Winning is Tate’s focus
Veteran WR indicates he’d love to play for Birds next season.
Golden Tate has three 1,000yard seasons.
Tate entered the season as one of only to players in the league with at least 90 catches in each of the last four seasons (Antonio Brown is the other).
Tate since he entered the league in 2010 has piled up more yards after the catch (4,032) than anyone in the league.
Those stats are special, but Tate is a 30-year-old wide receiver who just finished his ninth NFL season.
He won a playoff game with Seattle in his first two seasons in the league and a Super Bowl in his third.
Then he signed with the Detroit Lions and didn't win another playoff game until he was traded to the Eagles and caught the game-winning touchdown last week against the Bears.
So what's his priority as he enters free agency for the second time in his career? Certainly not stats.
“In Detroit I had a bunch of really great stats but no playoff wins,” Tate said Monday as the Eagles cleaned out their lockers, signed autographs for each other and said their goodbyes.
“I know what talent I have and I know what I bring to the table, but at the end of the day, it's about winning playoff games and getting to Super Bowls — that's what I want to do. With me being on Year 9 and going into 10, the stats — they're whatever.”
Especially because he's not getting any younger.
“My years are limited,” Tate said. “I don't have time to go to someone who's trying to rebuild. I need to go somewhere where they believe they can win now.”
Which is where he already is. The Eagles acquired Tate from Detroit for a third-round pick on Oct. 30, and while it took some time for him to find his place in the offense, it didn't take long to find it in the locker room.
“In a short time period, I've had a bunch of great memories, whether it be with my teammates out to dinner or celebrating big wins or going to Sixers games — it's something I'll definitely always value,” he said.
Tate expected the season would last a few more weeks.
“I didn't think I'd have to really think about this at least for another three or four weeks, so I honestly haven't thought about it yet,” he said. “I definitely would love to stay here and help this city grow and help this team grow, but we'll see what happens.”
Hicks’ future
Jordan Hicks has proven he can be an effective three-down linebacker — “I take a lot of pride in that” — but he's played a full season only once in his four seasons as an Eagle.
A third-round pick in the 2015 draft, Hicks twice has suffered season-ending injuries and missed four games this season with a calf injury.
“That injury was pretty significant at the time, and I was able to make it back on the shorter end of that spectrum,” said Hicks, who is scheduled to become a free agent and hopes his performance on the field stands out more than his injury history.
“I think you turn on the tape and look — I think that's what really matters. But it's a funny league, and you just don't know.”
He called Philadelphia “home” and “a special place.”
“You have to be somewhere that you're wanted, and you've got to see the market and figure out what is to come,” Hicks said. “A lot of uncertainty. A lot of different things can happen. I love this place. I love Philly. I love the people here. I love this team.”
Insult to injury
Alshon Jeffery played Sunday's game against the Saints with cracked ribs suffered in the last drive of last week's win over the Bears when he was hit in the back going across the middle.
Jeffery said it was “painful” to play through and he's “sore.”
“But it is what it is,” he said. “If I had to do it over again, I'd do the same thing.”
Which hurts more, the shoulder injury he played through last season — which required offseason surgery — or this one? “Definitely the ribs,” he said. It sounds like the pain from missing that last pass will subside first.
“It will be with me for a couple days, but once I'm outta here, it'll be over,” he said. “I'll be focusing on getting ready for next season for sure.”
Stronger Sidney
Sidney Jones has two goals this offseason.
“No. 1 focus this offseason is getting right and showing everybody what I can do,” Jones said.
The highly-touted cornerback spent his rookie year rehabbing a torn Achilles, then missed seven games this season with a hamstring injury.
Jones played the first six, missed three and returned for the first meeting with the Saints — but shouldn't have.
“I probably came back too early. I should have just let it get 100 percent,” he said. “But I wasn't thinking that it wasn't. That football mindset took over. We had corners down. I'm like OK, I'm feeling OK, I feel like I can go.
“That whole Saints game, I was fighting it. Every play — it was like a battle. At one point, I was like I can't even run anymore.”
He missed the next week's game against the Giants, returned the following week against Washington, and then said it “popped” the next week against Dallas.
Season over.
In addition to getting healthy, the 6-foot-1, 181-pound Jones also wants to add strength but not weight.
“I've never been a super heavy guy,” he said. “Even in college I was skinny, but I still handled my business. So they rather me be comfortable in what I can do rather than just pack on a whole bunch of weight.”