Philadelphia Eagles

Ray's Replies: Should McNabb be in HOF, have jersey retired? | Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia I would say no on both counts. McNabb was a good to very good quarterback in his 11 seasons with the Eagles, but I never considered him great and, in my opinion, you have to be great to be a Hall of Famer and you have to be something more than very good to have your number retired. NFC East Preseason All-Americans: Offense edition – Blogging the bEastIt's like the Pro Bowl if no other divisions existed! NFC East Preseason All-Americans: Defense edition – Blogging the bEastSame as above, except defense! Finding the Fits: Barkley is the future in Philly - CBSSportsWhile Barkley does not possess eye-popping straight-line speed or a howitzer for an arm, he does possess an impressive combination of the Three A's -- accuracy, awareness and anticipation -- traits that have historically translated into success in the NFL. NFC minicamp storylines - NFL.comAll things Chip Kelly are fascinating at the moment because it's all so new. For now, the quarterback reps are being split closely between Michael Vick and Nick Foles. Will that continue through the mandatory minicamp? ... It's also worth watching how the completely rebuilt secondary lines up. I wouldn't assume much in terms of who is starting. Safety Kenny Phillips, for one, needs to show he's healthy. ... Bryce Brown could get tested for the backup running back job by Felix Jones. NFL, Premiere League Rugby partner to bring sport to U.S. - SBNation.comRugby may finally be coming to the United States, thanks to the country's most powerful sporting league.

Chip Kelly has been open about his desire for versatile players, a trait sought by many coaches. But Kelly's search for versatility stretches beyond convention, as evidenced by at least two roster experiments during organized team activities last week.

Rookies Matt Barkley and Zach Ertz talk about starting their NFL careers in Philly. Find out what these NFL draft picks think about being rookies in the league and playing for new head coach Chip Kelly.

The NFL's collective bargaining agreement apportions the offseason into controlled, digestible bites for the players. Until the full training camps of August, there is no actual contact and the practice days are limited and counted closely.

Sup guys, I was the lucky winner of the tickets for this weekend’s Eagles Academy for Men. First and foremost, I would like to thank Jason and the rest of the gang for allowing me the awesome opportunity. I took my dad as my guest and it was a real solid bonding time. Alright I’m going to try and keep this as interesting and informative as possible. Hopefully I can make this experience as vivid as possible in your minds. We woke up this morning around 7 at our home on Long Island and sped our way to Philly like any New Yorker would. We arrived around 9:30 and saw numerous teenagers and men throwing around footballs awaiting registration. Once registration commenced and we headed through the NovaCare Complex there were several images in the initial hallway. First there was the "groundbreaking shovel" from the 2004 construction. (see below) Throughout the rest of the hallway were pieces dedicated to each decade of Eagles history (see 1930s and 2000s below). We made our way into the auditorium where we were welcomed by a marketing woman for the Birds. She introduced the man of the hour, Jon Dorenbos. Yes. Jon DorenBOSS. The dude comes up and talks for a good bit. Awesome, awesome guy. I’m sure we all know that by now. Here are some things that Jon said and did to confirm his ultimate level of bossness: · Jon started by saying that he was going to be talking for a half hour and that whenever he didn’t know what to say, he would perform magic. He paused then said, "I’m going to do magic." He reached into this backpack that he brought out on stage and whipped out a rope. He performed numerous tricks with the rope amazing everyone each time while saying all these jokes and delivering the performance like a true showman. He says that he is constantly doing shows and MCing for his teammates’ parties and whatnot and I can see why. He is a natural in front of the microphone and really can entertain a crowd. · After the rope trick he changed the mood of the entire building by telling us that when he was young, his father murdered his mother. His dad went to jail causing him to inevitably bounce from foster home to foster home. One of his foster homes was right near the Reds ballpark where he would always go to this fence before and after home games to see the players drive in and out of the players lot and enter the park. One time, a player was nice enough to come up to him along the fence and talk to him. The player said, "everyone wants to talk to you before you enter the park. That’s why you gotta grab a baby. They’ll leave you alone if you have a baby." So when Dorenbos entered the league with the Bills, he made his way into the players lot and experienced a great welcoming from a crowd of "a thousand people" on this bridge cheering as he walked his way looking for a baby like the Major Leaguer told him to way back in his childhood days. He turned around and realized that Drew Bledsoe had just arrived and they crowd had been cheering for him instead. · After the game, Jon saw a kid along the fence and he wanted to go and say hello to him. Jon was adamant that he really loves his job and the one thing that sucks is that not everybody gets to experience what he experiences. So, he tries his best to let everyone he sees/knows get a feel for what it’s like to be in the league. He goes up to the kid, says "do you wanna go on the field?" The kid says "yea, yea" and starts to get excited. Dorenbos tells him to find his father, he does, and they make their way onto the field in Buffalo. The kid starts running and diving around, getting turf beads all over himself. Jon is loving it and turns to look at the father. He sees the dad is crying. Jon thinks this is either really awesome or really sad. The father says to Jon," this is the first time I’ve seen my son being a kid in three months. At that time the doctors diagnosed

Chip Kelly runs his Eagles practices at a different tempo than the rest of the league. He packs in a ton of reps into a short amount of time. In fact, some reporters speculate that Eagles players have too much free time on their hands. Andy Reid kept his players in meetings and practice from morning to evening, while Kelly is giving his players far more liberty. If grown man cannot handle a few more hours of free time, the Eagles have bigger problems than how long their practices run. This should truly be a non-story, but it goes to show how a few bad apples in pro sports give athletes a bad reputation in the media. “If I can’t trust them when they leave this building then we probably brought the wrong guys in here,” said Kelly. Nicely put. Kelly is a football coach, not a babysitter, and he should not be concerned about giving his players a longer leash during the offseason. This change is just one reminder that Chip Kelly is radically changing the day-to-day routine of an NFL organization. Right now, everybody is holding out hope that he can turn the Eagles franchise around. It will be very interesting to see whether or not the players stick by their coach once the Eagles hit a rough patch or lose a few games. There are no precedents to the Chip Kelly experiment, and it could either take off in a hurry or unravel in very ugly fashion. Side note: I am taking off for Mississippi tomorrow morning to participate in a Habitat for Humanity build, and I will not be posting anything until Saturday. Thank you Gabbers for your continued loyalty and readership. As always, I am more than happy to hear your feedback and suggestions for what you want me to write about.

The Eagles are expected to release rookie free agent RB Miguel Maysonet. The Eagles can carry 90 players on their roster, and they will have one roster spot to use if Maysonet is indeed waived. Maysonet certainly isn’t the 90th-most talented player on the roster, so the move comes as a mild surprise. The move shows that the Eagles have faith enough in their backup running backs to decrease the competition for those roster spots. More specifically, the Eagles appear to have confidence in Felix Jones and Chris Polk. It’s looking more and more like the Eagles envision Felix Jones as a contributor, not merely insurance for Bryce Brown and LeSean McCoy.

Well, that was quick! In what has come as a surprise to even Eagles Insider, Adam Caplan, the team is expected cut Stony Brook undrafted free agent, Miguel Maysonet. The small-school running back was one of the more high-profile rookie free agents that the team signed following this year's draft, and looked poised to compete with Chris Polk to be the third runner on the depth chart. The team even highlighted Maysonet in several videos on the team's website, so clearly this is a out-of-nowhere move by Chip Kelly and Co. Maysonet started his college career with the now-defunct Hostra football program in 2009. After the team was ended by the school, he transferred to Stony Brook. During his time at Stony Brook, Maysonet dominated the small school competition. As a sophomore, he ran for 1,128 yards and 12 touchdowns. In 2011, he ran for 1,633 yards and 15 touchdowns. Not to be outdone (by himself), Maysonet left the best for his last year, with an astounding 1,964 yards and 21 touchdowns. He is more of a one-threat back with just 18 catches over 3 years at Stony Brook. The signing of Felix Jones and perhaps the performance of Polk and TCU's Matthew Tucker, allowed for the team to drop Maysonet from the competition. Maysonet participated in rookie mini-camp, but was unable to take part in the first post-draft OTAs because his college class did not graduate until this weekend. Maysonet will seemingly get another look, as he has proven to have talent. The Eagles likely figured they had enough competitors at the running back spot and wanted to improve the battle at another spot (which has yet to be named because the team has not officially waived Maysonet as of 4:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon).

They outlined the whole division but here are the Eagles. Philadelphia Eagles: Cornerback Anyone who watched an Eagles game for more than five minutes last year realized that the secondary is in need of an overhaul. The names on the jerseys might have been familiar, but guys like Nnamdi Asomughaand Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie played more like fans who had been pulled out of the stands to suit up at halftime. Philadelphia's pass-defense DVOA of 24.1 percent was the worst in the league, and three of the four starting defensive backs were among the league leaders in broken tackles. That's the kind of performance that tends to get people fired, and now, in addition to a brand-new coaching staff, the Eagles have a completely revamped secondary. The problem is that, at least on paper, the team did a much better job of finding replacements at safety than at cornerback. Kenny Phillips and Patrick Chung are both young, productive players with good draft pedigrees. There are reasons why these two players were available in free agency: both are injury risks, and Chung was benched in New England because Bill Belichick felt Chung freelanced too often. Still, the talent makes both players very worthwhile gambles. The free-agent additions at cornerback have less upside. Bradley Fletcher finished out the year as St. Louis' fourth corner thanks to his penchant for drawing flags. He might be a more natural slot defender, but Brandon Boykin is entrenched as the Eagles' nickelback, so Fletcher will play on the outside. Cary Williams started for the Super Bowl champion Ravens, but he gave up a ton of completions by playing soft on any kind of comeback route. The one thing Williams does exceptionally well, though, is tackle -- he missed a grand total of three tackles in the past two years. And, as noted before, that's a talent that was sorely missing from the Eagles' secondary. Article written by Sean McCormick I don't know about you guys but this sounds horrible. So I did some extra research. Cary Williams: In the last 2 years: 17 PD this last year, 4 Picks, and a TD. 2011 - 18 PD and no picks. The NFL leader in PD the last two years finished with 24(last year) and 23(the year before). Clearly Sean is exaggerating that Cary is soft on ANY ROUTE. Fletcher: Is a great athlete. 4.44 40 yd dash. 40 inch vertical. In his last 20 games, Fletcher has surrendered only two touchdowns in coverage. He has the speed, size and strength to stick with almost any receiver. (Bleacher Report Brad Gagnon) He's also an above-average run defender who has missed just six tackles in his four-year career. And he's versatile enough to get to the quarterback when asked, as the Eagles found out in Week 1 last year, when Fletcher sacked Michael Vick. (BR...Brad) Fletcher does get too touchy feely. He has 16 flags in 36 games since 2010. He is big enough, physical enough and fast enough to stick with any WR in the league. His biggest issue is he's too physical. IMO he can fix that by learning to A) be sneaky about it B) learn to not do it as much or at all. So we have two physical guys who can cover well (not great) and are elite tacklers. Neither are on any list for top/worst 10 at completion %, YAC allowed or YAC per attempt in 2011 or 2012. We were the worst last year in the CB department. I think we made huge improvements over the last year. I left out Hughes, Marsh, Boykin and Poyer because they are either slot or non starters in the league so far. Could they win the battle in camp? Could, but IMO not too likely. They outlined the whole division but here are the Eagles. Philadelphia Eagles: Cornerback Anyone who watched an Eagles game for more than five minutes last year realized that the secondary is in need of an overhaul. The names on the jerseys might have been familiar, but guys like Nnamdi Asomughaand Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie played more like fans who had been pulled o

Eagles quarterback, Michael Vick, was on 97.5 The Fanatic last week and Sheil Kapadia of Birds 24/7 transcribed some key points from Vick's interview with Mike Missanelli. Of the comments Vick made during the interview segment, one is sure evoke some added questions from fans and media alike. During the segment with Missanelli, the former Pro Bowler stated the following when asked about his turnovers: "The other day, I broke out in the pocket, and the first thing Chip told me was to tuck the football," Vick said. "So I showed him how I was running with it, and he looked at it and he knocked the ball right out of my hands. And he was like, ‘Hold it like this.’ And what he told me felt comfortable. I had a tighter grip on the football. That should secure that problem as long as I work on it. Like I said, you’re always a work in progress, and even when you think you know it all, sometimes you don’t. The people who feel like they know everything, they don’t." Keep in mind, this was just a few minutes after Vick boasted that he had in the league for 12 years. So in the dozen years that Vick was in the league, no coach, including Dan Reeves and Andy Reid (both made Super Bowl appearances) taught him how to hold a football? Vick in the same breath mentions that players are always "a work in progress" which is a fair very statement, but not knowing one of the the key fundamentals in the game going into your 30's is a bit frightening, considering the caliber of coaching the he has had. The positive to take away from the comment is that he "now" knows how to hold the ball, following what seems like a brief coaching moment with Chip Kelly. Also, it may speak to how great of a teacher that Kelly really is and Vick is simply understating the significance of the coaching moment. Vick also said that he plans to work on the the technique, which confirms the notion that he really is doing all he can to improve and impress the coaching staff. Do you think the comments Vick made are more positive than negative? Do you find it hard to believe that Vick has never been taught the right way to hold the ball, given the coaches he has played for?