The Eagles had a short workout yesterday inside their bubble on the turf. All we in the media got to see was the first few minutes then it was closed. Andy Reid has no time for the media this week.
I don’t blame him. We’ve got our job to do but more importantly he and his football team have their job to do. There are a limited number of hours to prepare and he wants to use all of them the task at hand.
The attitude in the locker room was very quiet. Normally, players are horsing around and messing with each other about something and laughing loud about it, but not this week.
If you need to clown and joke around, do it before you get to work this week. Players jobs, futures and legacies are on the line, so this is serious.
All of the young players have learned from the veterans that you can’t accept losing and this job has to be important to you.
They were spending extra time in the meeting rooms yesterday because the locker room was empty until the last ten minutes of our time in there.
Nobody is very comfortable this week. The players have football on their minds and they still feel that loss in their gut.
If the attitude of the football team is right, you can walk into locker room and tell that they didn’t win the game last week.
There’s a seriousness about everything this week. They know what’s on the line. There are no tomorrows for this season if you don’t get it done on Saturday.
Reid has done well in Philadelphia because regardless of how loud the fans and media yell, he doesn’t bring the noise and controversy into the meeting rooms. It’s all about focus on doing your job.
I thought his comments about being matter of fact about the loss and their task ahead this week hit it on the head. They don’t have time to explain everything to the media, even though many of the guys in the media think they or the fans are the story.
Acknowledging all of the stories circling around isn’t going to get you a first down on 3rd and 11. Attention to detail and focus on your assignments is the only thing which will do that.
This is the mission of the football team right now.
Their backs are up against the wall. The’ve got to get the job done.
