters one series the first two games, a half the third game and benched them the fourth game.

However, they rarely scrimmaged with other teams, if the scrimmages are being played at game pace, then there's not much difference between them and exhibition games for veteran starters who don't go all out in meaningless preseason games.

We'll see how Sirianni handles the Jets game. With two scrimmages with 2s playing 2s on one field, he'll actually have more film than he'd get from a 4th exhibition game, so he may feel he can let the starters play since he knows enough to make the final roster decisions.

Sirianni was asked before Saturday’s practice what it was like negotiating a practice schedule with the all-time great coach.

"I think people would be shocked about how much detail goes into planning each and every practice,” he said before Saturday’s practice. "And you talk about each and every practice, but then you have to set the stage right at the beginning, like, ‘Hey, here’s how we practice.’ So, you start from the beginning and you just have to talk about every detail. And so, it was just like normal talking to other guys, and we’re still having ongoing conversations to get ready for practice on Tuesday.”

I agree , Bruce said depending how hard they go in their 2 practices with Titans  , that will determine if starters play  , it was real physical with lots of fights too , so I’m guessing starters will see little to no play , Saturday 

28 minutes ago, BigEFly said:

Really?  What impressed you?  His quality routes?  His crisp cuts?  His hands?  Is in-line blocking?  Frankly, the only remaining TE on the roster that I had below Croom is Butler.  Croom doesn’t appear to be very agile in his routes.  Now Stoll is a rookie and it shows.  Seemed to block better than Croom. Stiff in routes but I think that may go to being a rookie.  I don’t remember that from his play at Nebraska. Stoll does fight tackles. Okay but not great hands.  Both are playing for a PS position unless Ertz gets traded.  More potential for upside from Stoll at this point, I think. 

Point taken. He sucks. 

 

33 minutes ago, Original Sin said:

I agree , Bruce said depending how hard they go in their 2 practices with Titans  , that will determine if starters play  , it was real physical with lots of fights too , so I’m guessing starters will see little to no play , Saturday 

The advantage of the scrimmages is you can script situations, want to see your red zone defense in action, script 3 or 4 series of red zone offense/defense for each team. In an exhibition game, you might range from 0 to 5 depending on how the game rolls.

28 minutes ago, jwill2420 said:

Point taken. He sucks. 

Really?  Did I say he sucks?  I asked you what you saw as promise in his game and you have yet to say.  When a poster in here says I saw this trait or that strength and I haven’t noted that myself, I tend to go back and look for that player where I can get film to review to see if I am missing something.

Take a look at the film from Fran Duffy above.  See how he is identifying what he sees in those route cuts?  Now Fran is paid by the team and he doesn’t point out failures a lot.  But that is how you watch preseason games as a coach.  I think it was Afan who said earlier that they run the plays for failure.  I don’t think I worded that quite as he did.  But the point is understood.  They aren’t looking for what they know a player can do, they are putting them in position to show what they might be able to do. Or see what they cannot do or what needs work.   That’s why they played Quez in the slot a lot last night. They know about his speed.  He has been working on expanding his route tree and techniques and the slot is a great way to test that.  You don’t watch only the catches.  Watch all the routes and how the player is attacking them. Then tell us what you see.

Watch the tape Fran has again.  Now Fran is focused on the particular player but watch the others to the extent you can. Rodgers is visible on two. He gets separation on one and on two, he comes back to block. Both looked like he could screen off the S, almost a legal pick, with a one step move and in a game, they might make that adjustment.  Notice that chip block by Gainwell. Saves the LT’s butt and still gets out on his check down route. That play probably didn’t call for that block but good heads up play.  The DE lost on that one if his purpose was to disrupt the outlet route. BTW, look at the tight feet of the RT. Doesn’t look good. Relies on his bulk too much. 
 

 

8 minutes ago, BigEFly said:

Really?  Did I say he sucks?  I asked you what you saw as promise in his game and you have yet to say.  When a poster in here says I saw this trait or that strength and I haven’t noted that myself, I tend to go back and look for that player where I can get film to review to see if I am missing something.

Take a look at the film from Fran Duffy above.  See how he is identifying what he sees in those route cuts?  Now Fran is paid by the team and he doesn’t point out failures a lot.  But that is how you watch preseason games as a coach.  I think it was Afan who said earlier that they run the plays for failure.  I don’t think I worded that quite as he did.  But the point is understood.  They aren’t looking for what they know a player can do, they are putting them in position to show what they might be able to do. Or see what they cannot do or what needs work.   That’s why they played Quez in the slot a lot last night. They know about his speed.  He has been working on expanding his route tree and techniques and the slot is a great way to test that.  You don’t watch only the catches.  Watch all the routes and how the player is attacking them. Then tell us what you see.

Watch the tape Fran has again.  Now Fran is focused on the particular player but watch the others to the extent you can. Rodgers is visible on two. He gets separation on one and on two, he comes back to block. Both looked like he could screen off the S, almost a legal pick, with a one step move and in a game, they might make that adjustment.  Notice that chip block by Gainwell. Saves the LT’s butt and still gets out on his check down route. That play probably didn’t call for that block but good heads up play.  The DE lost on that one if his purpose was to disrupt the outlet route. BTW, look at the tight feet of the RT. Doesn’t look good. Relies on his bulk too much. 
 

 

Looked to me like the LT gave up too much ground and Gainwell pretty much ran into the chip block because he had nowhere else to go. You're right that he did something good even if it wasn't part of the play design. When all else fails, hit somebody.

I also liked how Smith looks the ball into his hands. He's so quick he can still make a move.

1 hour ago, austinfan said:

The advantage of the scrimmages is you can script situations, want to see your red zone defense in action, script 3 or 4 series of red zone offense/defense for each team. In an exhibition game, you might range from 0 to 5 depending on how the game rolls.

But games are not specific situations when you want them.  You have to be able to adapt to game flow, and be ready for any situation that presents itself.  You could go from 1st and 10 from the 25 after kickoff, and the next play you have first and goal after a big play.  You could also go to first and 20 after a penalty.  You need to have game reps to be able to go from one situation to the next quickly.

Just now, downundermike said:

But games are not specific situations when you want them.  You have to be able to adapt to game flow, and be ready for any situation that presents itself.  You could go from 1st and 10 from the 25 after kickoff, and the next play you have first and goal after a big play.  You could also go to first and 20 after a penalty.  You need to have game reps to be able to go from one situation to the next quickly.

Also completely different practicing situations in a controlled environment vs when the bullets are live, there's crowd noise, the camera lights are on etc. Flacco even said in his PC after the game there's a big difference between actual games and joint practices.  

I called into question Travis Fulghams stock about a week ago and how he may not be a lock for this roster. Since then, he still hasn't had a catch during pre-season. He played into the 4th quarter yesterday. And he has had nothing but bad practice notes including being covered and having drops. I have a feeling he's going to be a surprise cut.

Just a point on this pre-season.  If the objective is to win as many regular season games as possible with a flawed roster, then as a new coaching staff, limiting the game tape and scheme information available to the rest of the league is a 100% correct decision. It is counter intuitive to what we'd all perceive as the right thing to do but making the league play catch up over the first half of the season, gives the team the biggest chance to win as many games as possible.

But as a fan watching slop like last night isn't the most thrilling of past times.

40 minutes ago, justrelax said:

Looked to me like the LT gave up too much ground and Gainwell pretty much ran into the chip block because he had nowhere else to go. You're right that he did something good even if it wasn't part of the play design. When all else fails, hit somebody.

I also liked how Smith looks the ball into his hands. He's so quick he can still make a move.

You have to watch a little closely but around the 40 second and 1:15-1:20 second mark do you see Pryor’s feet and what I meant by tight feet.  His placement with his left foot looks wrong to me.  He held those blocks but when he does that with his feet is when I seem to see speed rushers get by him or he gets thrown off balance with a bull rush.  Not every time but some of the time.  He relies on his size and bulk too much. He is darn near as big as Mailata but nowhere near as nimble. 

19 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

I called into question Travis Fulghams stock about a week ago and how he may not be a lock for this roster. Since then, he still hasn't had a catch during pre-season. He played into the 4th quarter yesterday. And he has had nothing but bad practice notes including being covered and having drops. I have a feeling he's going to be a surprise cut.

I agree that he probably won't be on the team when they face the Falcons. But if I had to bet, I would say it's less likely that he's an outright release than it is that he's dealt for a conditional late pick. I can envision a team that was impressed with his midseason production last year willing to take a chance. For example, a seventh if he's on the active roster for three or more weeks. Bump it to a sixth if he catches twenty passes on the year. Something like that. 

Being a Season Ticket holder, I know what I get myself into every year when I dish out the money for my tickets. I know my preseason games are just wasted money. 

Who I felt bad for yesterday is all the fans who are not season ticket holders and paid for that one game they could afford to see that slop yesterday. If I was one of those in attendance last night that do not really have the means to blow money on that, I would be calling the Eagles Org everyday for a refund. Was embarrassing to say I am a season ticket holder and attended last nights game. Prob one of the worst planned/coached and cover ups I have ever seen as a ticket holder for over 25+ years.  

33 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

I called into question Travis Fulghams stock about a week ago and how he may not be a lock for this roster. Since then, he still hasn't had a catch during pre-season. He played into the 4th quarter yesterday. And he has had nothing but bad practice notes including being covered and having drops. I have a feeling he's going to be a surprise cut.

It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. He hasn't done anything to improve his stock in camp. If it's even remotely close they are going to keep umbrella man over him since they invested a 2nd round pick versus nothing.

Smith, Reagor, Watkins, Ward

That leaves one, MAYBE two spots for Fulgham, Umbrella man, and Hightower. Fulgham could realistically the last guy on that list for him. Dude has talent but there has to be a good reason why he is on the verge of being cut by his third NFL team already.

 

41 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

I called into question Travis Fulghams stock about a week ago and how he may not be a lock for this roster. Since then, he still hasn't had a catch during pre-season. He played into the 4th quarter yesterday. And he has had nothing but bad practice notes including being covered and having drops. I have a feeling he's going to be a surprise cut.

While I generally agree, I won’t pretend to understand their potentially warped valuation of WRs.  So who knows…

But I don’t really think he belongs on a roster.

2 minutes ago, T-1000 said:

It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. He hasn't done anything to improve his stock in camp. If it's even remotely close they are going to keep umbrella man over him since they invested a 2nd round pick versus nothing.

Smith, Reagor, Watkins, Ward

That leaves one, MAYBE two spots for Fulgham, Umbrella man, and Hightower. Fulgham could realistically the last guy on that list for him. Dude has talent but there has to be a good reason why he is on the verge of being cut by his third NFL team already.

I agree with your 4 there. The thing with Fulgham is we've seen him take over a game. Most #4 or #5 WRs can't do that, but something is definitely up for him to be on the bubble. Weird situation. You'd think he'd have learned his lesson after what happened in Detroit.

Nick Mullens has made the Eagles decision on whether to carry 2 QBs or 3 very easy to make. Unfortunately, that has negatively impacted opportunities for the WRs the last couple weeks. All this talk about Fulgham possibly being cut is based on what? Is it based on what he hasn't done? Okay, then what has anyone behind him on the depth chart done to displace him? If we had 5 guys clearly out-playing him to this point, there would be a strong case. We only have 3 guys that have been making plays lately and Greg Ward. So there's 4 guys you can put ahead of Fulgham, but I can't think of a 5th. If you can make a case for someone else, I'm listening. 

The way the team treated preseason game #2 was bad. Was Hurts really sick? I'm not going to stop anyone from wanting to believe that, but I don't. He just happened to feel sick right before kickoff and they just happened to send him to the hospital. He happened to be processed in the hospital real fast and came back to the stadium. The doctors didn't find an ailment, but prescribed "rest." I mean ... C'mon, man! Since he wasn't out there, the starting line didn't need to be out there. Neither did the starting defensive line (which already planned to have the night off). 

I'm sorry, but this is a team coming off a 4-win season with a new coaching staff and all that --- they need to take advantage of every opportunity to get better. Using this game as a stress-test on the 3rd string didn't bring about any positive results. 

11 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

 

I remember looking at some games on him before the draft.  Sort of a tweener.  Body like a TE but plays like a big slot WR.  Blocking just wasn’t there. Not sure his game would translate in the NFL as seemed like mostly holes in zones.  Didn’t strike me as particularly fast nor crisp.  Good hands.  IIRC, he was well rated as a local kid coming out of high school. I thought he had signed elsewhere as a UDFA.  Could just be a local kid tryout 

The Eagles have 3 WRs on the roster, Smith/Reagor/Watkins, with anything resembling present ability or future upside that commands an NFL roster spot.

Everyone else needs to make it off ST and being the tallest midget.  Ward can stand in the right spot and catch a football, Hightower is horrible but somewhat fast, and Fulgham is horrible but had those fluke games last year.  Pick your poison.  And JJAW.  

41 minutes ago, brkmsn said:

Nick Mullens has made the Eagles decision on whether to carry 2 QBs or 3 very easy to make. Unfortunately, that has negatively impacted opportunities for the WRs the last couple weeks. All this talk about Fulgham possibly being cut is based on what? Is it based on what he hasn't done? Okay, then what has anyone behind him on the depth chart done to displace him? If we had 5 guys clearly out-playing him to this point, there would be a strong case. We only have 3 guys that have been making plays lately and Greg Ward. So there's 4 guys you can put ahead of Fulgham, but I can't think of a 5th. If you can make a case for someone else, I'm listening. 

Every reporter has been saying he’s being outplayed by the likes of Ward, JJAW and then the others. And he’s not running around exclusively with Mullens. He started the first game and didn’t get a target with Hurts or Flacco. Then this week they demote him to not playing at all the first half and instead going in the game to start the 3rd. 

What we saw last night was a vanilla preseason game plan. While that was happening Bill decided to blitz non stop. He was trying to get Siri to show his cards while not letting the offense do anything. Siri wasn’t ready for that. It was a learning lesson. Bill took a competitive advantage over Siri. Hopefully Siri realizes now that other coaches aren’t just gonna let you work on your team easily.