Linc could help Birds social distance during training camp

To alleviate overcrowding at the NovaCare Complex, the Eagles are leaning toward using spacious Lincoln Financial Field for training camp.

The larger Linc would make it easier to satisfy the state’s and league’s social distancing requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Eagles head coach Doug Pederson made the reveal during a conference call Tuesday. The NFL and the NFL Players Association must agree to the arrangements.

“This is a unique time in our society, in our country and our world,” Pederson said. “This is just what we’re faced with. So, we’re going to make the most of it and use the resources possibly with the NovaCare facility, possibly with our stadium to take advantage of everything that we can. And the No. 1 thing here is making sure that our players and our coaches and all our staff are safe. That’s our most important aspect of everything right now.”

With 90 players reporting for training camp, the strict guidelines that include six feet of distance between lockers in dressing rooms would be next to impossible using only the NovaCare facility. The use of showers and the medical area also would be a reach. Using the Linc and the NovaCare Complex would seem to be less challenging.

Then there are weight rooms, meeting rooms and even bathrooms. It would make sense to use as much available space as possible. Heck, the Aug. 1 Justin Bieber concert already has been cancelled.

“We are in the process of taking a look at a lot of different scenarios,” Pederson said. “Again, like I mentioned, using the stadium, possibly, or using the stadium and using the NovaCare facility to be able to handle the numbers that we have in training camp from a player perspective. It’s going to look different. It will feel different. But at the same time, we are going to embrace it and we are going to make the most of it, and our job as coaches is to prepare our football team for the regular season.”

Pederson is more concerned about getting his team ready via practice than what impact such an arrangement might have on chemistry. There’s not much he can do about that anyway.

The Eagles have control over social distancing, keeping surfaces clean and wearing masks. The NFL’s plan calls for players to be tested three times a week.

The Eagles also are exploring keeping one quarterback away from the rest of the group just in case a quarterback tests positive and has to be quarantined. Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians spoke of doing just that.

“Obviously there are a lot of ways to go about things, and that’s one way to do it,” Pederson said. “If you do it with the quarterback position, do you do it with a receiver, do you do it with a defensive back, something like that? But these are all things that right now, between now and the time we play — or I should say the time we get back to training camp — are the scenarios that we need to as a staff think through and the possibilities.

“But that is definitely something to consider as you move forward to protect the quarterback position. And at the same time you have to think about the entire roster, as well. A lot of different scenarios and a lot of possibilities we’ll think about here in the next few weeks.”

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Wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, who is coming off a Lisfranc injury in his foot, might not be ready for the regular season opener — if, that is, he’s still on the roster.

Pederson said Jeffery participated in the virtual training but wouldn’t be rushed back onto the field.

“If there are a couple of games where he’s not ready,” Pederson said, “we’re not going to put him out there and just wait for him to get healthy.”

Cutting Jeffery before the season would count $15.4 million against the salary cap. Trading him would save the Eagles almost $10 million against the cap, although it’s unlikely there’s a market for a 30-year-old veteran who has played in all 16 games in just one of the past five seasons.