Long-shot rugby player showing some skills at TE
PHILADELPHIA » Canadian rugby star Adam Zaruba chose the Eagles over the Seahawks, of all forward thinking organizations.
Zaruba was so impressed with the Eagles he signed a three-year contract instead of making good on a scheduled workout with the Seahawks. The 6-5, 260-pound tight end showed surprisingly good hands returning kicks and working the Jugs machine Friday considering he hasn’t worn a helmet or caught a football regularly since his high school days.
“I feel pretty comfortable catching the ball,” said Zaruba, who touched down in Philly at 9 p.m. Thursday. “I think it’s just the speed and the size of the ball is a little different than what I was practicing with in Canada. I’ve just got to wrap my hands around it and just get a feel for the ball. I wasn’t taking a lot of reps in the team sessions today.”
Zaruba is a long shot to make the Eagles’ 53-man roster. That said it looks like he has good feet and it’s clear he can run.
Zaruba said the Eagles clocked him in 4.62 in the 40-yard dash at 260 pounds, which is quicker than the 4.79 starting tight end Zach Ertz ran at 249 pounds at the scouting combine.
The adjustment to football is extreme as there is no blocking in rugby and the headgear, if any, is radically different. But again, the Canadian fit in well on his first day, limited as it was.
“In Canada, in high school if you’re one of the athletes you kind of play everything,” Zaruba said. “So I was a tight end, a slot receiver, a defensive end and I returned kicks. Just sort of a jack of all trades thing … For me, I have big hands. The ball is coming at you at a different velocity. It’s different than rugby so I’m going to have to get used to that. But I think I have the ball skills, the handling skills.”
If nothing else, the Eagles deserve a star for beating the Seahawks to a prospect. That doesn’t happen regularly.
“I came out here and they wanted to sign me right away so I wasn’t going to turn them down,” Zaruba said. “I got a really good vibe coming here and I really liked it here.”
*** Lane Johnson tested the patience of Doug Pederson by wearing a blonde mullet to practice Friday.
Just giving his offensive line mates something to talk about during the grind of training camp was worth being told by the boss to lose the wig.
Johnson smiled when asked if the mullet affected his performance at all.
“I thought it made me look more like a badass but I guess coach didn’t like it so he made me take it off,” Johnson said. “I could have left it on but he said it was just distracting him a little bit so I just took it off. Plus it was itching a little bit.”
Teammates Jason Kelce and Brandon Brooks chalked the episode up to “Lane being Lane.” Johnson has done some comic things before including wearing mismatched shoes to practice.
“When he was wearing that around the wing in the locker room I was like, ‘Bro, please wear that out to practice,’” Kelce said.
“I didn’t think he would. I knew he would. That’s Lane Johnson. I love it.”
*** The Eagles’ first open practice at Lincoln Financial Field has been moved from Saturday to Sunday due to a forecast of inclement weather.
The Linc gates are scheduled to open at 8:30 a.m. and practice begins at 10 a.m. Sunday. Parking is free.
It’s Military Appreciation Day. For practice updates call 215-3205160. *** It’s still much too early to start giving out kudos to players at training camp, although that hasn’t deterred over-reactors.
The Eagles finally put on the shoulder pads Saturday, which will at least provide a better basis to determine who has had a decent day.
While Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith continued to beat the Eagles’ beleaguered cornerbacks Friday, such a setting is anything but a measure of how they’ll perform once the lights go on in September.