The whistle blew on Day 3 of Philadelphia Eagles’ training camp and the team huddled up around Nick Sirianni. He didn’t like what he was seeing on the field, so the new head coach let the players know it.
Sirianni, the former offensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts, thought practice was getting too sloppy. He wanted to break those bad habits swiftly, not letting them linger and become the norm. And the guys appreciated Sirianni’s genuine zeal.
“One thing we know about this team and this locker room, and the coaching staff, they already harped on us, ‘Don’t take nothing the hard way’ because they doing it out of love, doing it out of respect,’” cornerback Darius Slay told reporters, via Sports Illustrated. “So, when coach pulls us up like that, we do nothing but respect them and try to go to work as hard as we can for them.”
The mid-practice huddle happened about an hour into Friday’s session. After that teaching moment, things tightened up.
“He just kind of wanted to bring attention to that and said, ‘Hey this could be a microcosm of the season,’” said pass rusher Ryan Kerrigan, via CBS Sports. “‘You have your ups, you have your downs, during an NFL season. What are you going to do when you get off to a slow start? You have to pick yourself up.’”
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Eagles ‘Attacking Rest’ After Practice
Sirianni made no bones about his intentions and expectations when he opened camp on Wednesday. His team will be disciplined. His team will be focused. His team will attack everything, including rest days.
“My message to the team is very clear: we attack every day. It’s a climb and we’re attacking every day,” Sirianni told reporters. “We like to even break it down further than that. We’re not only attacking every day, we’re attacking the little parts of that day, right?
“The players right now are attacking rest. The coaches, when we’re done here, I’m going to go up with the offensive staff and we’re going to watch the tape and we’re going to attack the crap out of the film.”
Speaking of rest, a few key veterans had the day off on Friday: Fletcher Cox, Zach Ertz, Lane Johnson, Brandon Graham, Jason Kelce, Ryan Kerrigan, Darius Slay, Rodney McLeod.
Nick Mullens Raising Eyebrows Early
You never want to read too much into training camp practices. Most guys are trying things out, especially the quarterbacks. But Joe Flacco has looked rusty so far this summer as he tries to fend off Nick Mullens for the backup spot behind Jalen Hurts.
Mullens is third on the depth chart right now, but clearly he has an opportunity to rise up. Everything and every position is a competition this year.
“I’m here to come out to practice, get my reps, and make the most of each and every one of them and then, hey, we will see what happens,” Mullens told the team’s website. “I couldn’t be more thankful for the opportunities.”
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