Training Camp is Here!! (post all updates here)

[time2rock]

Creating a thread to capture all TC updates.  A little something from Dave Zangaro to kick things off:

Quote

Why Sirianni began 2023 with one last look back at the pain

During the spring, Nick Sirianni showed his team a photo of the Super Bowl loss for a good reason

By Dave Zangaro • Published July 24, 2023

 

As the Eagles got together this spring, there was an elephant in the room.

So Nick Sirianni addressed it.

When the 2023 Eagles met for the first time just months after the 2022 team’s season ended with disappointment in Phoenix, the Eagles’ head coach addressed the Super Bowl loss. He addressed the pain. But most importantly, he addressed the journey.

Sirianni showed the team a photo of Eagles players walking off the field at State Farm Stadium after the 38-35 loss to the Chiefs as red and yellow confetti rained down.

"I think my point was, it's OK to use this as motivation,” Sirianni said just before the Eagles broke for their summer break. "You should use it as motivation. But the end goal is not just to say, ‘I'm going there.’ It's about the process.”

For the most part, Sirianni doesn’t want to talk too much about the Super Bowl. It happened; they lost; it’s over. In fact, it’s worth pointing out that when he spoke to a smaller group of reporters at the tail end of the Eagles’ OTAs in June, he wasn’t the one who brought up the Super Bowl loss in the first place. Sirianni was simply answering questions.

On the other hand, Sirianni was the one who brought up the Super Bowl in one of the first team meetings of the 2023 spring. And he’s the kind of guy who doesn’t do anything in a team setting without putting in a ton of thought.

"Hey, we're not going to talk about this a lot because this is not who we are,” Sirianni said, echoing his message to the team. “…Our end goal may be, yes, win the division, all those different things. But our goal every day isn't to come in here to chase the Super Bowl. You hope it gets to that, but it's to look at the daily increments, right? And how we get better, how we get better, how we get better.”

In the offseason, Sirianni takes himself for walks around his South Jersey town thinking of stories to tell his players. These stories then eventually get unleashed during team meetings throughout the year and he’s always looking for new ideas.

If he ever wants to tell a story about losing the Super Bowl and embracing the pain of that, he won’t have to dig too far.

"I don't know when the time is right to tell that story,” Sirianni said. "I get a feel for that throughout the week. But of course you can use it. But I really try not to bring it bring it up, last year. Because it's the same thing going into last year, we had a lot of expectations once that roster kept building. A lot of expectations, a lot of visions, and all that was, was expectations to us. It was, 'OK, here are the expectations because people view us as being a good team. None of that really matters unless we work every single day.’”

There’s probably a reason teams that lose the Super Bowl have traditionally struggled the following season.

In fact, Sirianni said the Eagles have done a deep dive into the analytics of teams coming off the Super Bowl, trying to extrapolate anything that can help them going into the 2023 season. In the spring, the Eagles had a bunch of data without a complete understanding of causation, but they were trying to turn over every stone.

"We’ll definitely study it,” Sirianni said. "I think probably one thing that I feel when you go to a Super Bowl the people come back thinking overconfident or not as hungry. We didn’t win. I know how hungry our guys are.”

When asked this spring if he had reached out to any former head coaches of teams that lost the Super Bowl, Sirianni said he hadn’t. But then he thanked a reporter for the suggestion and said he probably would.

Because in the last two decades, just one team has returned to the Super Bowl the season after losing it. That was the 2018 Patriots, who won the Lombardi Trophy the year after the Eagles beat them in Super Bowl LII.

Of the other 19 Super Bowl losers in the last 20 years, four teams lost in the conference championship the following season, five lost in the divisional round, two lost in the wild card round and, amazingly, eight (40%) missed the playoffs entirely.

It’s really hard to get back to the Super Bowl. Especially after losing it.

Perhaps one of the main reasons is there’s this trap of wanting to press the fast forward button. The problem is that button doesn’t exist for NFL teams. Once you’ve been to the big game, all you want to do is get back there. But if you try to skip any of the steps along the way — OTAs, training camp, Weeks 1-18 — you’re never going to get back into that position.

When Sirianni showed his team that confetti photo, he paired it with a quote that has been attributed to the pastor Steven Furtick: "We admire those with great results, and we desire that reward. But you cannot admire the results or desire the reward if you do not embrace the routine.”

At least there’s some reason for optimism. The past few losers in the Super Bowl — Patriots, Rams, 49ers, Chiefs and Bengals — have remained contenders after those losses. The Eagles should be right there with them.

For Sirianni, it seems to boil down to this: You can’t just ignore the Super Bowl loss, so you might as well get something out of it.

The key is to be fueled by the loss but remain focused on each step. The end goal is the end goal, but there are steps along the way. Important steps. The Eagles can’t afford to skip any of them.

https://www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com/nfl/philadelphia-eagles/why-sirianni-began-2023-with-one-last-look-back-at-the-pain/528923/

  

[time2rock]

Everything you need to know as Eagles begin 2023 training camp

As Eagles training camp kicks off this week, here's everything you need to know

By Dave Zangaro • Published July 25, 2023

 

There’s always excitement around the beginning of training camp but there’s even more entering the 2023 season.

The Eagles were in the Super Bowl last year and there are high hopes again for the upcoming season. Can they get back to the big game?

All summer, we’ll be covering training camp with daily reports, frequent Eagle Eye podcasts and on TV with Birds Huddle.

Here are a few links to get you ready for training camp:

• 10 offensive players to watch

• 10 defensive players to watch

• Pre-camp 53-man roster projection

• Candidates to be Training Camp Darling

• Veterans on the roster bubble

Here’s everything else you need to know about this year’s training camp:

Key dates

July 25 — Eagles report to training camp
July 26 — First training camp practice
Aug. 6 — Public practice at Lincoln Financial Field, 7 p.m.
Aug. 12 — Preseason game No. 1 at Ravens, 7 p.m.
Aug. 14-15 — Joint practices with the Browns
Aug. 17 — Preseason game No. 2 vs. Browns, 7:30 p.m.
Aug. 22 — Joint practice with the Colts
Aug. 24 — Preseason game No. 3 vs. Colts, 8 p.m.
Aug. 29 — Roster must be cut from 90 to 53 by 4 p.m.
Sept. 10 — Regular season opener at Patriots, 4:25 p.m.

Attending training camp

This is the time of year a lot of us really miss Lehigh University and the days when every single training camp practice was open to fans.

Those days are gone and the Eagles have just one practice this summer open to the public. This year, that practice happens at 7 p.m. on Aug. 6 at Lincoln Financial Field.

Tickets for this practice are on sale at Ticketmaster.com and are $10, with a VIP option for $35 that will give fans a "special on-field experience” before practice begins. All proceeds will benefit the Eagles Autism Foundation.

Seating for the public practice will be first-come, first-serve. Anyone over the age of 2 will need a ticket. Parking will be free.

Key storylines

1. Off the Super Bowl loss

It’s really hard to get back to the Super Bowl. Nick Sirianni knows that. And he knows you can’t skip any steps. In the last 20 seasons, just one team has returned to the Super Bowl the year after losing it. That was the 2018 Patriots, who won the championship a year after losing to the Eagles in Super Bowl LII.

The Eagles know they have a really good roster and a really good chance to be successful in 2023 but they can’t afford to get ahead of themselves. They got to the final game of the year in 2022 by climbing step by step. That’s what it’ll take to repeat that success this year.

2. The battles

• Right guard: Isaac Seumalo left in free agency, leaving one open position on the Eagles’ top-ranked offensive line. The top candidate to replace him is second-year OL Cam Jurgens, who basically had a redshirt rookie season. The eventually replacement to Jason Kelce at center is making the transition to guard for 2023 but he’ll have to win the job over rookie third-round pick Tyler Steen and maybe even veteran Jack Driscoll.

• Running back: With Miles Sanders gone, the Eagles will likely use a RB-by-committee system in 2023. D’Andre Swift, Kenny Gainwell and Rashaad Penny will all be fighting for roles and playing time this summer.

• WR3: Quez Watkins had a disappointing 2022 season but he returns as the favorite to be the Eagles’ third wideout behind A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. But the Eagles this offseason added veteran Olamide Zaccheus, who has a chance to push Watkins for that gig.

• QB3: The Eagles’ third-string quarterback from 2022, Ian Book, returns this summer but will have to try to hold off rookie sixth-round pick Tanner McKee. The Eagles are likely to keep three quarterbacks on the roster. If McKee has a good summer, it’ll probably be him.

• Safety: Both C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Marcus Epps left in free agency so the Eagles will have two new starting safeties in 2023. The top returning player is 2022 UDFA Reed Blankenship, who played well when called upon as a rookie. The Eagles also added former first-round pick Terrell Edmunds in free agency and then drafted Sydney Brown out of Illinois in the third round. Those three are fighting for starting spots.

• Cornerback: The top cornerback positions are set in stone. The Eagles bring back Darius Slay, James Bradberry and Avonte Maddox. The intrigue comes after that. The Eagles drafted Kelee Ringo in the fourth round but also have Zech McPhearson, Greedy Williams, Josh Jobe and others fighting for limited roster spots.

• Linebacker: Like safety, both starters from the 2022 season have moved on. Nakobe Dean is already penciled in as the MIKE linebacker and defensive green dot but who will play next to him? Will it be veteran free agent signing Nicholas Morrow? Or will the Eagles open up that competition to Christian Elliss and perhaps even add more talent?

• Punter: The battle for which you’ve all been waiting. The Eagles finally brought in some competition for Arryn Siposs when they signed UDFA Ty Zentner from Kansas State. We’ll see this summer if Zentner has what it takes to wrestle that job away from Siposs after two seasons as the Eagles’ punter.

3. Take it easy

The days of really tough training camp practices are long gone. These days, the whole goal is for the Eagles to stay as healthy as possible during the summer and it’s hard to argue with the results. The Eagles had 22 of 22 starters healthy in Super Bowl LVII. While a lot of that is simply good injury luck, the Eagles have done everything in their power to keep their players healthy and fresh. That means shorter practices and days off, especially for veterans.

The Eagles will host two joint practices against the Browns and one against the Colts this summer. In recent seasons, the Eagles have put more stock into these joint practices than they have preseason games. After traveling for joint practices in Cleveland and Miami last year, it’ll be nice to have them both at home this time around.

https://www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com/nfl/philadelphia-eagles/everything-you-need-to-know-as-eagles-begin-2023-training-camp/528780/

[Captain F]

Thank God for this thread.  Navigating the blog for any relevant camp news is a pain in the ass.

[time2rock]

1 hour ago, Captain F said:

Thank God for this thread.  Navigating the blog for any relevant camp news is a pain in the ass.

I believe they are just arriving today.  Hoping those that use Twitter (I don’t) will post updates.  

Meanwhile there’s this:

 

[SkippyX]

Has a Belichick draft bust ever helped anyone in any way on a different team? He's hit and miss at judging college players but he's very good at judging them in Patriots practices and training camps.

Hell No to N'Keal Harry. He's a poor man's Dorial Green-Beckham.

[ManchesterEagle]

10 hours ago, SkippyX said:

Has a Belichick draft bust ever helped anyone in any way on a different team? He's hit and miss at judging college players but he's very good at judging them in Patriots practices and training camps.

Hell No to N'Keal Harry. He's a poor man's Dorial Green-Beckham.

I’ll take a poor man’s Megatron part II any day of the week 😳

[time2rock]

Quote

Let’s Go Camping!

Posted: July 25th, 2023 | Author: Tommy Lawlor 

The Super Bowl is a distant memory. Free agency came and went. The draft as well. OTAs are long forgotten. It is late July and that means one thing…Training Camp is here. The Eagles will spend the next five weeks practicing so that players can improve and so the organization can figure out who the best 53 players are.

The old days of brutal camps are over. Check out this comment from Bill Belichick to really appreciate how things have changed.

"My first year in the league we went to training camp July 5, first regular season game was September 24. We had six preseason games and three preseason scrimmages. So of course it’s different. With the Giants we had fifty-some practices before our first game. Padded practices. It is what it is. Things have changed so we change…”

His career began in the mid-70’s so that’s a whole different world. Here is a good story from Jason Kelce that helps you understand how things were under Andy Reid.

Now compare that stuff to this nugget from Jimmy Bama.

The Eagles only have 9 scheduled training camp practices (plus 5 walkthroughs), then likely 2 joint practices with the Browns and one with the Colts. That’s only a dozen practices during training camp, which would be the lightest camp I have ever covered. I assume there will be no more quibbling with Nick Sirianni’s and the front office’s cautious approach to camp, given the team’s low number of injuries the last two seasons, not to mention a pair of Week 1 wins.

It would be easy to rip Sirianni and the Eagles if the team was struggling, getting banged up or not physical. None of those areas are issues. The Eagles were the best team in the NFC last year. They stayed incredibly healthy. And they are one of the most physical teams in the league. Whatever Sirianni is doing, it is working.

You should read all of Jimmy’s piece to get his TC preview (or in case you have insomnia…zing!).

I’m curious to see where the team is overall. I’ve followed two post-Super Bowl teams. The 2005 Eagles did not have a normal camp because of the TO situation. Things were just insane. It was impossible for the players and coaches to have a cohesive camp with so much divisive drama. That was a bizarre summer and an even weirder season.

The 2018 team didn’t have anything to that extent, but Carson Wentz’s injury made things awkward. Nick Foles was the starting QB, but he knew that was only until Wentz got healthy. That created a bit of an odd dynamic. Other injuries started to pile up and that simply meant too many good players were missing. Everyone was excited to see what the team could do since they were coming off such a special season, but you started to think the magic of 2017 might not be happening again.

There are no controversies heading into this TC. There are no crazy injury situations. The Eagles have arguably the best roster in the league and enough coaching talent to get the most out of the players.

The big question right now is how they’ll respond to the success of last year, as well as the Super Bowl loss. The team has to put all of that in their rearview mirror. Zach Berman wrote an excellent piece on Sirianni trying to learn from last year while also focusing on this year.

"Our goal every day isn’t to come in here to chase the Super Bowl,” Sirianni said. "You hope it gets to that, but it’s to look at the daily increments, right? And how we get better, how we get better, how we get better. … You got to be really good to win. You got to be really good to get to the playoffs even, right? Then you’re gonna have some luck involved in it. So are we doing the things that we can control every single day to put ourselves in position to go win another?”

Live in the moment. Focus on what’s in front of you, not what’s behind you.

Knowing that is easy. Getting players and coaches to buy in is tougher. One thing that will help is that the Eagles will have young players taking over key roles. Nakobe Dean was a backup last year. He’s going to be hungry and driven this year. There will be a new RG, either Cam Jurgens or Tyler Steen. Both players will have a lot to prove. There are new RBs who will have a chip on their shoulder. There are plenty of young DL who will be hungry.

Most importantly, Jalen Hurts is the QB of this team. He is one of the most driven players I’ve ever seen. Getting so close will only make him hungrier. He will be a man on a mission and will be the kind of leader this team needs to stay focused.

While it feels like the team has the right mix of players to make another deep run, history shows that teams can struggle to make it back. Heck, just repeating as NFC East champs is hard. The last team to do that was the 2004 Eagles. If things go right one year, there is a legit chance they’ll go wrong the next year. This could be injuries, lucky bounces, close calls by the officials and any number of miscellaneous factors. And we know the Eagles will be targeted this year. Everyone will want to take out a Super Bowl team from last year.

I’m excited to see what this team can do. Sirianni has been masterful at pushing the right buttons to keep his team focused and motivated. This will be his biggest challenge so far. If the Eagles are going to go on a special run in the next few years, they need Sirianni to show he’s not just a builder, but is the kind of coach who can keep a team playing at a high level.

*****

Get ready for a summer of roster turnover. Guys will get hurt. Some fringe guys will struggle and get replaced.

The bottom of the roster will change a few times.

http://igglesblitz.com/2023/07/lets-go-camping/

 

[Hawkeye]

Merry Training Camp, everyone.  We survived another offseason.

@time2rock - thanks for getting this going. 

[ManchesterEagle]

Sounds like Nolan Smith stood out today. Let’s hope he can keep it going….

[Talonblood]

I'm watching Sydney Brown and Christian Elliss closely for this camp. They are green as hell, but loads of talent as well.

[eggs]

Nkeal (AKA My balls is) Hairy

[eggs]

8 hours ago, Talonblood said:

I'm watching Sydney Brown and Christian Elliss closely for this camp. They are green as hell, but loads of talent as well.

I’d be watching Nolan Smith as well. 

[Random Reglar]

https://www.phillyvoice.com/eagles-training-camp-analysis-news-christian-elliss-tyree-jackson/

 

Offensive game ball: TE Tyree Jackson

Tyree Jackson has been a "developmental" tight end the last few seasons. The Eagles appeared high on him throughout the 2021 season. Jackson is a converted quarterback from the University of Buffalo standing 6'7". His athleticism pops. After tearing his ACL in Week 18 that season, Jackson appeared in just five games in 2022, playing 57 total snaps across special teams and offense.  

In that missed time, Jack Stoll established him as the team's block-first TE2 and Grant Calcaterra filled in as a pass-catching TE3. Jackson came into camp as a bubble player with Dallas Goedert, Stoll and Calcaterra seemingly ahead of him on the depth chart, but he had a strong showing on Wednesday. 

Working in with the second team offense and backup quarterback Marcus Mariota, Jackson found the end zone twice in red zone work. That's the exact type of situation where Jackson should be thriving if he's going to make it as an NFL pro, being a jump ball threat who can quickly body his way through smaller defensive backs before getting open for six. One play had Mariota moving in the pocket, finding Jackson in the back of the end zone on a leaping grab for a touchdown. He's a hard target to miss! 

Later in practice, the Eagles went through some "third and eight from the eight-yard line" situations. Jackson once again hauled in a touchdown from Mariota with this one coming over the middle of the field. 

Given that unconventional path to becoming a tight end for the Birds, Jackson has become a low-key fan favorite among back-of-the-roster players. He threw 48 collegiate touchdowns in the MAC. He's a Philly Special redux candidate in the Trey Burton mold!

[EazyEaglez]

16 hours ago, Talonblood said:

I'm watching Sydney Brown and Christian Elliss closely for this camp. They are green as hell, but loads of talent as well.

"Linebacker Christian Elliss turned heads in the spring with his penchant for picking off the quarterback and he continued that with an interception in the middle of the end zone in the first series with the second-team unit. Elliss did get some reps with the ones as well as the Eagles must replace both of last year's starters – T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White. – Chris McPherson”

https://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/news/eagles-training-camp-practice-notes-july-26-2023

 

[Bwestbrook36]

10 minutes ago, EazyEaglez said:

"Linebacker Christian Elliss turned heads in the spring with his penchant for picking off the quarterback and he continued that with an interception in the middle of the end zone in the first series with the second-team unit. Elliss did get some reps with the ones as well as the Eagles must replace both of last year's starters – T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White. – Chris McPherson”

https://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/news/eagles-training-camp-practice-notes-july-26-2023

 

Looks like everyone is looking good already

[EazyEaglez]

12 minutes ago, Bwestbrook36 said:

Looks like everyone is looking good already

It is good to hear so many young guys seem to be standing out early. I’d like to hear more about Nakobe Dean though since so many have basically locked him in as a future stud. 

[Bwestbrook36]

7 minutes ago, EazyEaglez said:

It is good to hear so many young guys seem to be standing out early. I’d like to hear more about Nakobe Dean though since so many have basically locked him in as a future stud. 

I would too, he is the key to the defense not taking a step back IMO

[time2rock]

18 hours ago, ManchesterEagle said:

Sounds like Nolan Smith stood out today. Let’s hope he can keep it going….

[EazyEaglez]

5 minutes ago, Bwestbrook36 said:

I would too, he is the key to the defense not taking a step back IMO

I agree. He’s basically been handed the keys to be the quarterback of the defense now. It’s way too early to say things aren’t going well or even to get too hyped about the guys who are already standing out. After all it’s just practice, but we are going to need Dean to be successful this season for this defense to be good. 

[time2rock]

[EazyEaglez]

Not directly Eagles related, but funny. 😂🤣🤣 

"1. After an offseason of incessant talk about Dak Prescott’s league-high 15 interceptions last season, including some that tipped off the hands of Cowboys receivers, it proved to the same old stuff on the first practice of training camp. A perfect pass by Prescott on a slant to receiver Simi Fehoko went through his hands and bounced into the hands of rookie cornerback Eric Scott for the first interception of training camp.”

https://www.yahoo.com/news/clarence-hill-dallas-cowboys-camp-005006697.html

 

 

[time2rock]

[Talonblood]

14 hours ago, eggs said:

I’d be watching Nolan Smith as well. 

 

[time2rock]

[Talonblood]

21 hours ago, time2rock said:

Hopefully he will be ok off the field. Handle his off field life like a pro. Lot's of potential here.