It won’t be long before DeSean Jackson‘s contract becomes a topic of conversation once again.
The well-documented two-year mini-drama between team and player ended when the Eagles appeased the mercurial receiver by giving him a five-year, $51 million deal in March of 2012. But the peace treaty is really neither that long nor valuable. We know in the NFL, contracts aren’t what they appear. What counts is guaranteed money. And after this season, that guaranteed cash runs out.
Trainer Tom Anderson wasn’t focused on who was responsible for the hits, but rather on how to limit the punishment when those hits came. So he made boxing — and the art of avoiding the brunt of the blow — a central part of the training regimen.
In one exercise, Anderson would stand about two feet away from the quarterback and swing a foamed “Ninja stick” at his head or upper body, forcing Vick to turn his shoulders and “get skinny” to minimize the impact. In another, Anderson put an elastic band around Vick’s ankles and would have him slide from side-to-side while punching at a stationary bag. (Anderson wouldn’t let Vick make contact with the bag. “We’re not tuning up your knuckles,” he told him, “we’re making you more elusive.”) Blow the whistle. Slide, punch, slide. Thirty seconds on, 30 seconds off.
Chip Kelly needed just a hand gesture to fend off the perceived complexity.
The Eagles had just used the 35th overall pick on Stanford tight end Zach Ertz even though they already had Brent Celek and James Casey on the roster.
Can you explain, a reporter asked Kelly, how you can make that work?
“Yeah. You go like that (holds three fingers in the air) and three tight ends go in the game,” he said, drawing laughs.
Eric Fisher has visited five NFL teams during the pre-draft process, including the Eagles. The 6-7, 306-pound Central Michigan product told PFT that he made trips to Philadelphia, Jacksonville, Detroit, Cleveland and Carolina.
Some believe he will be the Eagles’ pick at 4. Others don’t think he will last that long. What does Fisher think?
Casey Matthews cut off his locks and is sporting a fresh new look. Time to change things up, he said.
That has pretty much been the mantra of the Eagles this offseason. The organization — the city — is dizzy with all the alterations Chip Kelly is making. What is foreign to most, though, feels quite familiar to the former Duck linebacker.
To prove his point, Chip Kelly lobbed the question back into the media throng.
“Who would you take?”
“I don’t know,” a reporter responded.
“I don’t know, either.”
Just over a week away from the draft, and the new Eagles coach confessed that he doesn’t have all the answers when it comes to the No. 4 pick.
Jon Gruden’s quarterback camp is in full swing. Another year, another crop of QB prospects awkwardly interacting with Chucky in a film room setting.
The Mothership is getting even more out of the popular series this year. ESPN.com is printing Gruden’s scouting reports on the men he is working with. First up is Geno Smith:
Quarterback EJ Manuel is doing a weekly diary here on Birds 24/7 as we count down to the draft. In this installment, he talks about his upcoming visit to the NovaCare Complex, and watching Eagles games in person as a kid.
When Geno Smith recounted his private workout with the Eagles, he did so with a big smile on his face.
That according to Heisman Trophy winner and Director at IMG Academy Chris Weinke, who is working with Smith to help fine-tune the quarterback’s game in front of the NFL Draft.
“He was asked to make a lot of throws and plays with his feet,” said Weinke in a phone conversation with Birds 24/7. “He felt there was a comfortable fit with the people, he felt comfortable in the classroom. He thought he did very well.”
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Sheil Kapadia has been writing about the Eagles since 2008. His previous Philly.com blog, Moving the Chains, was named one of the best in the state by the Associated Press. Sheil's main joys in life are family, football and finding good parking spots.
Tim McManus is a bulldog reporter with a nose for news and story angles that will get people talking. He'll talk about it himself on 97.5 The Fanatic, where he serves as a host and Eagles beat reporter. Tim, an award-winning journalist, will be with the team around the clock.
