Virtual offseason only to keep players engaged

One of these weeks Gov. Wolf will tire of playing with his color-coded map and allow Eagles’ coaches and players to go back to work at their training complex.

One of these weeks the NFL’s plan to protect players and coaches from the spread of the coronavirus in the locker room, meeting rooms and at practice will be real and posted, not an uncomfortable discussion.

Best of all, one of these weeks head coach Doug Pederson will get a chance to see how much Andre Dillard wants to play left tackle, whether first-round pick Jalen Reagor is for real or a virtual pro day workout warrior and if second-round selection Jalen Hurts really is the quick study who won games against the best teams in the country at two different powerhouse colleges.

Until then it’s all sizzle, no steak.

Right now, it’s Dillard, who was overpowered the brief time he played last year, and not free agent and future Hall of Famer Jason Peters at left tackle, protecting Carson Wentz’s blindside.

It’s Nate Sudfeld, the backup quarterback who wasn’t reliable enough to be the backup last year, at quarterback.

And it’s Reagor, who ran like a Notre Dame tight end at the NFL combine, as the team’s third-fastest speed receiver, playing in the fumes of Marquise Goodwin and DeSean Jackson.

Pederson has no clue when the lights will actually go on, enabling him to really evaluate. He’s caught in a virtual world that golfing counterpart Sean Payton, another veteran head coach with a Super Bowl title, has deemed insignificant.

With no chance of discovering what kind of team he has, it makes you wonder why Pederson even bothers with this virtual dog and pony show.

“I just didn’t want guys to be idle,” Pederson said on a teleconference Tuesday. “I think when you become idle, you get a little bit, you know, it becomes a challenge. So this way it gets the guys up, it gets the guys moving, it gets the guys thinking about football. Is it right? I don’t know.

“We still don’t know if training camp is going to start on time or not. But at the same time, I do know that at least we’re getting some football done and hopefully we’ll be better off for it.”