Former Eagles offensive tackle Tra Thomas was on 94WIP at noon today. He made an appearance on the Mike and Ike Show with Ike Reese and Michael Barkann. He delivered a blistering critique of new Birds offensive line coach Howard Mudd and the offensive line, which will take the field on Sunday against the St. Louis Rams.
Thomas said the “jump set” technique which Mudd employs is going to be trouble for the Birds this weekend and the rest of the season until they get used to it. The 300-pounder explained the deficiencies of the technique. He said the linemen are asked to attack the pass rushers, which could make them vulnerable to quick double moves and leave big defensive linemen unblocked as they attack Michael Vick.
He believes that the Birds should be having their linemen sitting back and creating a pocket for Vick to throw from. Thomas also believes that they’re putting too much responsibility on Vick because of their decision to start rookie Jason Kelce at center.
He thought it was mistake to go with Kelce as the starter at center in a loud dome with no experience whatsoever. Thomas believes it would have been much wiser to begin the season with veteran Jamaal Jackson as the starter. He believes it will force them to put more weight on Vick’s back to recognize blitzes and defensive fronts.
Thomas was critical of the way Jackson was benched without being given a chance to compete for his job. He also 
thinks it’s foolish for the Birds to move Todd Herremans to right tackle without giving him any time to get used to playing the position.
Tra thinks they should have let King Dunlap be the starter at right tackle because he was doing a decent job and it’s too much ask Herremans to move at this late date and do a good job over there.
The former Florida State Seminole said the Mudd “jump set” technique was ineffective against the Browns because pass rushers were coming free all over the place. He thinks the Eagles offensive line are headed for a difficult day against James Hall, Chris Long and Fred Robbins.
Tra thinks Steve Spagnuolo is going to have a cake walk drawing up blitzes to confuse the Eagles offense. He believes they will have difficulty blocking with that technique on Sunday against the Rams.
Thomas didn’t say he thought the Eagles were going to lose, but he sounded like it.
We will see. I’m tired of hearing all these disgruntled over the hill players talk about things like they know whats gonna happen. If Vick goes through the game without even being touched, NONE of them will step up to the plate on a radio show and say “Well I was completely wrong and I don’t know anything about the current state of the Eagles”.
Sacks given up by year:
Eagles
2010 49 28th
2009 38 20th
2008 23 6th
2007 49 27th
2006 28 8th
Indianapolis
2010 16 1st
2009 13 1st
2008 14 4th
2007 23 6th
2006 15 1st
Now I know it’s not all on Mudd that Indy had this kind of success, but he had to have been a big part of it.
Sounds like Tra needs a good therapist or a dog.
Duh, Jamal Jackson is his boy and you have to learn something before you can be good at it.
Nothing new here, times change but people don’t until they get some form of a wake up call.
Love Tra Thomas for what he did in a uniform and it’s cool that he has his own gym, but this isn’t worth its own story lol.
Tra Thomas….stop hating!!!!!!!
We have the coaching God Mudd for the offensive line!
If Mudd have problems, he’ll strap up by half time and show them how it’ done!!!!
HOWARD MUDD!
I mean…What does Tra know about the offensive line?
to be honest… it could turn out that Tra is right.. I hope not, but it isnt silly what he is saying… It just sounds like he doesnt buy into the change we made with the Oline coaching..
We’ll just have to wait and see… I can appreciate in depth criticism that speaks to exactly what the person does or doesnt like on our team..
I hope he is wrong though
Songs, LOL!
I do agree about the point with the rookie center. For a team with Super Bowl aspirations and a 100 Million dollar QB you need the Jackson in there. Kelce may be more of Mudd’s type but will Kelce be able to recognize and call blitzes and adjust according when we play against the better defenses in the league. He may be able to but why go with the unknown with you have a proven good center is beyond me especially for a team that thinks they are ready for a Super Bowl.
I am cancelling my over-priced Gym Membership from Tra’s Place in
Cherry Hill,NJ
Here’s how I feel. I have no idea whether Tra is hating or speaking from a true analytical standpoint. We’ll soon find out, though. That’s one reason why I love the NFL. It’s high drama! On an given play, on any given Sunday, a star can be born, a career can be ended, a player can be anointed (then later be exposed). You just never know what’s going to happen. How many TV shows exist about which you can make that statement?
The other reason I love it is because these guys are super extraordinary athletes. They’re way better than I ever imagined when I was growing up and when I was playing football in high school and college.
EricT those stats you gave are silly. First off a big reason for the difference is the QBs. Everyone know (and many hated) that McNabb held on to the ball a lot which resulted in more sacks and less INTs. Whereas Manning is the opposite and gets the ball out quickly. Not saying Mudd didn’t have anything to do because he did, but I think it was more about Manning because he called all the protection schemes in game and got the ball out quicker. In our offense, the center called the blitzes and the QBs held the ball longer. No comparison at all.
About Kelce: If Reid is going to adjust his play-calling to accentuate Kelce’s assets, I’m all for the rookie getting a shot. Of course (as far as I know, anyway), that would mean running more plays in which he pulls, i.e., screens, sweeps, reverses, etc.
I hope Tra is wrong though. We will all see. He’s just simply stating that he thinks that blocking scheme will cause trouble for us along with the personnel moves. I think he makes valid points especially with the short offseason. All we can do is hope he’s wrong. Hopefully they will get it together.
This season is great because I have reason to follow Arizona, Minnesota, Washington (and the rest of the NFC East). There are story lines attached to the success or failure of each those teams.
Comparing those 2 offense and QBs is absurd. Totally different teams, schemes, lines and QBs. Payton had the freedom to do whatever he wanted in Indy. Eagles run a system, and they expect you to execute it. Oh I forgot Peyton had Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark. All of that is relevant. Time will tell if Mudd is truly Mudd or MUD! Jamal Jackson got a raw deal…
Is he working with the squad in practice seeing them bust there a$$ to get ready?No.As much as i value a former olinemans opinion i think they did the right thing moving Todd too tackle.Hes’ been lobbying for it for years. Let em do work.
Does anyone discount the fact we have some studs on the o-line? I know they have to be a cohesive unit but your lines as strong as your best o-lineman. Peters is a Allpro…Todd is a great player. Mathis isnt a fuggin bum. lets see the Rams blitz us …and we’ll jam the ball down there overrated throats.
This feels like the opener in Carolina that me and my pal adventured too.Great people down there. Except Paulman.Everyone was nervous as pussycats about the game…and we taxed them.
Anyone think the Rams fans or media are wondering how there gonna move the ball on a secondary with 3 top flight corners and 2 PRO-BOWL D-ENDS AND A STUD IN JENKINS?or how about how there defense will stop Shady/Ronnie/ Dion?……oh…the greatest rushing qb in history.
F there squad …if your shook on this game get a comforter and go sleep in the tun.
what i dont understand is why is everyone picking the rams this sunday..and why the hell is everyone overemphasizing the eagles’ weaknesses? what ever happened to st louis’ weaknesses they aren’t magically a great football team..what do they have that we don’t? a great secondary? nopes..an amazing dline? maybe but is it better then ours? idk much abt their linebakers so i can’t say…do they have better receivers? no..better qb? hells no…better running game..eh maybe somewhat…better oline maybe..special teams? i would give that to the eagles….so why they hell is everyone picking rams over the eagles? beats me…EVERYONE went through the lockout so therefore we can’t use that as an excuse…fine we signed a lot of big name players who need time to gel with everyone else…but is everyone forgetting we signed in talent not some mediocre nfl players..we got nnamdi cromarte jenkins babin smith brown….pro bowl players!..i am 1000000% positive they can take care of business…
Isn’t this topic officially used up now? The O-line is an issue? Couldn’t tell. I wish that someone would talk about it.
Let’s play effin football and see what happens.
@mubi
Some of these guys picking the Rams are just hacks. I saw something ESPN with that bumA$$ Merrill Hodge who not only picked the giants to win the division, but he then got mad at tim Hassleback when he picked the Eagles, telling Hassleback he was ‘buying into the hype’ *smh* like we didnt just win the division last year..
some these guys like tra, I would listen to, depending on their explanation as to why they dont like us… But some of these sports guys are simpletons and HACKS… just looking to pick against the grain so they look like gurus if they end up being right….
I just hope the players know what kind of garbage is out there so it can make them as angry as it is making me
Hoge has hated the Eagles for years, it’s almost personal…SMH. Even with a shaky O-Line, no way we should lose this game. I’m diehard, even with a shaky O-line I take our chances against anyone. One game at a time… Rams are the focus this week.
The biggest problem with Mudd Technique of the “Jump-Set” blocking tecnique on passing plays is the QB that is now behind the O/Line.
In Indianapolis, he had 6-5″ Peyton Manning who is a classic in the Pocket QB who is taller and can see over the line of Scrimmage and with his throwing motion can fit the ball thru the open seams (epspecially on the slants/quick outs,etc,etc,)
With having the 6 ft VIck, this is an issue since Vick has to drop back further and faster to be able to see over the line of scrimmage, Vick also has a tendency to throw 3/4’s (almost Side arm) which gives the ball a lower projectory and more susceptible to being knocked-down by DL,LB’s who are rushing the ball which is something to keep an eye on..
P Manning, at his bestm is a 3-5 step back and gets rid of the ball to a designated spot and have the Colt WR’s run and be at the Spot to catch the ball.. It’s all timing and adjustments with them, I am not sold that this is a real strength of QB M Vick or even the Eagles WR’s (D-JAx/Maclin) who rely more of their down the field speed to create space to maneuver so that they can be open targets..
chuck – I have no problem saying that Hodge’s hating the eagles IS personal.
There’s a way we could lose the game sunday. It’s football and there’s always plenty things that can go wrong with that ball, 22 men on the field at a time and 60 minutes! But Hodge is an Eagle hater an therefore his credibility as an analyst is 0.
HEY PAULMAN im finally on here now somebody to put you in your place boy,i read what you said today that the eagles could not beat the pack, or saints based on lastnights game but i not smartest man in the world but i do think the eagles dbs are light years better than the saints are i do theink it will take time for the eagles D to come together but with that said if any team wants run the ball all day long be our guest cause you cant trade fgs for tds with djack,mccoy,maclin,smith,avant,cleck,vick,brown i can keep going but i think you get the point so next time you want to say the saints are better than us you better look at there team real good cause the only thing they have over us is lbs and thats only cause ours are unproven our pass rush is better than theres our dbs are also
hey gloomy, good head name for this blog, but if your going to take on the likes of paulman it would be a good idea to take on some of the lighterweights around here first, see how you make out
Welcome aboard Gloomysmitty and get in line with the rest of them,,,
I stated that at this time, the Eagles would not beat the Saints or Packers and I stand by my statement.. I believe the Eagles are about the 4th/5th Best Team in the NFC at this time now I think they will get better and better as the season progresses but will be a work in progress over the next 4-6 weeks and I have been consistent with this all camp/preseaon long..
OK YOU HAVE THE SAINTS AND PACK AHEAD OF US WHO ELSE PLEASE DONT SAY ATL THE TEAM WITH NO DBS AT ALL OR LBS FOR THAT MATTER THEY LOST TO US LAST YEAR WITHOUT VIC WHAT DO YOU THINK WE WILL DO TO THEM NOW
jake – I like that one.
I don’t know Gloomy, @ the ATL in week 2 smells like an L to me.
Wonder if Mudd knows Vick is only 6 ft. tall?
Wonder if Mudd knows Vick is only 6 ft. tall? Actually If done properly (big if), Vick should have clearer lanes to throw in. We’ll see..
Jake…nice! lol
if ur still negative and being stupid about losing to the rams, you’re at the point of no return.
if we win the superbowl and ur pissed about how many points we win by, ur a lost cause.
or you have no fortitude and pms like your other half.
wmonell….let’s win a superbowl first before talking about the reaction if it’d won.
I’m just saying, it’s probably true don’t you think?
Remember the Phillies after their world series…
AND YES I COULD SEE THEM LOSING TO ATL ONLY BECAUSE LIKE I SAID BEFORE THEY NEED TIME TO JELL ATL WONT BEAT THEM AT ANY POINT PAST WEEK 10 UNLESS VICK IS DONE FOR THE YEAR AND LETS HOPE HES NOT
Let the games begin
This is coming from one of the greatest all time Eagles O-Linemen, who was in the trenches for years, at a pro bowl level, who bleeds green & is one of the most loyal former players we have, & you @$$#oles are ripping him & still find a way to argue & swear you are right. Get your heads out of Andy’s arse, & come to the realisation that you are wrong & don’t know WTF, you are talking about! I can’t wait to see after the game, all of the verbal diarrhea, that all of the delusion, stepford, puppet, excuse makers, spew on here, after the O-Linemen & LB’s get raped & abused. It’s going to be classic!
agree with Tra…. the o-line is what worries me… Vick is going to be running for his life… Spags is going to come after him all day long… I am not sold on Herremans at RT or the interior line… it’s ashame the Eagles didnt use some of the free agent $$$ on the o-line…
I am predicting a very close game, Eagles 21-19.
This game will be a wakeup call that will have the eagles address their errors early.
Controversy with djax will begin with game one.
Rams 24 Eagles 20
2 major turnovers with serious pressure coming from the blindside. Matthews will get run over continuously and bradford will attack the safeties through play action.
the corners will not be tested..The run game along with the tight ends will allow the rams to eat up clock in a ball controlled game.
The rams will also play their safeties deep to take away the big play and force the eagles to drive the length of the field.
noise in the the dome will rattle our patchwork offensive line.
Believe me guys…things will get fixed after the reality check but don’t be surprised if we drop game one.
what good is top corners if teams can beat you by not testing them?
Last year the weak spots were right corner and safety…team exploited those weaknesses.
Now, it’s middle linebacker and safety…watch how teams with good running games and stout defenses play us.
I am sick of these negative articles on Vick, Eagles and the coaches. If these so called experts were expects they would have a coaching job. Go Eagles this is going to be a special season, whether Cobb and his croonies think so or not. I love what they are doing!!!!!
Unbelievable…All I keep hearing from ESPN and the rest of the media and even some ppl on here is how are the Eagles going to stop Steven Jackson?
They should be saying…How are the Rams going to stop Shady McCoy? You know the Running Back who is actually better right now today…ppl need to stop living off of the past couple years…Shady is better than Steven Jackson…and I don’t see the rams being able to stop shit. Sure he doesn’t run the ball 25 times a game but the Eagles still use him big time in the overall game plan..I do think the Eagles will run the ball more with him mainly because Shady is the best player on our offense right now and Reid will have no choice.
O yea and Bradford is no Brady…He is going to be great in this league but he is not there yet…But Seriously Are you guys really scared of 18 TDs and 15 Ints from last year..Remember there were NO OTA and training camp which is really going to hurt 2nd year players this year esp Qbs.
“The rams will also play their safeties deep to take away the big play and force the eagles to drive the length of the field.”…Come on Songs…
Who are the safeties you are so worried about back there..O yea they the let go off their best DB in Otagwe to sign our own Quintin Mikell who is average at best on his good days..Its hilarious cuz when he was with us you thought he sucked but now you think he is going to shut us down?
Unbelievable man, before preseason most of the fans who is acting scared now thought we were going 16-0…loosing to the Rams lol…but now after a meaningless couple of preseason games we are terrible. We can’t beat a team that couldn’t make it to .500 in the worst division in the history of the NFL last year…what a joke
I see that the meaningless preseason has made a couple of you guys loose your minds BUT I would take the preseason we had over basically any of the other teams…This is the first time in a while that we walked out of there with basically no major injuries to any of out important players…Just Take a look at the Giants or the Cowboys and see what happened to their teams.
I don’t think the Eagles are going to be great right out of the gate with all the new changes but I don’t need them to be..I could care less about the stats..At the end of the day I think we will get the W’s.
If Vick has a good game (2 Tds, no Int) I don’t see this game being close at all..ONly way we loose tmrw is turnovers or some HOF coaching by Josh McDaniels
media stirs up nonsense.
eagles will will by double digits. flat out a better franchise and team
were in the playoffs year in and year out and we score points
you cant pass on us and when youre trailing, you run less
easy to see and tis a nonstory, apparently we know something most dont know
how about the rams lbs lmao, or their secondary or their ol lmao
rams are improving yes, but this week 1 matchup, what a joke
teams that have the most things in tact from the end of last season will win the early games
all we did was add to a playoff teams roster
ill jsut say it here right now, i really dont care the doubt will always be there for anyone its jsut the way it is
were going to the ncf ch game at the very least, but im saying we beat sd in the big game
if ur not down with that i got 2 words for you
pheags…read again…who said “Q” was going to shut down our recievers?
I said they wil play deep to take away the big play.
got it?
safties works with corners to defend the deep play.
get it?
If we had a constant running game the safeties would play honest but we don’t.
In order for reid to open up the big play he must first establish the run and we all know his offense does the reverse.
He believes the pass sets up the run.
We’ll see…. but right now everyone know rams plan is to attack our offensive line and us their run game to keep the game close.
I hope we win but I’m feeling an upset with Matthews in the middle and a suspect safety position, and a last minute offensive line.
Rams 24 Eagles 20
34-17 eagles, ur shielding the eagles from any enjoyable emotions because of fear of another letdown in how the eagles season ends
in a dome and on turf, we will be undefeated, check our track record, rpetty damn good since reid
actually, weve been good all around with reid, but you already know that
i choose not to live in fear, i expect great things from this squad
rams, pssh i root for my best friends rams but they got some work to do and some time to get to where they wanna be
theyll score a td early, a fg in the 2nd and a td in the 3rd (17 pts)
we’ll be up 17-10 at half, score 10 in the 3rd, and a td in the 4th
taking a convincing victory to atlanta for another dome/turf win that you will predict we lose
its cool, acknowledge other teams improvements, and not ur own, haaa ur mind twisted and our team is gifted
have a good sat because your sunday will be great, unless ur actually wanting to lose
you guys are funny on here picking the rams to beat the birds
ok ..i’m sorry…..undefeated!!!!!!!
We will not lose! Ever!
see, I would rather we lose early and correct the issues than win early with clear problems and not have them fixed when it counts going into the playoffs.
But, I’m on board yall.
Reid and Mudd is the Bomb!!!!!
our offensive line will dominate,
our safeties will command respect.
Matthews will detroy anything in his path.
E-a-g-l-e-s eagles?
funny? trolling? stupid? all of the above alex (trebek)