Pederson tells team to have fun, and offense celebrates
PHILADELPHIA » Everybody loves a celebration.
Well, almost everybody.
Under direct orders from coach Doug Pederson to “have fun,” the Eagles celebrated touchdowns early, often and on the last play of the sweltering Thursday morning practice marking the seventh day of training camp.
The group revelry began when Darren Sproles threw an option scoring pass to Trey Burton, the first of a small handful of novelty plays featuring the likes of offensive linemen Dillon Gordon and Hal Vaitai, who also got into the end zone.
“The coach said touchdowns don’t come easy,” rookie running back Corey Clement said. “So when you get an opportunity, ‘now we can celebrate, go do it. Have fun with your teammates.’”
The piece de resistance was a group celebration ending the second live tackling period, as well as the morning practice.
After Nelson Agholor beat rookie Rasul Douglas for a 36-yard touchdown grab, Carson Wentz firing a perfect fade, the wide receiver picked up the football while offensive linemen assembled in bowling pin formation.
Agholor showed good footwork but his release was anything but PBAsound when he rolled the ball toward the linemen who, acting as the pins, peeled out of the way simulating a strike. Last year using the football as a prop and participating in group celebrations was illegal.
Agholor deflected credit by pegging Jordan Matthews as the architect of the celebration.
“Any time you see a really cool celebration, Jordan Matthews, that’s his thing,” Agholor said. “Carson called a check, I saw where the safety was and in my mind I was thinking 6, just like he was.
“We love it. He gave me a shot at the end of the day and it’s up to me to finish. That was all on my mind, to finish and then celebrate after.”
Unlike Tuesday, when tackling was limited, the Eagles got after it Thursday. There were 49 live plays with tackling to the ground, give or take a penalty. The offense looked good early and late. The defense dominated the middle portion.
Emotions ran high, and players appeared to take things more personally when the offense began celebrating scores so lustily early in practice.
“I definitely felt it out there,” running back Wendell Smallwood said. “Just us talking to each other, just that drive and competition, that’s what this whole offseason has been about. Doug has said we’re going to compete every day. We’re teammates. We’re all chasing one goal. But at the end of the day we’ve got to come out and compete and show we’re better than the next guy. I think that drives this team.”
Following a Smallwood touchdown in the early live session, safety Rodney McLeod tried to slap the ball away. That prompted center Jason Kelce to exchange words and shoves with McLeod.
There were other rough moments and physical exchanges that actually seemed to speed up the pace of practice.
There was no better performer in the live periods than Smallwood, who made the most of the added snaps left by LeGarrette Blount, who was absent for the third straight day of practice, ostensibly to take care of personal business.
“You never want to miss,” Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich said. “From a player’s perspective or coach, you hate missing practice. I mean, you love ball. That’s what you’re here to do. You’re getting paid a lot of money to play ball. But you also understand that there’s sometimes personal reasons, there’s personal things that come up.
“That’s between he and coach. Thankfully, he’s a vet. He’s been around the block a few times, so we’ll just pick up right where we left off when he gets back.”
Wide receiver Alshon Jeffery (shoulder) also missed his third straight day of work. He won’t practice for a while, though Reich said idling Jeffery was “just precautionary.”
On the defensive side of the ball, the celebrations weren’t as pronounced or bountiful.
“Well they better do it again, too, right?” said middle linebacker Jordan Hicks, a full participant for the first time in camp. “That would be great. Hey, I want everybody to celebrate. That brings excitement to the entire team. When they score I want to see them celebrate. It’s a fun game.”
Hicks intends to get the defense together to collaborate on celebrations.
“We’re going to have something special,” Hicks said. “We’ll have some good stuff. We’ll have something set up. We haven’t come up with anything yet but it’s in the works, man.”