The Big Reveal
Rent is due on mystery man Sirianni’s plan
PHILADELPHIA » Throughout training camp and preseason, Nick Sirianni and the Eagles have denied us answers to several basic questions fans have taken for granted over the years.
Real fundamental stuff like, what kind of offense are you going to run?
Suppressing that is supposed to give them a competitive advantage. It’s the old “trust us, what you don’t know, can’t hurt you” strategy.
But like Jalen Hurts would say, the rent is due Sunday. When the Eagles open the season on the road against the favored Atlanta Falcons, we get to see if the secrecy is worth the lengths the Eagles have gone to preserve it.
This is the most mysterious Eagles rollout since the days of Chip Kelly’s uptempo offense. Excuse me for not expecting the same sort of fireworks as that Monday night eight years ago when the Eagles rolled into FedEx Field and Michael Vick led the Eagles to a 26-7 lead at the intermission in what would be a triumphant debut for the Chipster.
“When you’re a new coach, everybody is still trying to figure you out,” Eagles center Jason Kelce said Wednesday. “I still remember Chip Kelly when we were out there and we put up I think 50-some points against Washington in his debut. We had over 50-some plays in the first half with that tempo. Obviously, a different offense now but I’m excited to go out there and do this the first time with Nick and with this team.”
It only seemed like 50-some points, Kelly and the Eagles hanging on to secure a 3327 victory. The Eagles ran 53 plays in the first half. In the second half, the Philly defense
plays in the first half. In the second half, the Philly defense was on the field twice as long as the offense. A roller coaster, for sure. Quality entertainment as well.
What we know about Sirianni and the Eagles is they’re advocates of the sports science plan to get to the season healthy. A handful of regulars — Lane Johnson, Javon Hargrave, Miles Sanders, Derek Barnett, Brandon Brooks — were limited Wednesday, which certainly beats the lengthy casualty towed into the opener against Washington last year.
How did Sirianni and the sports science staff do it? They barely practiced. A long training camp session was 90 minutes. Several practices were 75 minutes. The Eagles didn’t have a two-hour practice until Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots came here for joint sessions. You have to wonder what
Belichick was thinking when the Eagles intimated that 90 minutes would be fine.
Then there is the preseason, in which Hurts and most of the regulars played about 10 snaps. Quarterback Matt Ryan didn’t play in any of the Falcons’ three preseason games, but he has 201 more starts and 112 more victories than Hurts.
Former Eagles linebacker Seth Joyner, a longtime TV and radio analyst, appreciates the concern over injuries yet is puzzled that the Eagles have bombarded players with don’t-gethurt messaging.
“The question is how do you bring it all together with a new coaching staff when you don’t play these guys in the preseason trying to protect them from getting hurt?.” Joyner said on WBCB 1490 radio’s Pro Football Report with Merrill Reese. “That’s my major issue. Now they can get to the regular season and everybody’s healthy but they can start dropping like flies in Week 1, and all of that protection that you’ve created is for naught.
“I’m not a big proponent of this culture of fear. In one of the most violent sports in the world, the NFL is now conforming. Because at the end of the day what are they saying? These are our starters. These are the guys that we believe in but we need to put them in bubble wrap to make sure we get to Week 1 and they’re 100 percent healthy.”
Sanders and Kelce, not surprisingly, feel fantastic. And they should. Sanders played one series in the preseason, Kelce two.
“I feel amazing, actually,” Sanders said. “I took a different approach on my offseason workouts, too. Definitely with the way training camp is going on, how they do it now to keep us fresh I feel amazing. And I think everybody else feels good, too.”
That alternative approach was to stay in shape, rather than get in shape. Kelce, who turns 34 in November, had an extra veteran’s day off per week.
“I feel good,” Kelce said. “I think we had a really good training camp. The coaches all did a phenomenal job, and the players. The strength and conditioning and the sports science really put together a plan to try to keep us healthy and do some things that have plagued us the last couple years. We’re pretty healthy going into the first week. I feel really good about that.”
Sirianni gave such a longwinded answer when asked if he and his team were ready, that I’ll condense it for you. They are right where he wants them to be on a Wednesday before meeting another new coaching staff and culture.
“I definitely feel like we put ourselves in a position to be ready, to be here right now,” Sirianni said. “The hay is not in the barn yet. There is still a lot of work to be done.”
A word of warning Nick: The rent is due on Sunday.