PHLY Philadelphia Eagles Podcast - Eagles Practice Report: DeVonta Smith PRIMED To Be WR1 Without A.J. Brown | PHLY Eagles Podcast

Episode Date: June 2, 2026

We’ve got another full day of OTAs to tell you about as the Eagles shake off the departure of A.J. Brown and figure out a way to unlock DeVonta Smith, Makai Lemon, Dontayvion Wicks and the rest of the Eagles’ new-look receiving corps in Sean Mannion’s offense with Jalen Hurts at the helm. We’re fresh off the practice field with everything you need to know, plus insight from select players. Join Bo Wulf, EJ Smith and Fran Duffy for all the action. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello everybody and welcome to the PHLY Eagles podcast on a beautiful Tuesday afternoon live from the XFinity Lounge and presented by Ashley. This is the PHLY Eagles podcast, Bo Wolf. E.J. Smith will join us in a little bit. He is talking now to the likes of Yvante Smith, Jordan Milata, Cooper DeGine, Quinnian Mitchell is going to tell us everything they had to say in a little bit. But for now, we bring on the man himself, the birthday boy, our all city NFL draft expert, the great Rand Duffy, give it up in the chat.

And Lindsay, should we sing for him? No. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, Mr. Duffyman. Happy birthday to you I know trying to

To dissuade that Would have been futile So that's why I just Get it over with We can move on What are we doing for the big day I just watched I spent my morning

Watching a quarterback For next year's class So I did that That was nice That's been nice and quiet I'm gonna go pick up Francis In a little bit And we'll hang out

Play some basketball out back And then we'll all go to dinner That's great Fantastic Happy birthday. Nice to see you. Thank you. Why don't we start? I'll give you some of the details from practice.

Do you want to, is there anything that you want to know first and foremost that I can answer for you before we get into some of the nitty gritty? I would say first thing on my mind, who was the number two quarterback today? Good question. Now we had been told that this was a rotation. Andy Dalton back as the number two quarterback today. And I'm trying to think about it. because they had three practices last week, three practices this week.

So you would think if it went day one that we didn't see last week, Tanner McKee, day two that we saw, Andy Dalton, then it would have been day three McKee, and then it would have been Monday, yesterday's practice, Dalton, would have meant that this was a McKee day. So I don't know if there's some chicanery going on here,

if there's not really a competition, but for the second day in a row we saw it was Andy Dalton. next week, minicamp, we will theoretically see back-to-back days, so we'll get an actual answer on that.

But if you were hoping to see McKee today, it was not. It was Andy Dalton. And he had an up and down day, but a better day than he had when we saw last Tuesday. Any big changes depth chart-wise that you noticed?

Well, here's the big thing. Okay. Is that what is the offense going to look like? What is the wide receiver core going to look like? the first day without AJ Brown. McIleman not practicing with a sleeve on his right leg.

So we don't know exactly what the injury there is. But Michael Lemon is injured. Not ideal. Now, as we all know, the sleeve on the leg is the worst kind of sleeve to play with. That's right.

Don Tavenwix was back. He didn't have practiced last week. We saw a little bit of wicks. We saw some Hollywood Brown. he was actually taking part in team drills this day and some more moving parts, but no huge depth chart changes on the offense. Fred Johnson, not practicing today,

and Lane Johnson was out once again. So that meant that for the second time in a row that we've seen, Mark Elbelle, all the reps with the first team at right tackle. I think actually pretty good today, but they're not in pads. That's something. I continue to say,

Fran that I think the Markell Bellet right tackle thing is more interesting to me from the fact that he's just playing right tackle than it is that he's theoretically number two on the debt track because I don't think that that's exactly right but it's an indication that Chris Cooper does things differently than Jeff Stoutland did them

because as you well know, Stout's M.O. with rookies was for them to master one position first before flirting with moving them to other spots. Yeah, we know with a year's worth of evidence that he is comfortable playing on the left side. So him showing that he can play right tackle for an extended period of time and feel comfortable. I think that is really important for his standing on the roster and what we think that, you know, what we think this year could look like, whether it is a true red shirt year and he's like vying for the feely as an inactive player for every single game,

or if he is an active part of the 53 man roster and is the first guy off the bench as the swing tackle in place of Fred Johnson potential. here in this fall. So I do agree with you that the fact that he has been playing right tackle solely, I think it's more about him proving the swing versatility. That's an important part of the equation. One little minor depth chart thing. I'll sprinkle on some others in as we go. But now, Jeremiah Trotter, who we will get to, took most of the reps as the number one linebacker next to Zach Bonn. But there was a period where Smile Mondin got those reps. So just interesting to see that they are trying a bunch of guys out there. and there was a lot of moving parts in the secondary once you get to the second and third team

guys like Jonathan Jones and Mac Williams inside outside sort of side to side as well and I also wanted to note and get your thoughts on this friend is that we saw with the first team defense Quinyan and Rick Wullen switching sides so they were not stationary right and left

they were moving both sides around Yeah. A sign of things to come. We'll see if they continue trying to do that throughout the course of the off season. Obviously leading into training camp and the preseason could be a little telling, although I can't imagine we'll see too much of either of those guys

once we get into preseason action. But we talked about it after the signing of Rick Wollen was, all right, are they going to just play them interchangeably? You know, left corner or right corner, very much like what they did in 2024? Or will we see them kind of play field boundary like they did at times last year? that is an interesting note.

And then we will get to some of the A.J. Brown stuff in a little bit as well, but let's stay here for a little bit. So the first pass of seven on seven. First pass that Jalen Hertz throws in a post-A. Brown world. Drops back, looks to his left, nobody there, fires to his right. First pass, picked off by Jeremiah Trader Jr., taken to the house. Hope that's not an omen. you'd rather that didn't happen. But yeah, I mean, sure it was a great play by Trotter Jr.,

who was, you know, trying to cement himself as the third linebacker. And, you know, for his sake, maybe he's trying to vie for a nice role defensively. Now, the bounce back from that was later when they get to team drills. And you know, you know how they like to throw in a competitive rep, right? Where Nick sets up the situation, bring on the ones versus the ones. Okay, it's third and six from the 40. you know, this is a, the ones are going to get a shot, one play, the twos are going to get a shot, one play,

the three is going to get a shot, one play. We'll see who wins the day. And with the Eagles offense, they get out there. And Jalen Hertz, there was a 40-yard touchdown pass to Sequin Barclay, who has run past Zach Vaughn down the field. So my question for you, will we get another summer of trying to convince ourselves that Seekoine Barkley is going to be a big part of the Eagles passing game?

you know, Todd Gurley with the Rams with McVeigh, they did a lot of cool things with him out of the backfield. Sean Mannion coming from Green Bay. They've done a lot of stuff historically with like Aaron Jones

coming out of the backfield, vertical routes, some sail routes back there. I don't want to get too excited, but maybe, maybe we're talking, maybe it becomes a little bit of a talking point. Something to file away.

I'll take care. I mean, if you're buying it, I'm interested. Yeah, I could buy that. I could buy that being a thing. Now, do I want to like go push all our chips in and go nuts over the course of the summer? Maybe not. Just because we've heard this song and dance before. But this is a coach that has been around offenses where they have factored in the running back as a part of the vertical passing game. Well, I mean, and if you are really just thinking about it logistically, how are they going to make up for a lost production from AJ Brown? You know, you're expecting Devonte to take a rise. Mackay Lemon and Wicks and Hollywood Brown need to be a part of it. But one way to do that. to make up for it a little bit is Sequin Barclay, his production ratchets up a little bit. Yeah, I think that that's a good point. Let me ask you this really quick before we get into the rest of it. Thematically, I know last to last week it was like, oh man, like different feel,

a lot of under center. Was that the same kind of vibe today? Yes. I mean, very heavy undercenter. Also heavy with heavy personnel. Yeah, not a ton of shotgun, a little bit more under center. what we know what we did see, and I meant to look this up, we saw just Jillen Hertz, under center, straight dropback, which we never see. I remember, I remember that it happened once last year.

Maybe it was the Vikings game, if I remember correctly, and it was like, oh, the Eagles haven't done that, you know, in years. It was like an accident, yeah, right. So it happened once. It was a completion to Goddard for like six yards, but Quinn and Mitchell came just screaming downhill, like read the play very well, but it was still completed.

But so, you know, let's throw that in the bag. If we're going to go under center, we got to have that as a tool. Yes. We can use every now and then. That's right. All right. That's interesting. That's something to file away as well.

Yeah, something to remember. Goddard was involved. And here's why I want to mention Goddard, Fran. I was surprised by this. I wanted to look it up last night. And the idea of how has Devante Smith performed when A.J. Brown has not been on the field. So since 2022, you look at everybody in the NFL, ranked by yards per route run, including the playoffs. Now, you filter it on True Media 2.

A.J. Brown is not on the field. Who are the most efficient receivers in the NFL? Number one, Pukanakua. Number two, Tyreek Hill. Number three, Dallas Goddard. Number four, Devante Smith. So, and then, you know, number five, Nico Collins. So if you are, there's obviously some noise in there.

It's about two, like 200, 250 rounds for the two of them. It's not the hugest sample size. But over the past four years, when AJ Brown has not been on the field, Devante and Dallas Goddard have both been extremely productive. What do you make of that? I make of it that this has been an offense that we know has a very tight funnel in terms of past targets going around from Jalen Hertz. And so when you remove one of those targets in AJ Brown,

now it becomes hyper-focused. And Dallas Goddard obviously was a huge benefactor. And I can think of some of these plays where, you know, whether it's the RPO slide play, where he's off to the flat, some of the screen elements, but then also him down the field, down the scene on some of those sail routes as well. Yeah, in my mind's eye, I could see a handful of those plays from the games where AJ Brown was not present

and they were able to connect on some explosives down the field. Yeah, I mean, it's not just about the target rate. I mean, they're being efficient and productive with those targets. So I don't know. That made me feel a little bit better about the two of them. And now I think more so about Devante, because I think we can probably agree that Dallas is not quite the athlete that he was over the past four years.

He's declining physically a little bit, but Devante should be right in that same sweet spot. Agree. And, you know, I know he had a lengthy press conference today, so I'm excited to kind of comb through that and hear what some of the highlights were. But I would imagine that DeVante Smith is going to be a big part of this passing game. And you hope that Mackay Lemon is as well. The Eagles also had a little matchup of like two-point conversion to win the game,

offense-first defense, ones versus ones. And these were not like the most crisp offensive plays. You don't have to hold on the ball for a little bit. And, you know, it's incomplete the first time to Devon. second time is completed on Tavian Wix, but it looked like maybe he pushed off on Rick Wollin and then the third one just out of the outstretched arms of Devante. There's no doubt that the offense still has a lot of work to do.

Yeah, I mean, yeah, I would imagine that we're going to see these kind of growing pains, and it's not going to be a linear progression for this offense either. You know, there are going to be good days in camp. They're going to be bad days in camp. The defense is obviously going to feel a lot more comfortable, just because it's year three of that scheme with a lot of the same players. So there should be a,

they are starting on second base, whereas, you know, the offense is just getting into the, just getting into the batters box. Let's see what else depth chart wise. Second team offensive line, minor change here. Now, so they're short a little bit.

So there's no lane, no Fred Johnson, so they have to spread it a little bit. But last week we had, Jake Majors at center with the second team. This time Jake Majors was at Guard and Willie Lampkin was at center. Drew Kendall was not participating in team drills today.

And that left. Cam Williams at right tackle. Miles Hinton at left guard. And what's his name? A Boise State kid. Yeah, Ortega. John Adjuquo at left tackle. John Adjuqu.

Yes. So, I don't know. Good to see Willie Lampton moving up. that's all of course that's a good day happy birthday to me happy birthday to you that's exactly right

I mean not a ton else from practice Andy Dalton had a handful of completions where he was throwing to the to the far side of the field and it was like

oh man that ball's got no chance of getting there and it was like just barely got there is like you know he's he knows exactly how much time he has. I wouldn't necessarily like to be counting on that,

but it was good enough today. I don't expect huge changes in this department on a week-to-week basis, but I do think it's important to track it as we go. Any additional reps with the ones for Stowers

in these multiple tight-end looks, or was it mostly, he was off to the side kind? No, actually, and I would say, like if you were hoping for Eli Stowers to stand out in this capacity. It has been two practices. We're not going to get ahead of ourselves.

He made one contested catch over the middle on a Tanner McKeithrow with somebody draped over him, but he has not really been worked in with the ones, and we have not yet had a chance to see his elite athleticism at play yet. I feel like it is okay for me to say this now. I've lost a little mini bet with myself. I mentioned it to E.J.

It was after you guys, the first time you guys were on the field for OTAs, there was access for the reporters of practice. And I think I saw, I think he had sent me like what the, like what his high-end notes were before the show. And he was like, yeah, like Stowers didn't really pop at all. And I said, did both feel the same way? He said, yeah. And I said, I'm going to bet you.

I'll bet you lunch or something, that Bo will harken back to one of the his first springs to was it the Lorenzo Booker I wasn't there for Lorenzo he weren't there for Lorenzo Booker? No but that's the right well that makes sense that yeah yes we make a reference where it's like all right well this is the environment where a player like Booker should shine

this is the value that he's supposed to bring now different situation here but I I thought for sure that you would bring that up well I talked about it in the lead up I talked about in the lead up that this is this was the format where you want those guys to look good and

you know, it hasn't happened yet for Stowers, but I don't know that I would say that he hasn't, that he's looked slow or anything like that. Yeah, right. The way that he's been incorporated so far has been quiet. Yeah, something to track. Something to track. Something to keep in my eye on.

All right. E.J. Smith is on his way to the studio here. We're going to take our first break. Come back with a little bit more Fran Duffy on the other side. And then we'll get into everything that E.J. heard at the former healthcare complex, The Eagles Complex. Stay with us on the PHA by Eagles show. Five years ago today, transactions, the Eagles, signed the following draft picks.

Devante Smith, Milton Williams, Zach McPherson, and Kenneth Gainwell. Devante went from being the number one to then playing four years with A.J. Brown, who wasn't even on the team then. Now he's going to be the number one again. Milton Williams played his entire rookie contract, then got paid. McPherson got injured. Kenneth Gainwell, Good Eagle's career,

became the Steelers' player of the year, and now he's somewhere else. So much can change in five years, including the price of your internet, unless you lock in the Xfinity five-year price guarantee and get all your devices working in perfect harmony for five whole years.

Best part, no annual contracts, no hidden fees, and Xfinity's best equipment included. So lock in your price and unlock the possibilities with Xfinity. Learn more. At Xfinity.com, select plans-only restrictions apply. Introducing your newest eagle, Elijah Mitchell.

And also, Wawa now has tacos. Your new craving, baby. Wawa is expanding its freshly prepared food lineup with new seasoned beef tacos available for just a limited time. And they're built to deliver bold, craveable flavor in every single bite. We are talking warm. So flour tortillas with wah-wa's savory, juicy, boldly seasoned beef plus fresh toppings that you can customize your way. You got options too.

Seasoned beef, but also chicken steak or black beans. You can go shredded cheddar, you could go salsa roha, barbecue ranch, whatever you want. Go with some pickled jalapeno's on there. It's all packed in a six-inch soft flour tortilla, making it the perfect handheld on the go option. But don't wait. The lineup is only here for a limited time. time you're at Wawa, grab a taco. Back on the PHOI Eagles podcast, Bo and Fran.

Fran, I know you watched the AJ interview with Maria Taylor. Tell me what your biggest takeaways from that were. First of all, I mean, technical difficulties are what they are, but we've got something like that. We've got to make sure the mic is working. Just killing me that his mic was off the entire time. I think the biggest, there were some interesting ones. There was roughly like eight minutes in where I thought it was a pretty telling quote from AJ

where it was essentially we can't talk about the standard being the standard if we're not all trying to get better every day kind of thing. I'm paraphrasing, but I thought that was, you know, maybe a little bit of a peek behind some of the issues that he had with the dynamic. I thought that, I mean, I know a lot of people are making a big deal about like the Patriots carpet like guy and is in his man cave like at the end of the day like that that's been part of his identity like literally like since he

he was a draft prospect and he couldn't tell he couldn't like not tell everybody that he came encounter with that he was a huge Patriots fan growing up that's a huge part of his identity so I mean I do find it that's no different thing it's a little weird that you would carry this that this deep into your NFL career but

good for him. Yeah I mean you know like a Vinnie Curry like if you know if Vinny got drafted by if he got drafted by the bucks like would he have had an eagles uh that might be a question for viny next time we uh next time we uh what wasn't like abdall carter was a big eagles fan right yes abdler big eagles fan um so you know i will i'm not too hot and bothered by that one um but i thought you know him talking about the the the relationship with jalen i thought that he came off well there

i think over overarching and it's just been you know kind of seeing uh what is pop to across my algorithm and all the different social platforms in the last 20 hours. A lot of Eagles fans now, and I don't know how much of this is like our listenership and our viewership, but, like, painting AJ to be the villain of the story now, right? Now that it's done, and now that he's no longer with the team

and all, you know, AJ, he wield his way out of here and all that. I just, I struggle, and I feel like we've been pretty steadfast in, like, kind of beating that drum that he is, he is not the villain. I don't know that there is a villain in the story. I think that it's just like a relationship, that just kind of soured and it reached a point of no return.

But that was kind of what my takeaway from it. I feel pretty strongly about it is that could AJ have done a better job overall of illustrating like some of the points that he wanted to make and some of the issues that he was having? Like maybe. I'm sure. And he said that he said as much in that interview was that, yeah, like I could have gone about things a little bit differently here and there.

But I think it came, it always came from the right place. You know, I think perception just kind of got the best of them. on a couple of those occasions. So that was kind of my read on it. How about you? Yeah, well, I mean, the on-field, like occasional loafing stuff, that's hard to defend. But in terms of, you know, him as a teammate, him in the building,

yeah, I mean, he's very well-liked still in the building. There's no doubt about it. He's not a villain to them. Right. Honestly, too, I was thinking about the loafing thing too. I was talking about with somebody else last night. That was always kind of like, you always had a little bit of that with AJ,

no matter what, you know, regardless, like, you know, in 2022, like a Titans film, Old Miss film, like that, you know, that popped up every once in a while with him anyway. So I don't know that that was like a huge departure from what we had seen previously. Okay. And yeah, the thing that he said about Jalen,

that it's just people have grown apart. You buy that? I'm sure there was like one thing. Like there was something that kind of like the, That's a exciting incident. Yeah. Yeah. Like, you know, I don't think it was like...

I do not think that he's the thing that has made the rounds. I think... Yeah, I mean, like... ...by people in the building. Of course. Yeah, like that... My guess is that there was some kind of straw that broke the camel's back, right? But I don't think that it's as big of a thing as, you know, some of these stories that are making the rounds.

Okay. Um... Anything else from practice that you'd like to know? I'm a little bit intrigued by the rotation that we're seeing in the secondary, where you've got, you know, Quinyan and Riekewlin on the outside, Cooper Degroon at Nickel. In base, Cooper Degine is there at safety next to Drew McCuba. Otherwise, Marcus Epps is getting all of those reps.

But with the twos, you've got Michael Carter taking time at safety and at nickel and also with the ones in Dime, Jonathan Jones and Mack Williams, both spending time on the outside and inside with the twos. Healy got some reps with the twos today. Okay. Remember, he was with the threes and fours the week before. He was still taking some reps with them too, but he moved up a little bit.

At the behest of who? Like who got demoted there? I think it was just, I think it was just McWilliams and Jonathan Jones. And you know what? I didn't see Jacori and Bennett out there today. That could have been part of it. Okay. And I'll tell you.

You know, he was getting some occasional reps with the twos the nickel. Your boy? Brandon Johnson? No. Mr. Gush. The Gush? The Gush. The Gush is involved early. Early pole position for the camp crush, I think.

I mean, no doubt, but that's not usually how the camp crush works. It's usually... Yes. There's a bit of a bait and switch, but I will be watching the Gush early. There's no doubt about it. Who was it that you knew early? So the heart wants what the heart wants?

Brandon Johnson. That was, it was, you caught me, remember, it was like, I wasn't, it was literally like day one, it was like day one, day two.

Yeah, it was exactly. I was just lighting up talking about them and yeah, I couldn't help it. Which is good, that's how it should be. When I wait too long, it's not as fun.

Linebacker rotation, the same? Yeah, mostly it was, it was Trotter for the most part, but Smile Monda got a couple reps with Jack Bond. Got it. And then you get Smile and Chance, Campbell and then the backups with the threes.

Got it. And then as far as like, I don't say no shows, but guys that weren't practicing, the same as last radio, Lane, Jalen, Carter, you know, yeah, there's somebody else. Let me pull it up here. Obviously, you add Mackay Lemon in there.

Yeah, there was one other person who was new. Find it. Trying to think of, Olivia, Reiner. We did it out. Lane, Jalen Carter, Holland Pierce. Joe Tryon Sharyanka and Fred Johnson were absent then McCoy Lemon, Jihad Campbell, Britton Covey, Carson, Steel, Tucker Large,

not participating. And Cole was Nesky, who was on the sidelines last week, did some individual work today, but not with teams. Got it. Okay. Yeah, I think that's most of what I was wondering about. We talked about a receiver already. Oh, Cole Payton Pop-Pat-all?

after last week's throw the day like five reps today didn't get didn't get to throw a ton actually I will I would tell you McKee did not look great today uh short armed a couple ones over the middle um but maybe they've killed his confidence

I mean you know you get you take that to motion we'll see how I mean to your to your point if he doesn't handle competition well that's right testing is metal um Fran if you could if you could wish for one Eagles thing

when you close your eyes and blow out that candle tonight, that would it be? The Eagles' secondary blocking tight end is Willie Lampkin. Now that is a worthwhile wish. I like that. That's fantastic.

That's the best I got. How are you feeling? There's a milestone birthday. How are you handling that mentally? Yeah, I don't feel any different. I'm not a big like, oh, I need to know. I need a preview. Yeah, I don't get, I'm not one that gets like, like, sad and like, oh, like, you know, worried about like birthdays.

I will say like, you know, I remember 37 was one that I was like, oh, like that, that sounds older. Yeah. 40, I think it's been like the build up, the anticipation, like that it doesn't, uh, it doesn't really hit. It's basically part of your 30s. Right. 41 will feel old. One might feel, well, one might feel different. Yeah.

next so asked me in a year but no it's it's good i will say so my uh my son's birthday was just you know a week and change ago so um having our birthdays close together is fun uh and for i actually i mentioned earlier we'll go outside and play some basketball for his birthday we got him a basketball net so we set that up on sunday out back in the driveway and every day it's been like as soon as he wakes up it's like can't go outside and play basketball like no we can't go outside play but that's every day like all right we're playing around the world we're playing horse we're playing this we're going to go dad you want just go and shoot around i'm like yeah we'll go and shoot around um so that's been fun so i'm hoping that we could do that for my birthday a little bit a gift fantastic yeah did you set up

the what what kind of hoop are we talking it's adjustable so we can know we can change the height which is good it's good i what's that freestanding uh i will say i i misjudged how much sand would need to go into the bottom there was nothing in the like in the direction the user's manual on the box, like how much sand would need to fill the base. I didn't want to go water because we had one growing up that we filled with water and then it froze and then there was like cracks that were in. I'm like, I'm just going to go sand. Man, that sand was a pain in the, like to get filled in.

The hole's probably not that big. Not that big. And then you're like, you're pouring it. And then you got to lift it up and like get the sand to go down to the bottom. But then it wouldn't go into it was like lopsided with how it was going in. It was a hole. Honestly, that took longer than anything else I did. And I had some leftover slate that I've put on top.

So I think it's it's anchored down pretty well. Okay. And are you, what height are we at with Francis? What are we at? We're at like, I think we're at eight foot. Yeah,

we're at eight feet now. So yeah, I think it's, it's enough that it's like challenging for him. He, he like tries to shoot from like, you know, from distance.

And if we're shooting around, like he's like three or four and he gets tired. So I'm like, dude, you got to move a little closer. He doesn't want to hear that. So, yeah. So it's been fun, though. And then honestly, we had our last baseball practice of the season last night.

We had two games left. We finished up around like 7, 7.30. He had me out there until like 8.30 doing ground, like just me and him, like doing ground balls and fly balls yesterday. So that was, that was, yeah, it's been a fun. Yeah, when you're hitting ground, when you're hitting ground balls, are you doing the thing where you have the glove or you, no. Okay. No, go. We go bare hand.

And even when I'm out there pitch, I actually, I actually threw BP yesterday. So I was feeling a little bit this morning. I will say like it turns of feeling like throwing BP this morning and this morning, waking up this morning, I was feeling it. Well, let me ask you about when you're throwing BP. Are you standing up? Are you on your knees? Are you sitting on a chair? What are you doing?

No, standing up. Standing up off the mound. This was the, we are typically machine pitch. Right. So this was the first time like the kids like seeing the ball off the hand and they were intimidated at first. I'm like, guys, like, it's the same thing as machine. We got, we got this. So they are, you know, they locked in after the second inning, you know, second turn.

You got to throw from your knees, Fran. You got to give them the right. That's the release angle that they're going to get from a kid pitcher. Yeah, my knees can't do that. That's not, that is not happening. So unless you don't want to see me for a couple weeks, that would be, that's not a good move. That I never want. I always want to see you as frequently as possible.

All right, Fran, thank you so much. Happy birthday. We will talk to you. I think you'll be in studio on Friday. Otherwise, looking forward to that. For now, we'll take our break and hope that E.J. Smith comes in and gets here by the end of the break.

If not, you just got me. The birds are headed to Nashville. Music City. And you want to be there to watch it all happen and have a good time with birds fans down on Broadway, get a little honky tonking,

and watch a fun fun. football game. Do it all. Thanks to Philly sports trips. They're going to take care of everything for you. They brought hundreds of Philly fans to Music City in 2018 and they're ready to do it even bigger this season from flights and hotels to game tickets and exclusive fan events. Everything is taken care of for you. Plus, you'll experience the weekend alongside former Eagles great David Acres, Hollis Thomas, and Eagles insider Dave Spadero with special appearance. and exclusive events you won't get anywhere else. So lock in your spot today at philly sportstrips.com.

That's philly sports trips.com. Tell them P.HL.I. sent you. Elkins Chevrolet is run by three brothers. Real brothers. Local guys who are big Philly sports fans, and right now they're going all in. You can check out their inventory of Chevy trucks and SUVs, the only ones that people actually want, and they are priced to move fast.

Silverado, Equinox, tracks. If it's on your list, they haven't, and they are going fast. So if you've been waiting, don't wait anymore. Because once they're gone, they're gone. Whether you're getting to a game, going to work, driving down the shore, they'll be driving off in the right ride at a price that makes it an easy yes. And here's the difference. At Elkin Chevrolet, there's no runaround.

There's no back and forth, no games, just a real brother. making real deals every single day. Elkin, Chevrolet, real brothers, real deals, and a whole lot of hunking good service. Route 73 South in Marlton. We are back on the P.H.O.I. Eagles podcast, and we are joined by the great E.J. Smith, who is Donald Ducking it again today.

E.J., good to see you. How's it going? I was doing well until you said that. Oh, man. We're the poo. I thought we were in the other studio. me alone. Thank you to Fran.

Shout out Fran. Happy birthday, Fran. Filling in. Fresh off the press core. Is that not how you would say that? Fresh off the presses. I got a lot of things to tell you. All right.

Who we're starting with? We should start with Devante Smith. We should start with Devante Smith. I think we should. Although Devante was business as usual, I would say. you know, there's a, there's a certain, like, nonchalance to Devante most of the time. And if I'm being honest, like, usually about three minutes into a Devante Smith press conference, he is checked out usually.

That's probably about right. He's like, yeah, all right, I'm done with this. So, with Devante, the thing that stood out to me was hearing him talk about A.J. Brown, what he would miss about A.J. Brown. He talked about the fact that he'll miss the brotherhood that him and A.J. had developed. You know, he said that he thinks about, he's like, you're going to look back at the times that we had together. It was a really good run that they had together. And he said that he'll cherish those moments.

Like you and me. Exactly. I mean, but yeah, hopefully we've got some more time, you know, to cherish for longer. When you make fun of my wardrobe choices and catch me off guard, I didn't think we were going to talk about on the show. I should have known better. Yeah, so I thought that was one of the more, like, illuminating things he said. but there is a, there's a certain level of, like, relief almost from the players that you can hear. And also something that I listened on my drive over and I agree with your sentiment that, like,

there is a contrast between the way that people in the building, especially the players feel about AJ, and the way that fans will. And I'm not sitting here to tell fans that they should feel differently about AJ. I think it's a matter of, you know, perspective and perception. and I think a lot of the players today when they talked about AJ, they talked about the disappointment that he was gone, but wishing him well and being grateful for the time they had with him. So again, a little bit of a contrast from the frustration that fans will have.

And again, that's understandable. Now, what did Devante say about the opportunity for him volume-wise as, you know, stepping into the wide receiver one role? Yeah, that's where it was business as usual. He said nothing changes. You know, he said whether you're wide receiver one, two, three or four, you have to approach it the same exact way. And I think that's, you know, to be expected.

You know, you don't want him to change his approach. I thought Jordan Milata actually had a more insightful answer on it than Devante. Because Devante really was. Like, I'm not doing much, you know, I'm not going to change how I approach the game. You know, he's been in crowded receiver rooms in the past. So I don't think, you know, having like another big mouth defeat in the wide receiving core is an issue for Devante for that reason. but Jordan Miletus said

Devante's always been a number one receiver and then he went on to say that you know Devante's also going to be a captain this year he said like I'm saying it now you know like I'm making the prediction like Devante's always been a captain even if he didn't have the sea on his chest

notably when it was taken away from stripped of his captaincy so yeah I think that like there's obviously we've talked about there's a confidence in Devante I missed the beginning of the show but I do think that Devante stepping into this role is a real opportunity for him

and I don't expect him to change. I think that's a good thing because I think what he's shown is that he is capable of more just with the right opportunity in front of him. Did he have thoughts on Mackay Lemon? Yeah, he said the, it seems like McKay Lemon has slow played his personality

from everybody's vantage point. Cooper de Gene said that they're hoping to get Mackay Lemon out of his shell a little bit more. Obviously, I'm sure you mentioned already that he wasn't out there practice today. Elliot Shore Parks reported it's a soft tissue injury And Mikai had the sleeve on his right leg Yes, one of the players said a hamstring

Okay, yeah I didn't see, man, I must have missed that Must have been texting you about getting to the studio Getting to the studio. Must have been. Yeah, so, yeah, Devante talked more about the personality But, you know, the sentiment from players is that McKay Lemon catches everything that comes his way

And then he's a tough player So it seems like they haven't gotten to see a lot of him yet Yeah. But yeah, there's still some optimism Mylata of him. I can't do the Milata. I'm sorry. I was going to like gear up to do it, but I couldn't.

Okay. So yeah, those are the big ones. There was another one, a good quote from Milata about Sean Manion. Okay. He called Sean Manion an evil genius. And there was an important follow-up from Olivia writer. I wonder why he's evil. Yeah, that was the follow-up from Olivia that didn't get answered because there was a face-off.

Oh. And then I'm sure Olivia kind of felt like I can't come back to that. Yeah, that's one where you got to let the follow up win. Yeah, it's a great follow. It makes him evil. Yeah. We'll never know. I'll have to follow up later.

He said, Sean is an evil genius. The guy knows ball. If I were to lock the three smartest people in the building in a room together, Sean would be there. He'd probably be by himself. Okay. He's got three personalities. That's what makes him evil.

There's evil, Sean. There's neutral Sean, and then there's good, Sean. Or lawful. Isn't that what the kids? say like lawful evil and chaotic i think are the ones yeah it's a plot two by two mm excuse me mr two by two mr definition of tempo over here that's me no is our bring me everybody um but yeah i thought that was interesting my lot of talked about the adjustment along the offensive line that they those guys will have to go through that they're going through

now. He said it makes him feel like a rookie again. I asked him like how significant it is, how significant it changed technically it is. He didn't want to get too much into it, but I mean, you can tell from hearing from even the fact they brought up in the first place. It's been a big adjustment for the offensive line, which is going to be an interesting subplot at the beginning of the season. Like a lot of these guys, we've talked about like these guys have only been in one system under Stoutland, but like to have such a big departure and what they're going to be asked to do next year. Like, I mean, you can feel good about it because, you know, these are talented players.

You know, they're some of the best at their position are in the NFL, but it is still, you know, a big change. Well, yeah, and also, I mean, I don't think this is going to materially affect their performance on the field, but just in terms of, like, the adjustment, like, Jordan Milana has never in his life had a football practice that wasn't run by Jeff Stoutland. Like, yeah. He always knew what to expect. just from like a drills standpoint.

Like this is how we're going to go about practice. This is like what I'm asked to do on this drill. Like what is the flow of the day? And like, you know, we were joking about how thrown off we were. Yeah. Just watching the first couple of Chris Cooper practices. But like that goes for Milata and Lane and all these guys. Like at the beginning of practice, they're like, what are we doing?

Yeah. I mean, can you imagine you come out to practice and there's these like, there's sticks and there's like yoga balls and hula hoops and stuff? yeah, I'm sure it is a huge adjustment. And then that's not even mentioning the fact that it's a different blocking scheme. You know, like when you go out and you're doing team, like you were doing different things than you're used to. It's funny.

This might be a question. I'm sure. Fran probably is on his way to some birthday festivities. But Milata was talking about how Lane had said that they're going to be on an island less in the new system. And Milata said, I've heard that before, only for us to go back to, I think he said SPO. It was an acronym. It started with S and was either SPO or SOP.

Solo protection. Single protection. But what's the L? Oh, baby. Outside, single protection outside. You might have just solved it. Yeah. Stupid pretty ostrich.

Stupid, pretty ostrich. I don't think it's that. Single protection outside, I think makes sense. Like you're going to slide, protect. protection over? Sean Parker's ostrich ostriches are terrifying.

Rachel is terrified of ostrichs, her number one fear. Yeah, they're awful birds. Yeah, they're freaky. They're freaky. Yeah, that's the thing. I don't like animals. I don't like birds. No, animals is too broad.

I don't like birds that have the twitchy neck. It's too creepy. It's unnatural. It feels demonic. Domenic. Yeah, I get it. I don't like, I don't hate birds of prey as much. Like medium-sized birds.

But yeah, once you get to ostrich, I'm out. Totally out. Let us know your favorite SPO. SPO. I like a P-R-O. Not an RPO, but a P-R-O. Are you familiar? Pass run option?

No. Well, yeah, but no. We're doing nonsense right now. It's not football talk. Um, pickled red onion. Interesting. We call them PROs in my house. How fancy.

It's not. Short hand. PROs are great. You got some pickled red onions in your fridge? No. You should get some. It's not hard to do. I say that like I do it.

Julia says it's not hard to do. I mean. Oh, it's easy. Julia's killing bugs, warding off. She's got some important jobs. now. Pickling the red onions.

Pickling the red onions. What other important jobs does she have now? Oh, she makes the vanilla syrup for our coffee. All right? Yeah, important. Because I don't know how to do that. Okay. I make the coffee.

My job. Stay with us on the PHA by Eagles podcast. Find out what Jordan Milata had to say about, or you know what, find out who Jordan Milata said is not of this world. My name is Lindsay. and Parks Casino is my casino of choice. Parks is a great place for a night of headline entertainment and award-winning dining. I think the night complete and stay at the new beautiful Parksview Hotel,

which is just steps away from Parks Casino and offers shuttle service. And boy, do they have an awesome lineup of entertainment coming up this summer on Saturday, June 20. If you get All McCartney Live, a tribute to Sir Paul McCartney. in just a couple days. A Long Island Medium. Teresa Caputo is going to be there. We got George Thorogood and the Destroyers on August 28th. And how about this?

Sebastian Bach with special guests, Stephen Adler, from Guns and Roses. They're coming in October. Parkscasino.com is where you go to buy tickets. Must be 21. Gambling problem. Call 1-800 gambler. And check out that lineup. There's no wonder that I, Lindsay, love Parks Casino.

It's my casino of choice. let me tell you what I like. Let me be personal here. I'm going to pull the cover off. Here's something I like. Something that actually rewards the way you already spend your money. And that is exactly what you get with the everyday elite visa credit card from TrueMark Credit Union. We are talking up to 4% cashback on eligible everyday purchases, including gas.

And I know you're spending a lot of money on gas. So you get that 4% watch it roll in. For limited time, new cardholders also get a 0% introductory APR on purchases for the first 12 months, and then 17.99% APR after that. More cashback, less catch. Apply today at trumark.com or stop by any of the Trumark Credit Union's 24 branch locations, rates based on creditworthiness, 4% cash back on eligible purchases, bonus categories, capped annually.

Restrictions apply. Visit trumark.com for details and share by NC. Anyway, back in the P.H.O.I. Eagles podcast, Bo and E.J. And it's time for Taco Tuesday. Let's get some P.R.O.s. Some W.P.T.s. And make it happen. Now, P.R.os on WP.T.s would work. I'm having some WPTs tonight. It's Tuesday. Okay. I'm like, you know what? I'm going to get them from Wawa. Good. Shout out Wawa. So. What?

to Milata. Oh yeah. Describe someone as a not of this world. Now there were two people. Let's see if I can guess. One of them is easy. One of them is not easy. Two people who are not of this world?

Not him, which I mean, he's also not of this world. Okay. No, but he described two people this way. Two people. Is it Uar Bernard and Joshua Wirro? Uh, Uar Bernard is one of them. But that's not the one I was going to lead with because that was easier. And it wasn't the first one he said.

The first one he said was not of this world. Markell Bell. Markle Bell. which like I appreciate him trying to gas up the rookie but come on you're Jordan Milata you're like 6-8 you were playing football at 400 pounds

and you literally never played football before in your life when you got to Philadelphia Markell Bell he's an impressive guy I don't know I don't know throwing shade of Markle Bell a little bit in comparison to Jordan Milata but I do think you're a good teammate but listen that is high praise

coming from Jordan Milata he says it's not nice to not be the tallest in the room anymore. Okay. It's not nice? Yeah. He said he doesn't like that he's not the tallest in the room. First time in his, probably in his life.

Yeah? Not, yeah. Well, he's in his life that he's been in a position room like that. That's somebody's taller. I can see that. Okay. Anything else that he had to say about Markell? He said he moves really well.

He said he moves better than you'd expect even, he said even though he's like all legs, which I'm glad to acknowledge because, again, if you look at Markell Bell, I think, I think Markle Bell is. going to be more of a developmental player. I think he's probably got to have a year or two in an NFL weight room before you really are going to see him as a finished product. But the movement skills that Mila

is alluding to, I do think, is an encouraging thing for him. Yeah, as he fills out. He acquitted himself well. Yeah. His last two practices. Especially playing at right tackle with the ones. It's no small thing. I mean, I know you guys are talking about it, but it's no small thing for a rookie to be playing with the ones.

Like, usually you've got to earn that. So the fact that they want him there at right tackle, yeah, you're right. That's a significant good thing. Yeah, I think that you do see the movement. Look pretty good. I mean, you know, they don't have pads on yet. Let's, let's not go too far ahead of ourselves, but I think he looks, he looks fine. So speaking of that, speaking of like, you can't really gauge the offensive lines performance. Did you get to the Tanner McKee thing in the end zone today? Earlier in the show, Tanner McKee is like, they, he threw a touchdown

pass. It was a speed out. Yeah, it was a nice pass. Was it to, was it to Darwish? No. Who was it to? No, it was to 41. Danny Gray. Is that so Danny Gray? Yeah, it's Danny Gray. All right, well, not that important for the construct of the story. Terry Key comes over and we can hear him. I know we're not supposed to quote players on the field, but I'm going to do it anyway here.

It's innocuous. He comes over, he's giving everybody a helmet taps, and he goes, great job, O'Line, great job. Way to go, O'Line. He said, way to win. Way to win, O'Line. And it's like, they are not even... So the ball was out in, like, a second and a half. Well, the pass rushersers literally take one step, and then they stand there and go,

he's got a gas up his guys what do you want him to do gather them together and say I made a nice throw guys I made a nice throw That's like intellectually dishonest If you're congratulating the offensive line On like protecting air for two seconds And I'm sure there's a little bit more to it than that I'm sure it's you know

They got off the ball at the right time You know they executed well How about you say great job Danny Gray We're getting open in the end zone Catching the ball But Danny Gray wasn't in the huddle He had the ball Yeah, but he was, oh, this is like the helmet tap.

He was around. I just, I feel like if you're going to do that, if I'm, if I'm, you know, Michael Morris in that situation, I'm thinking, all right, I know your compliments are kind of hollow, you know? You're not really earning it. No, I think you want him. You're gassing them up. Wait till they got the pads on, football guy over here.

What do you think Andy Dalton would say? He'd probably say, great job getting open and catching the ball. No, he would not. He'd say, I can't believe my ball got. there. I thought, well, I mean, I heard you say it earlier. Tanwick, you didn't have a great day today. No, I didn't have a great day. To have a pass deflected by like the inanimate hand-up guys. It was very, well, it was the, you know, Pete, the assistant. And then the defense was like, good job, Pete, because he's still in holding it. It's also very funny. It's the BG, it's number 55.

It was very funny. It was BG. is the one who knocks it down. BG's haunting the practice. Yeah. It's good to see BG yesterday. It's got a good golf swing. Yeah. Yeah. You didn't get a video of it? I didn't see him T off, but I saw him at the range. Okay. I'm trying to think what else I got for you. Queenian Mitchell on Dantavian Wicks. He always felt like he was an underrated receiver in the NFL.

Like said, he gave him more trouble. He beat him that one time for six yards. But still, I mean, it takes a lot to beat Quinny on Mitchell. I think I'm a little bit... By the way, Jenny Gray's 82, but 82 beat 41. That's why I had in my notes. It was Tari Castro Fields, who was guarding. him. I'm a little bit pushing the brakes on Don Tavianwick's just a little bit.

Hmm. Why is that? He had a drop today, didn't he? He had a drop today. It's not even that. It's just that we're all penciling him in as like, okay, they guaranteed his money for next year. He's probably going to be the guy who's going to get, you know, most of these raps might be second or third on team and targets. I mean, the Packers let Romeo, Dom. Romo, Domit's left in free agency. So they had the opening for Matthew Golden. It's not like, they, they They couldn't afford to keep Don Chabian Wicks around for another year. They willingly parted with him. His numbers have declined every year of his career.

There's a real chance that he is what the Eagles need. But there's a chance that, you know, Hollywood Brown becomes a number three receiver. And Don Chabin Wicks has to sort of take a back seat. Yeah. There's no guarantee here. I think that's fair. It's funny because, like, hearing you talk about this, I would have, like if you would ask me a week ago,

if I had, like, about Don Tavia and Wix, I would have viewed him in that receiver room kind of like Jonathan Gernard in the Edrosher Room actually is, which is like, well, they made their move at receiver, you know, and McCoy Lemon's a big part of that, but they already made a trade for a receiver. Like, you know, they wouldn't add any more to that position. What is the chance that, like, let's say a top three receiver

in terms of targets on that, on that, for the Eagles next season, isn't already on the roster? How many turkeys are you putting? on that. 35. Oh, really? Okay. That's higher than I thought you were going to say.

I thought you're going to say like eight. That they could trade for somebody? Trade for someone. Yeah, it's got to be a trade at this point. Yeah. Yeah. I think I was going to be the, I thought it was going to be the high man at like 25.

It's fun to think about, but I don't know. Yeah, I think to your point, like the amount of investment in Wix, it's not like prohibitive, especially when you've added, you know, draft capital. Yeah.

So maybe. It depends on who becomes a business. available. It's hard to use like a nameless faceless receiver right here. Like, but a Brian Thomas Jr. Would you still trade for Brian Thomas Jr. if you were available? That's on the price. Let's say it's a good price. Let's say it's reasonable. You're not getting him for a steal. It's not like, oh my God, but he didn't even know he was available. Be reasonable. I mean, if the price is good, then sure. Okay. I think I'm with you. Okay. It's a fun thought experiment. Let's close the book on the Taco Tuesday.

presented by Wawa. I can't wait to get home meats and tacos. It's going to be good. We are like pretty religious Taco Tuesday people because it's like it's hard to come up with what to cook for. You pray to Taco Tuesday? Yeah. We are regimented.

What would the right word be to separate religion? Zellet. No, that's not the right word. But it's like it's so hard to come up with what to cook. Every Tuesday, make a taco. The Lord said, let there be

shredded cheese. We mix it up. You know, we'll go shrimp tacos. We'll go... Sometimes we do like steak tips. Kind of like a carneasada. It's not really carneasada, but, you know, kind of like that. I don't like a chicken taco, though.

If I'm going chicken, I'm going with a burrito. Interesting. I can't explain... What's the difference, functionally? You got to dress chicken up a little bit more in a taco. I think that's the difference. You know, you're talking about... If you're talking about like a wah-wah taco, like you got that boldly seasoned ground beef.

Okay. You want that in a taco. You want a little pop, you know? If you're going to go, if you are going to go chicken taco, you got to get a lot of toppings on it. How do you feel about a tongue taco? A little lingua. What? You ever get tongue?

Oh, I have no. I thought you were being inappropriate. No. Just assumed. No, I've never had a tongue, like a beef tongue. No, I've had beef cheek Before I've had

I think I've had cactus before Like a dehydrated cactus Yeah, that's pretty good actually I agree You gotta season it right though Like everything Yeah I'm trying to think if there's a food out there You don't have to season pickled red onions

Gotta have those bad boys on tap Gotta have them ready On tap huh If you have them in the fridge most of the time Okay Good to add them to everything What else you're pickling? That's pretty much

much it. I mean, we got pickles, but we're not doing it manually. Dill? Bread and butter. I like the, I'm not giving any free advertisements. I have to. I don't know how else to do it. The Grillo's pickles?

You had those before? Yeah, but are they dill or bread and butter? I think they're dill. I have no time for a bread and butter pickle. Give me dill or give me death. What even is a bread and butter pickle? They're sweeter. Oh, yeah, I'm out on that.

Nope. deal. That's what we're, that's what we do in our house. What is Fran saying Ong about? What did you say that was inappropriate? Oh, it wasn't appropriate. It wasn't. It was. I knew it. It wasn't. I thought they're taking it that way. I thought maybe you could put beef tongue and a taco or something.

You can. I should have known. No, that is what I was talking about. I'm disappointed. I'm disappointed in you. No, this is good. That's their fault. We're not in Bovertime yet. That's true. That's true. It is. It does say in Google. It's a part. popular and traditional Mexican dish. Yeah. A real thing.

But do you think that's what he meant? That is what I meant. I do. He would have had more of a smile, have he. Okay. Fair enough. Okay. Any other football things you want to talk about?

I'm trying to look. Did you guys talk about AJ at Patriots practice? No. We talked about the interview with Maria Taylor. I mean, AJ seems really happy at Patriots practice. That's pretty much the extent of it. Well, here's an actual question for you. And you can answer it, E.J. in tongue time.

No. How much should Eagles fans care about AJ Brown with Patriots now? Can we move on? Do we have to follow his every move now? Oh, definitely not following his every move. No, I don't think we... I mentioned it today because he's been unveiled. He talked about it.

I don't think he had much to say in his press conference. I haven't seen anything that would really move the needle for Eagles fans. I think the interview with Maria Taylor, that might be a nice, like, put it to bed, you know? Let me see where I can find the quote from Milata about it. And this can be the last thing we say about it. And wouldn't that be nice? So shout out to Zach Berman, our friend, for transcribing this because I can't pretend I transcribed. I was there for the press conference, but, you know, I didn't have time to transcribe it.

So my lot on the on the A.J. Brown trade. Yes, we can move on now. I think most of us that have been here the last six weeks, we have moved all. just from we have enough to worry about getting over last year and then coming in here and learning a new scheme and new concepts like we had to press on so that's what we're doing i think this is more of a it sounds terrible but like thank god it's over it was a slow pain of just is he in is he out we didn't really know and that really wasn't our focus as a team our team especially on offense but we got to we have to keep the wheel the wheels moving uh we've got new guys coming and we've got rookies coming in again

we've got to build that culture every year so i think thank god it's over is as much as my lot of couch didn't said it sounds terrible. I think that's how most people feel about it at this point. Yeah. So it can be over. And even, even,

I don't want to parse his words too much, but is he in, is he out? Like putting the onus on him. It's interesting. I think that's totally fair. Finger point, yeah. Yeah,

I think that's totally fair. We could stop talking about it. That'd be nice. Yeah, I think we can move on. Wow. Now, then we'll have joint practices in August. Yeah.

Yeah. It'll be a circus. We'll check back in. So we'll do joint practices, and then we will check back in if, like, if AJ starts doing the, like, I'm going to hold people accountable through the media thing again.

I think Eagles fans would want to know about that. But outside of that. It won't happen in year one. It'll happen in year two. Yeah, but you're probably right, but who knows. Who knows? Yeah.

All right. That'll do it for this episode of the P.H.L.L.E.E.E.L.E. podcast. No super, do we have any super chats? We do. Matt H. E.J.

I want to buy a smoker. Oh. Any suggestions slash recommendations? Very generous super chat for Matt. Thank you, Matt H. Um, so it depends on your budget. Uh, if you have a lower budget,

I'd recommend a used trager. Like go on whatever your used, you know, databases of choices. Um, find yourself a trager. Uh, I have the pro.

575, I think it's called. It's an older model. It's really great. Like, you get one of those, you clean it, make sure it's clean before you use it. And that'll be a great way to start. And I think they got like good triggers at Home Depot that are a good price. If you're a little bit higher in price,

I would say go look at the Camp Chef. I don't know what it's called. I think it's called the Woodwind Pro. This is a lot of free advertising. But go to Ace and buy it. Shout out to our friends at Ace. So yeah, the Camp Chef Woodwin Pro, the thing I like about it is like pellet grills have like a fire box in the bottom.

That's like how the pellets they go through like a tube into the box. They ignite. That's where the heat source comes from. The Woodwind Pro has like a basket you can put wood chips in that go right above the fire. And that gives you like more smoke than a normal pellet girl could give you. A big criticism of pellet grills that they don't have enough smoke. So that solves that issue. If I were to buy a smoker today, that's probably what I would buy.

if you want to splurge shout out Ed my boy Ed he just got a a yoder smoker now this is like an expensive expensive smoker he said he got it as a gift

and now I'm hoping somebody gets me one as a gift because the thing looks incredible it looks awesome but it's like what makes it better I think it's just built like

the other ones are built well this one's like handmade like with like high quality components and I think it's also got better air circulation as a result. And the stuff that Ed has, the meat picks I've been getting from Ed recently, oh my God, this stuff looks incredible. So if you want to splurge, go with a yoder. If you wanted like an offset, I can't help you.

What's the guys, he used to be Philaticus. Do you know Philaticus on Twitter? Great meat picks. Yeah, that guy, yeah, he's still Philaticus on Twitter. If you want like a real offset smoker, reach up. out to Philaticus. That guy will give you some good recommendations. I know my smokers, man. Can I tell you something? What? I think that's the most insight you've ever been brink brung on the show.

That's really not nice. That was great. You were in the zone. I think about these things all the time. That's fantastic. I've been talking to Julia like, oh, Ed got a yoder, like trying to keep up with Ed. But those things are pricey. So, again, if somebody wants to give me one, I'd be happy. we got a super chat from Waugh Gordon as congratulations EJ and Julia

I imagine he's talking about the Julia here we got a Thank you Waugh Gordon I appreciate it got some donuts out there right that is a congratulatory thing

you know we'll make hints about it but I'm gonna keep it at least a little bit I'm gonna like keep it under the most like flimsy rap ever for a couple more months

but you know I appreciate that I do appreciate it's very kind of you to say that's smoker break I feel like we need a whole whole series. I think you should do,

I think you should start doing content while you're smoking meat. I could do that. I mean, but smoking meat's a passive activity. Like, you know, but I could sit there with the smoker in the background.

Yeah. Well, but listen, I'm a free agent right now. I've got multiple grills at home as we've talked about. So, you know,

maybe somebody wants to sponsor that. Talk to our girl Kim. Kim from Rita's. Kim from PHLY. formerly. Kim from PHA. We stole her. I mean, she's great.

Yeah. Kim's great. So. You want to get a little smoking sponsorship. Maybe Yoder is listening. Maybe. Big green egg. Big green egg would be my other one.

I mean, that thing's near and dear to my heart. Yeah, I made pizza on it the other day. Okay. So good. Good stuff. All right. That'll do it for this episode of the P.H. Why Egos podcast.

Thank you, Fran. Thank you, Lindsay. Thank you, We need to poo. We will see you tomorrow at 2 o'clock. Thanks for watching. Let us know in the comments how worried you are about Tanner McKee. Otherwise, we'll see you tomorrow. And as always, we love you.