The Eagles got in a workout today as they prepared for the Cowboys this weekend. Special teams coordinator Bobby April, offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg and defensive coordinator Sean McDermott each addressed the media before practice.
Michael Vick didn’t got through the walk through and didn’t practice. Kevin Kolb took all the snaps during the walk through and at practice.
Mornhinweg mentioned a number of times that the Eagles lack of attention to detail is the reason that the Birds struggled against the Vikings. He said the blitzes which Minnesota came with were blitzes which they had seen in the past.
The offensive coodinator admitted that Vick tries to do too much at times. He would like to see him protect himself more but he says getting hit and injuries are part of the game.
When asked about whether it would be better for Vick to play this week and hopefully finish the season on a high note or take the week off and get some rest to hopefully enter the playoffs healthy.
Mornhinweg engaged the reporters with an answer then ducked behind the “it’s Andy’s decision”.
When asked about not running the ball more in the game, Mornhinweg responded by talking about how the Birds were ineffective in running the ball in the first half.
Marty said he will expect Kolb to play well if he does start.
Sean McDermott admitted that they’re not getting enough pressure on the quarterback. He feels Asante Samuel is getting better and is confident he will be ready to go when they need him.
He isn’t sure what’s going to happen at the right cornerback position. He’s confident that Dimitri Patterson will bounce back, but he’s not sure what they’re going to do at that spot.
McDermott praised the play of rookie middle linebacker Jamar Chaney and wouldn’t commit either way about what he will do when Stewart Bradley returns. He talked about being focused on now and the upcoming game.
He had no explanation for why the defense wasn’t charged up emotionally for a game with so much on the line. McDermott said he feels that is his responsibility.
Kevin Kolb said he has tried to focus on being ready in case the Eagles have needed him this season, but he hasn’t totally been able to resist wondering what would have happened if he had been the starter all season.
One loss and everybody’s ready for pitchers and catchers… Get Bradley back, plan and prepare for continuous blitzkrieg, and avoid Lou Turks and the Birds will be alright I think.
Ummmm…. how about der, i don’t know running the ball perhaps. Also Patterson is a mental midget. Anybody know whatever happened to that Jack Ikewagna dude?
The MLB position is not what ails this defense. Chaney actually has played equally as well as Bradley was playing, matter fact one play down the field knocking that ball away Bradley couldn’t have made. He’s not fast enough. The Eagles have got to threaten with the run… they have to… but why doesn’t this sound familiar, we said it the entire time McNabb was here. Andy and Marty are brutally stubborn. Our secondary is average at best, so putting pressure on the QB is a must. While i’m at it let me add in that Ernie Sims doesn’t play disciplined football.
Sounds like an lot of unaswered questions… I do not have a good feel for the end of the season my friends..
To Runtheball,
Jack Ike is in a X-Box Rehab Center in Des Moine Ia, He’s making some progress with his demons of the past but is finished as far as football goes, His Knee never did fully recover to the point of playing or trying our for the NFL at this point.
When asked about not running the ball more in the game, Mornhinweg responded by talking about how the Birds were ineffective in running the ball in the first half. What a bunch of BS. Same old propaganda from these guys. Not one took blame nor did Andy. Get ready Philly for the same nightmare from the last 10 years, Fools.
Paulman — If you don’t have a good feeling about this team for the end of a season, thats a GREAT thing! I am now more confident about these Eagles then ever!! You have to be the most off-base prediction maker in the history of Eagles football!
When I saw you choose them to win this past week against the Vikings — I knew we were due for a stinker. It didn’t surprise me one bit that they lost — afterall, YOU picked them! You never pick them to win!
Please tell me the Eagles are not going to win the Superbowl — say it!!
Why didnt someone follow up with some stats on some of Shady’s early runs. The run was there due too the a gap blitzs early down.They sent the corner blitz on 3rd downs and Mike has too make a hot read from now on and get the rock out.
Mike will continue too throw while nursing the quad.Remeber he spent 2 years doing standing squats and push-ups…. but no hits from d-lineman and other angry defenders.
I ask..how did his arm look after he came back from the upper body injury?Live.
The defense needs to be more aggresive…why havent corners besides Sante learned too break on a post…or the curl. Know were your help is for petes sake .They played much too soft against that rook. And when they did almost get there they let him get outside. 4 times on 3 drives they had they let the dude get outside there outside shoulder. They didnt know he ran a 4.4 40?
That L had the coaches fingerprints all over it.
One thing we do know…the defense will play pissed off football Wild Card weekend….book it.
Considering we were meant to struggle to go above .500 this year, everything from here on in is a bonus. The way our offense has been struggling in 7 of the last 8 quarters I am most worried about outscoring the Packers if we face them in the wildcard round. We should be able to beat the bears at Chicago and that leaves a NFC champ game between Falcons or Saints and I am confident we can beat both the falcons at their place and the Saints at the Linc.
Ok Birdo, you asked for it
The Eagles will be at home watching to Super Bowl in Dallas like everyone else..
I truly believe what has hurt this team the most, particularly this season is a lack of a CONSISTENT pass rush. They have gotten a little more pressure up the middle with the emergence of Antonio Dixon, but still we lack that bookend across from T Cole. Alot of criticism has been aimed at our secondary, and rightfully so, but opposing QB’s have gotten alot of time to pass especially on 3rd down where we seem to get killed. This offseason we disposed of 2 DE’s who have accounted for 24 sacks on other teams, while D Tapp and B Graham have 6 combined?! I think the Eagles made a mistake letting Babin walk, and Clemons has shown to be the player the Eagles thought he was.
HUMOR: Detailing the Legend of Eagles Quarterback Kevin Kolb
Posted by bryn.swartz December 30, 2010
The legend of Kevin Kolb is one that began three years ago, when the Eagles selected the University of Houston great in the second round of the 2007 NFL draft.
Kolb played sparingly in his first two seasons. But when he did play, the Eagles were dominant.
In Kevin Kolb’s first game in the NFL, the Eagles scored 56 points against the Detroit Lions. In his second game, they scored 38 against the St Louis Rams. And in his third, they knocked off the eventual Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers.
Late in the 2008 season, Kolb threw his first touchdown pass, a 107-yard strike to Ed Reed, which is the longest touchdown in NFL history.
He also threw a highlight reel 24-yard touchdown a few weeks later to Brandon McDonald of the Cleveland Browns.
In 2008, Kolb threw for 275 yards. He distributed them pretty evenly, throwing 144 to the Eagles and 131 to their opponents.
In 2009, Kolb made his first start in the NFL. He threw for 491 yards and three touchdowns (391 yards and two touchdowns to the Eagles, and 100 yards and a touchdown to the Saints). He concluded his epic performance with a 97-yard touchdown pass to Darren Sharper in the final minute of the game.
Heading into the 2010 season, Kolb had finally earned the starting job for the Eagles. Kolb’s 2010 season was brilliant by anyone’s standards.
He completed 63.4 percent of his passes and threw just four interceptions all year. He posted an above average passer rating and was sacked just 10 times.
Kolb’s best performance came when he torched the NFC’s top-seeded Atlanta Falcons with three touchdown passes.
And the following week, he threw a long touchdown pass to Cortland Finnegan of the Titans on the game’s final play.
Kolb has shown a knack for fourth quarter touchdown passes throughout his career. Just ask the Browns’ Brandon McDonald, the Saints’ Darren Sharper, or the Titans’ Cortland Finnegan.
And they’re not short touchdown passes either. 107 yards, 97 yards, and 41 yards.
McNabb never threw a 107-yard touchdown pass or even a 97-yard touchdown pass. Neither has Michael Vick.
McNabb never threw a touchdown pass on the final play of the game. Neither has Vick. Kevin Kolb did it against Tennessee.
Kolb has generously spread his touchdown passes around to many different teams in the NFL. The Eagles have the most with 10. The Ravens have 1. So do the Browns. And the Saints. And the Titans.
Kolb has already thrown touchdowns to two future Hall of Famers: Ed Reed and Darren Sharper. He’s also completed a pass to another future Hall of Famer, Troy Polamalu.
Kolb has played in some of the biggest offensive showings of the decade for the Eagles.
56 points against the Lions. 38 against the Rams. 48 against the Cardinals. 44 against the Cowboys. 38 against the Panthers. And 59 against the Redskins.
Kevin Kolb also has shown the skills needed to be an outside linebacker if needed.
Just ask William Moore of the Atlanta Falcons. Kolb brought Moore down with an impressive horse collar tackle earlier this season.
If Ernie Sims or Moise Fokou goes down with an injury in the playoffs, Kolb might be called upon to play both ways.
And most importantly…McNabb’s Eagles didn’t win a division title in his first season.
Yet Kevin Kolb is quarterbacking a division champion heading into the 2010 season finale.
What the Eagles really need is to back to training camp and have healthy bodies
Game plans etc can’t help if you don’t have the players
Sometimes you have to face the facts the other teams players are better ( especially if you regulars are injured )
Hey Drummer
Kolb came into the Skins game 14-0
He had them on the 1 yd line when they got the delay of game that cost them a TD
They were driving again when McCoy fumbled costing them a FG
NONE of that was Kolb’s fault
They lost 8 points on those plays which would have been enough to give them a comeback win after Vick left down 14-0
Again against the Titans they had the lead and were ready to put them away when the center blows that block
And then the D blew it allowing those passing TDS
Outside of the first part of the Greenbay game he played VERY well
And we will see how Vick does against Greenbay this time if they get them first round
Vick may very well have another Viking type game
He had man to man coverage the entire Giants game and couldn’t exploit it despite having Jackson and Maclin ( 2 speed merchants)
The league is on to him
NO team has ever been successful with a running QB –Scrambler yes runner no
Most yds Steve Young ever ran for in a 16 game season was 537
It took a miracle against the Giants who the very next week got creamed by Greenbay –utter domination
And with the Eagles D so screwed up they will probably be playing from behind and Reid will be running McCoy even less –Vick will be lucky to survive against Greenbay
Eagles better hope they get the Giants again
Dudes what you guys do, watch the Eagles games and only read the box scores of other teams games? Man up people and get with it. I know you have been watching other games and if you try and tell me that Eagles best games does not match up with the best games of any other team in the NFC then I am pretty much done with it.
The Eagles have issues that is true but once again ring, ring, HEL freaking LO, so do the other guys. You guys have been Paulmalized (No offence Paul buddy), This team personnel can get the job done if the coaches turn them lose and place them right.
We all know what happen in that Viks game, its the Ali vs Norton-1 thing all over and the Eagles got their jaw broke for it, lesson learned, no one will face it but they looked pass the Vikings and maybe even the Cowboys, took things for granted and got what they deserved for slacking off (I can say that now days later ouch!). When focused they are as impossing as any team out there in the NFC.
Damn G….. WTF is up with the main page? You trying to save bandwidth dollars or something?
The new format blows and I can’t get it off of mobile.
rcp, stop it with Kevin Kolb. Just stop it. You can say what you like about that Skins game but what about the Packers game? We would have won both of those games if Vick plays the entire game. Just stop it with the man love for Kolb. Just ridiculous.
In the past few weeks, it looked like Andy got a little comfortable with the oline and started to let Celek out more. He will have to put him back because our offense was doing much better when we max protected with Celek or Schmitt. I mean we all want Celek to be a playmaker but we don’t need him to catch balls to win. We need him to stay in and block until defenses stop blitzing.
To Mono,
I think Crazy Johnny hit the nail on the head
The Def/Line and in particular the DE Position has been very weak down the stretch of the Season which we seem to say every Season.. I love T COle, but he and PArker get worn out,worn down by Seasons end, and if teams want to be sucuessful running the ball, they usually will run it right a Cole.
With depth being an issue with Graham gone for the Season and really only Tapp as a legitimate DE Sub, both COle nad PArker will have to play even more snaps which does not bode well for the Playoffs. I beleive they are going to have blitz more (Maybe OLB Sims, Safety Coleman, or really duisguise their coverages and move some players around to mix it up, try Standing Cole or Teo up and have them come up the middle or something… But if they can’t get to the QB more consistently, QB’s Rodgers, & Brees and even Cutler will eat this Secondary up and the Eagles will have little chance of winning
Drummer, that Kolb humor article was pretty funny
Nice plan Scorp, I think that is how it is going to go down. That and just a little more runs and maybe some Harrisson for collision duty.
Drummer, you trying to out funny Paul, I see a lawsuit coming. If Paul throw in another prediction I think Drum might even get jail time.
Does anyone thing that RB J Harrison has been utilized enough… I don’t …
You would have thought that Coach AR would have learned his lesson from when the Eagles had a healthy RB C Buckhalter backing up Westbrook, who also wasn’t utilized enough…
paulma, I agree. It’s nothing new with Andy. I mean if he’s under-utilizing Shady then the rest of the RBs will be nonexistent. The only reason why Westbrook was so heavily utilized in his years here was because Westbrook was great in the passing game and we didn’t have WRs with the talent of the ones we have now. Shady and Harrison could be a good combo to keep the pressure off the o-line and offer a different dynamic to the offense. I’m just tired of Andy trying to blow teams out in the 1st quarter. Wear teams down, keep them off balanced…. do something different.
I agree Scorp and have a feeling that’s exactly what the Packers will do to the Eagles Defense..
Some screens,short sideline routes, TE in the middle,couple of dive runs by FB Kuhn and then attack the Eagles Secondary in 2nd Quarter with big play after big play to probably the best WR corps in the NFL in G Jennings,D Driver, J Jones and J Nelson
Damn I wish I could disagree with you guys, @#$@#$@. Oh well no need looking back now and crying, ride or die, or better yet for us fans “Root or die”, “Believe to the end, and at the end stop believing.”
I guess we can talk about McNabb… good grief…
Why is it that McDermott never has an idea what’s wrong? He doesn’t know why they’re not getting a strong pass rush. He doesn’t know why we could be the worst red zone defense in the history of the NFL. Isn’t that his job? This dude is in so over his head!
Sounds like Chaney will be the starter from now on. Running the football is a commitment not an experiment. Teams need to keep working at it to make it effective.
What’s everyone think about a John Fox or a Marv Lewis as the next Eagles D/Coordinator…
Coach AR is pretty godo friends with both guys who are probably suited better D/C’s then Head Coaches
Neither Coach seems to have a “big ego” where they have to be the Head Coach
Now Lewis likes the 3-4 Front which may not be a fit for the Eagles Personnel right now..
but Fox comes from the 4-3 backgorund and Coaching Defenses are both these guys specialties.
If the Eagles are going to SIgn Vick for a long-term deal and invest almost $80-$100 Million to him, then it only makes sense to build this Defense to a Championship Caliber level, which it’s clearly not in it present form..
A 3-4 would not be as difficult to convert this team into as many have stated
You could have a base D/Line of NT Dixon/Patterson/ with DE’s of Cole & Parker,Tapp or Graham
At LB you could have Chaney,Bradley as ILB’s and Fokou,Jordan or Sims (if they re-sign him) or even Sapp and Teo also on the outside as pass rushers in passing situations coming from standing position..
They would need bigger DE’s and a Bunkley could probably slide over to a DE position in runnning situations for the short-term (next season)
As a side note, CB James Joseph from the Bengals will be a free-agent and is still young and a very good Cover CB
They would have to draft DE & OLB moving forward who would fit this scheme
Kolb had a bad Packer’s game and that was early in season. What is worse is Vick’s bad Vikings game and that is late in season when u should see the blitz coming