PHLY Philadelphia Eagles Podcast - PHLY Eagles Podcast | Philadelphia Eagles Minicamp review, Day 1: Whither James Bradberry?

Episode Date: June 4, 2024

We heard from Lane Johnson, DeVonta Smith, Zack Baun and Avonte Maddox, plus position coaches like Jeff Stoutland, Bobby King and more. We watched Jalen Hurts throw to A.J. Brown, Devin White track down Saquon Barkley and John Ross run really fast. Join Zach Berman and Bo Wulf to find out everything you need to know about the first day of minicamp and, more importantly, the pending release of “The Franchise,Philadelphia Eagles: A Curated History of the Birds.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

To the P.H.O.Y. Eagles podcast, Tuesday, 3.30 p.m. a loaded show. We're going to talk about the first of three days of mandatory minicamp. Everybody on the roster except for Landon Diggerson there participating in some degree in practice. We're going to talk about everything we saw, the moving parts in the secondary. Jalen Hertz, another interception, but did he bounce back from last week? We're going to talk about what Nick Siriani said, what Lane Johnson said, what Devante Smith said, maybe Mackay Beckton a player to watch over the next couple of months. We're going to talk about what Zach heard from the coordinator, from the assistant coaches yesterday. Jeff Stoutland speaks for the first time in a while. We got to hear from a bunch of new assistant coaches. Lots to get to, but we have to start with the big news of the day. Zach Berman, the official announcement, the franchise. Philadelphia Eagles, a curated history of the birds coming to you on September 24. fourth, pre-order now.

And if you are watching the show, if you are listening to this show, you owe it to Zach Berman to pre-order this bad boy. Get those numbers up. Zach, congratulations. I appreciate it. I did not expect that to start the show, mandatory minicamp. We have much to discuss, but no, I appreciate that genuinely. We've made references to this throughout the past year.

This consumed a lot of my time and intention during the summer. last year. We were expecting the Jay Liggins biography. So I'll spend a lot of time this summer. I imagine probably more time than I should discussing it on the show and, you know, maybe kind of the process and some nuggets in there. But for now, I'll just say that, yes, it's called the franchise, the field off eagles, the curated history of the birds.

It's on the last 25 years of the Eagles. And it's, it kind of combines my reporting over the past 13 years with some new reporting with some extensive research to relive some of the moments and remember some of the characters, all the executives, the coaches, the quarterbacks, the icons, the stars. And it's the type of book that I imagine, you know, you'll, you'll give it to people during the holiday season who are Eagles fans. And it's, it relives a lot of the good times. So I look forward to discussing it more, but I appreciate you bringing it up on the show.

Well, as everybody's saying in the chat, we know we've been waiting for this announcement. We get the official announcement. We got to give you what you deserve here. How about a Zach? Zach, Zach, Zach, Zach, Zach, absolutely. I think it's the end of the show today, Zach. I know you don't want to focus on it too much today. But at the end of the show, I want to do a little Q&A, a little press conference about what people can be looking for from this book.

Make sure we get those numbers up. I don't know if I have my talking points down yet, but all right, we'll do it. Yeah. Okay. I didn't get prepped by PR yet. Well, that's all right. It means we get more of an honest take, more of the real uncut stuff. Okay.

Let's talk about minicamp today, Zach. Explain to people who are from the outside how and in what ways minicamp was different than the OTAs that we saw over the past couple weeks. Sure. Well, first off, everyone was there except for Landon Dickerson, right? Mandatory minicamp. This is actually the first time that, the Eagles have had mandatory minicamp under Nick Siriani.

They kind of rescheduled or canceled it in 2021 during, you know, the, it was still COVID at that point, but it was like the tail end of a lot of the COVID effects at that point. And then 2022, they had a short offseason program in 2023 and even shorter one. So this is the first time under Nick where they've had it. So you're required by contract to be there. unless it's excused. Lennon Dickerson was excused. You're allowed to be at the facility for longer. Okay?

So these days can mimic the training camp schedule more so than phase two or, you know, than the OTAs can. And, yeah, practice wasn't that long today. It was an hour plus. Actually, I thought I'd be doing practice from the Eagles, or I thought I'd be doing the show from the Eagles facility. They ended sooner than we anticipated. I was able to get home.

But yeah, it's more closely resembles the training camp schedule. And that's not just the time on the field, but that's the time they're allowed to be at the facility. So Dick Siriani made a point today of referencing the meetings that they have. They can get meetings done now that they would typically wait until training camp to do. It was almost like it was a revelation by Nick that they can do it this time of year. But they are because according to the CBA, you're allowed to spend more time in the building during mandatory mini-camp than during OTAs.

Gotcha. Okay. So because of that, we saw a couple of players today who we had not seen when we had little glimpses into OTAs over the past two weeks. We saw Lane Johnson and talked to him. We'll talk about that. We saw Devante Smith talk to him. Josh Sweat was out on the field after not being there for those practices.

Also there, Zach was James Bradbury. And this was interesting because in his press conference before practice, Nick Siriani mentioned that he was asked about James Bradbury and he said one thing we've seen from James is that he's a team player. He's versatile. Not only can he play on the outside. We saw last year he could play on the inside. And you might even see, you will see him working at safety today during practice.

And we have talked about this. If there was a path to the roster to being on the 2024 Eagles for James Bradbury, safety would make the most sense. Now they have some players at safety. But there could be an opportunity there. You could think that the skill set maybe would work there. However, just as we were expecting this, James Bradbury during individual drills sort of walks off the field with a trainer

and does not participate in practice. Did you think that this was pre-planned? Just happenstance? What did you make of the Bradbury situation today? Yeah, as I was packing in my bag, some people in the media house said they saw him fall down. Did you see him fall? I did not see him fall down. Okay.

So I did not see him. fall. So it seemed when I saw it like almost convenient timing for him to go inside, right? There was speculation when he practiced. Is he going to get reps, that kind of thing? So it seemed now if he fell to the ground, right, then there's a legitimate reason to look at him. It would be, it feels like it would probably be too dramatic to like, to play it up this way. Yeah. Instead of just saying he's like he has a nagging hamstring injury. Exactly. Right. Sure. So that's what.

So I would lead, I would think that something happened during warmups that. But also from his perspective, if there is anything minor, you know, there's no reason to push through. But so I got an alert on my phone from the Discord channel. And I have not been able to address it. Right. I was at the practice field. Got my car came over here. I can't go on the Discord after this, but I'll address it on the show too.

The question was about like injury guarantee. in his contract. And it's important to note, James Bradbury's contracts fully guaranteed, right? So if he got hurt, they would still owe him. The money, sometimes contracts aren't guaranteed because of injury. So if a guy comes and he gets hurt, then you have to pay him the money.

It's more if he doesn't get hurt, then they still owe him the money anyway. Right. Yeah, they owe him the money regardless. This is different than some players who you're like, don't come to camp because we aren't going to keep you. Right. You're benching Derek Carr, week 17,

because you don't want him to get hurt. Exactly. Yeah, Bradbury, they need to pay him no matter what here. Right. So that's the, that's just the long, short of it. I did find the safety thing, the offering of that from Nick Siriani, interesting. I still don't believe that James Bradbury will be on the team in 2024. I don't expect that he'll be on the team through the first week of training camp or so. However, if part of the posturing is, we don't need to trade this guy. We have, we have. a spot for him in the secondary. Safety makes sense. But I still do believe that it is, there's no reason for the Eagles to release him now. They might as well, wait and see if somebody comes calling if somebody gets injured elsewhere and they can get some kind of compensation. Yeah. And now next year, I mean, guys like Charles Woodson, and it's, it's happened quite a few times, players later in their career, making the adjustment from corner to safety. Rod Woodson is a example of that. Malcolm Jenkins did earlier in his career.

Sure. Right? So that wasn't necessarily age. But yeah, you're absolutely right. I mean, Patrick Peterson's done this recently. Right. So this, this does happen. Now, I didn't think James Bradbury was particularly good on the inside last year. So. Yeah, he's not a, he's not a quick Twitch guy. Sure. So it lends me to think that safety might not be in the car swarm, but there is validity to that. There is validity to that. the fact that the Eagles need depth of safety. Now, that's it. I don't see James Bradbury as like your, your fourth safety, right? That doesn't fit him or forfeit the team. Like, had they not signed C.J. Gardner Johnson,

if this was a year like, I think back to 2020, when Eagles brought Jaylen Mills back specifically to move from corner to safety, maybe that makes a little more sense here. But the Eagles would have three guys ahead of him at safety. I don't necessarily see that as a path. way to being like on the if james bradbury's on your team he should be contributing right uh but

who knows and i i still don't think he'll be here i think when they drafted the two corners i thought they had been keeping him because you didn't know how the draft would turn out right if if they took an offensive tackle in the first round and as a wide receiver in the second round and they wait till round three for a corner then in that case it behooves you to keep bradbury see who's to see what you have now and you've been on this this all along. You have Mitchell. You have the gene. We'll get to it today. I really like the way Keile Ringo looked. Isaiah Rogers is. Yeah, let's let's let's I would like to focus on the secondary here. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. So the Eagles have the surplus. So I don't see where James Bradbury fits at that

at this point. You want him as a potential trade candidate because there are cap savings if you were to trade him. But I still don't know if that would happen. Okay. Let's let's let's stick at the secondary. Now, Bradbury was out of the picture during practice today because of that injury, however serious it may or may not be. And so one of the questions was, you know, Keeley-Ringo, Isaiah Rogers, where's the pecking order there? Who's going to be the first team corner on the outside opposite Darius Lay at this point in time? And we got our answer. It was Keely Ringo today in the starting defense. For the most part, it was Darius Slay and Keely Ringo on the outside, Reed Blankenship and Ced.

Jay Gardner at safety with Avanti Maddox as the nickel. There were a couple times where it was actually, Tyler Hall slid in, and Avanti Maddox, I think, took one or two reps at safety there. But it was Ringo all day on the outside. And as you teased earlier, I thought he looked really good. And I think that he has looked good in the two times that we have seen him. He made a really nice play on a deep ball down the field. I believe it was intended for Paris Campbell.

He was in tight coverage on a catch by A.J. Brown in one of the coverage on the outside, did a few other nice things during seven-on-seven and team drills. I think Keeley-Ringo has looked very good, and I think we've talked about it. If it's not going to be Queenie and Mitchell week one, I think it's much more likely that it's Keely Ringo than Isaiah Rogers. I'm glad you said it because I think with me sometimes there's confirmation bias. I've been a key league guy since they drafted it. I was a key league guy going into the draft in in 2023.

You can't just take ownership of the guy. Everything he does, you don't just get to be like I called this. That's not at all what I was doing. What I was saying is that I was sometimes when, you know, like you with Christian Ellis or you with, you know, Sue or Coyote, whenever something happens with that player, it could, like when Christian Ellis gets an interception in practice, if you're pointing it out, it's like, all right, yeah, you're obviously going to spotlight. How dare you? I call it like I see it objectively every single time. Yeah. So there's no bias in my in my description of Rick Snellis or anybody else. It's not a matter of bias. What I am saying is that my opinions can sometimes be informed by my perspective, my perspective of the player. And I've liked Keeley Ringo for a while here.

So. Yeah. I thought, you know, the plays you mentioned, I also had a. playing my notes where I thought he ran well with John Ross. It was an underthrown ball to John Ross down the left sideline. Ross had about a half a step. I would have liked to see that ball be a little bit better thrown, but that's okay. But I thought Keeley wasn't like burned on the play, right? You know? Totally.

Totally. Yeah. So and he he looks more confident. I thought there were times last year in training camp in particular where it just looked like so much was going on from. And he kind of didn't have his feet underneath them. And he just looks more confident this year. And we've said it time and time again with Keely Ringo this offseason that, you know,

the youngest player on the team last year, right, came out as a third year junior. He's still, he's still a really young prospect, which we said, younger than Quigionan Mitchell. And so I, I'm not saying that Quigionette Mitchell's the day one starter right. way. Now, Quignan Mitchell is the first round pick, the top corner in the back of the draft. He has a lot going for him. I get that. But Keely Ringo, just keep your eye on Keeley this

summer because he has all the tools. He certainly has the pedigree, five-star prospect, day one starter, Georgia, right? Interception in the national championship game. And it's younger than Quillian. It's not as if, you know,

if Quinyon doesn't start day one, like Quinyon and Ringo, could still be your starters once Slag moves on here, right? And Quinyan, once he gets his feet underneath him, can become the number one guy. I just, I don't want to overstate it. I was impressed with Keile Ringo today. Quiney Mitchell, I actually thought also had a good day today, working with the twos on the outside. It was him and Isaiah Rogers on the outside, Cooper DeGine on the inside.

And I did not see, you can correct me if you saw it differently, but I only saw Cooper Britishine in the nickel today. I did not see him on the outside at any point today or at safety. Correct. I saw Mitchell inside once, but I saw. Yeah, it was sort of like a dime linebacker deal. Yeah. We saw that like a one snap last week as well, which is an interesting thing, a thread to

follow up potentially. But then you had Trista McCollum and Avanty Maddox as the safeties with the twos. I thought Mitchell had a good day. There was one play where he undercut a Kenny Pickett throw to the right. side. I believe it was for Joseph and Gata enforced an incompletion. Didn't get a ton of balls thrown at him, but I thought he acquitted himself well. By the way, I just want to make this clear. Okay.

On draft day, I gave the Keely Ringo pick an A minus. You gave him a B. Okay. I didn't give him a B. No, you gave the pick a pick, a B. Yeah, but it's trading a future third round pick. It's not an indictment of Keely Ringo. No, but I'm saying.

So I literally wrote here. I preface this by saying there's probably some confirmation bias to how it's But I must be consistent. Why are you making this the Ringo? Because you're acting as if you're acting as if I'm a Johnny come lately. No, I'm not acting like that. I'm just saying just because you liked him in the draft doesn't mean that you got to you got to you got to everything he does. Every good practice he has.

You got to pound your chest. Because why would someone ever pound their chest about someone that they thought was a good player? That's never happened on the show before. No. You call it like you see it. Call it like you see it. I got you. Okay.

Conan says ZB has receipts. Yeah, that's the great thing about the internet. Everything you writes on there. Okay. Except some things in the Star Ledger, which randomly NJ.com is taken down from when I wrote there. Okay. So you're right. I think you are right here.

Let's not talk about today's practice. Let's talk about our draft takes from last year. Who else did you like? That's not all I'm saying. All right. Let's let's get back to it. Who else did you like? In the draft last year.

Yeah. I mean, I like John Carter. Oh, big one. Yeah, we know you love Nolan Smith. You thought he was going to be there, picket number 10. Yeah. Puff your chest out about that. I was not as high on Steen and Sidney Brown as you were, I think.

As I was. Yeah, I think you were. I got to look that up. I don't know. He was a big Steen guy. Okay. Nonetheless, let's get back to the show. No, I don't know how.

I don't know how. You don't know how. You don't know how. Okay. All right. We're waylaid. So in the secondary two, I think it's also worth noting like Maddox. By the way, in my shadow draft, I had Keely Ringo as the person I would have picked there.

Oh, okay. You gave the pick a B. I gave it a minus. I gave the process a B, not the player. Okay, but I'm saying I like the pick and the process. Anyways, let's let's get back to the East Slat cornerback spot. I can't. You can't, okay?

No, I can't. As you regroup, I will talk. Okay. Okay. All right, don't make this a bit where you stay silent for 10 minutes and make it awkward. So, Avanti Maddox in the slide. I did like Jalen Hyatt. I liked him.

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Want to keep going? I don't know. Okay. All right. So what do you make of Avanti Maddox?

We did speak to him after practice, but he was with the first team in the slot. He was with the second team at safety. What did you make of Avante Maddox? I think the Avante thing is interesting. We talked to him before, and I asked him just sort of like openly when the team released you was that like a blow to the ego at all like this team that has had you for a long time just lets you go it lets you at the open market he's like he's like blow to the ego never i would never take something as a blow to the ego like all the ego is all i got which uh was interesting

i don't know i don't know if he like misunderstood the question i wasn't i wasn't trying to be like boy do you stink it's like but the team released you like they let you go before the like did that affect you at all um no he's he's he's he's he's he believes in himself. That's all he's got. He said he was in touch with, with Howard Roseman throughout the process, how he said,

like, if you don't find what you're looking for, we're open, we're open to a reunion. Obviously, that is how things played out. I maintain that, like,

I think if Avanti Maddox makes it through Camp Healthy, he will be on the team. He can, he gives them versatility. He can, you know, he can do a lot,

and he can do it at a reasonably high level, you know, probably an average starter level and inside. The problem is that he hasn't been able to stay healthy. And he acknowledged that. He said that like that has been my problem. So we will see how it plays out.

I think I think that the way that he's been used through the first three practices that we have seen is probably an indication that Vic Van Joe likes the fact that he can do a little bit of everything. Yes. And the thing there, you know, we talk about safety death. I think Maddox is the type of player who, you keep as a slot guy and your third, fourth, safety.

Because I would rather have Maddox on the team than Mackay Gardner, right? If it comes down to those two, I would rather- Why are you going to throw Mackay-Garner under the bus? My point is, I would rather keep Maddox instead of a fourth safety. I would rather keep Maddox someone who can play in this slot for you and play safety and has this veteran experience. I would rather that than, them, then McCa-Garner. So I do think he has value.

He needs to stay healthy. He's paying attention to his sleep. He's wearing both the aura ring and the whoop band. I am an aura guy. My wife wears the aura ring as well. My brother is more of a whoop guy. What's the difference? Oh, there's two totally different things.

Explain it. I don't know. I don't know. I'm ill-educated here. Yeah, well, the words are ring. Okay. And it has its own proprietary, you know, sensors and metrics and whatnot. And, you know, Woop is a band.

And they. Okay, both circles. Yeah, but one you wear around your wrist, one you wear on your finger. And they have not made the case that they are completely different. Yeah, well, they collect different. They collect similar data, but in different ways. It's like an Apple watch and a Fitbit, right? Or a Garmin.

Well, you know, like there's, they're just different, they're different tracking systems. Okay. They sound incredibly similar so far. The pricing is different. Which one's more expensive? Well, though, I think the WOOP has a higher subscription price. Oh, yeah. Oh, okay.

So the, the piece of technology is not expensive, but it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, I don't know. Yeah. I think it's a high subscription price. I could be wrong. But in any event, he's, he's wearing both. So he has a lot of, he has a lot of data. It's not conflicting advice that he's getting.

Yeah. I mean, there's the, he has a lot of data for his, for his sleep. But it is, it is helpful. Like I will, I will tell you. I should probably adhere to what the order ring tells me more. But yeah, let me guess. We're telling you you're not sleeping enough. Yes.

Yes. But it's something I'm getting really good deep sleep. So when I'm sleeping, I'm getting very efficient sleep. But when I'm not getting the volume of sleep that I need. Well, what good is it if you're not going to listen to it? Well, it's like, I don't want the example off the top of my head. It's, it's, I like data. I like so if I'm struggling one day in terms of like I'm not as efficient at work,

I'm tired and procrastinating, you know, maybe I'm lagging in a workout. Like I can track how I did based on how I sleep and I can see, see what works and what doesn't. I do think it's interesting, though, like from a just from a mental standpoint for Avanti Maddox, who is like his entire career has been about, can I stay high? healthy. I'm good if I'm healthy. I can't stay healthy. Like this fight with his own body. Like, he joked him, you know, he, he, he ristles at the, the ego idea. But like, if he's, if he can just stay healthy, he's good. And so for him, it would make sense. Like, he's trying to do everything he can get every little thing he can do to make sure that he gets to stay on the

field. Yeah, injuries are hard because it's, it's a collision sport, right? It's not a contact sport. It's, it's a collision sport. And, And you've heard Jason Kelsey say time and time again, the injury rate is 100% in the NFL. Now, some players get hurt more than others, and that's something that Avanti Maddox needs to figure out. But I wish him well with it because he's a good player. He's a likable guy, but he needs to stay healthy.

And we'll see how he survives this training camp. I mean, you've got to write a story on his aura results, right? You've got to compare. I think you've got to do like a weekly comparison. of your aura results? Shami, he plays professional football. I don't play professional football. I have two kids at home.

He doesn't have two kids at home, right? Wow. Don't get defensive. No, it's not, it's not an apples for office. It's not, you know, he's. I'm not saying compare your results, but compare the way that you feel about your results. Let's talk over our own relationship with our body.

He's physically exerting himself more throughout the day than I am, frankly. I don't know. I'd like to see him make it through it. right-aid disclaimer. Fair enough. Fair enough. I'm recovering from a cold. I'm going to talk about a collision sport.

I'm recovering from cold. That's why I sound a little nasoid. Okay. I could probably use a right-ed pharmacist right now to lead me in the direction or something. There you go. But what you could also use and try a different type of medicine, Zach, and that would be to suck one back with the fellas. Because a little Miller light, eh, can't go wrong.

Great taste, less filling. And it's been the same taste. since 1975 because a lot has changed over the years. But one thing that hasn't is the great taste of Miller Light. When you talk about Miller Light, you're talking about the best light beer in the business because not only does it taste better than all those other Gibbons, those pretenders, but it's only 96 calories. So you don't need to have just one Miller Light.

You can have multiple Miller Light. still be feeling good. I try, put that on your o'er ring and smoke it, huh? I have a couple of Miller lights. You're still going to be fine. Actually, don't worry about that. Might affect your sleep, but,

but you're having a good time with the boys, so. Yeah, you're having a good time. Because it's all about the moments. It's all about the memories that you make when you're drinking those Miller Lights with your friends, because Miller Light keeps it simple, undebatable quality, great taste, and only 96 calories. It's the beer that strips it,

away everything you don't need and holds on to what matters most. A light beer that tastes like beer, less filling and only 96 calories, the original light beer since 1975. The best thing to drink when you're sucking back with the fellas, the girls, everybody, all you need. You don't have to choose what's best. Miller Light has great taste and is less filling. Tastes like Miller Time. To get Miller Lite delivered right to your door, visit millerlight.com slash p.h.LY Birds. Or you can find at pretty much anywhere that sells beer celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 96 calories per 12 ounces, fewer calories and carbs than premium regular beer.

So I mentioned I had a cold on Sunday and I needed a pharmacy. And so I went to right aid or and because, you know, they have exactly what you need this time of year and throughout the year. With a my pharmacy account at right aid, you can refill your prescription. vaccine, get personalized care recommendations, sign up for prescription notifications. All you need to do to get started is a prescription at right aid. Get started at righteat.com slash my pharmacy. Stop stressing about your prescriptions let right aid refill them automatically enroll in automated

courtesy refills. It's free, easy, and most prescriptions qualify. Talk with your right aid pharmacists or sign up through your my pharmacy account at rightaid.com restrictions may apply. Transfer your prescriptions to write aid today just go to write a.com slash transfer right aid caring pharmacists ready to answer your question and help you stay healthy get your prescriptions along with anything at right aid you may need including over-the-counter medicines which i got household products cosmetics and more just ask your pharmacy team for details restrictions apply um i do want to address something in the chat here okay uh honest question zach what was the point in asking devonte about jefferson's contract

just trying to make him feel bad, inducing engagement scene tacky. Okay, I will address this. Certainly I was not trying to make him feel bad. I was not trying to induce engagement. I haven't even tweeted about it. You asked a question that everybody has been wondering about. So, it's a totally reasonable question. You don't have to get defensive about this.

No, no, no, no. I want to explain it. It's because when people are talking about a person or something in the news, I think players deserve the right to speak for themselves. And actually, there's an example that I, I always think about. And I was, I covered an opening press conference at Monmouth University for, his name is King Rice.

He's the basketball coach. He might still be there. And he had something in his past that I didn't kind of, I didn't want to ask him on, on the podium. And I kind of went up to him afterwards and I asked him about it. And he said to me, he's like, ask the question, right? That's, that's what I'm there for. Like, he's like, I'm happy to talk me about this.

But I knew the question was coming, right? I was ready for the question. Ask the question. And in my time cover of the Eagles now going in the 13 years, there have been so many times when people kind of dance around a question. And it's like, ask, ask the question. That's why the players are there to answer the questions. It's not for us to make them feel good,

but it's to give them a chance to speak for themselves. And if a player doesn't want to speak, he can easily say, no, I thought Devante's answer was great today. I thought to give a great answer. Yeah. Yeah. So that's that's kind of my viewpoint on it. What did he say for people who didn't see it? Yeah. He said you don't count someone else's pockets. He took a life changing contract. He's happy with it. He wanted to be here. He's happy for the guys who got paid after him. And that's, you know, it was a great answer. And I bet Devante knew the question was coming. And Devante answered it well. And he got to put his words on it because there've been a lot of people saying, what was Devante thinking? What does he think now? That's the first time he's spoken since then. It's been, it's been a couple months.

This is a thing that people are talking about. Yeah, absolutely. Give him a chance to talk about it. You're not saying, hey, did you think you signed a bad contract? Yeah. There have been all this. What's your perspective? What's your perspective?

Yeah. Totally reasonable, totally in bounds. Totally fair. Fair enough. All right. Just want to put that out there. Okay. Now, I think I did like Devante Smith coming into the draft a little more than you did.

but I actually I would have to look that one off Yeah, I don't know I don't know if that's the case I don't know about that one We can figure that out All right, let's close out the secondary

The Eagles had a few tryout players participating today four of them in fact One of them, a linebacker or a wider receiver named Brandon Smith who is not the linebacker on the team named Brandon Smith Griffin Hebert, our old friend

who did not succeed in luring Ligerius Sneed to the Eagles, but he is back. B.T. Potter, number 13. And then Perry Nickerson, who is the most interesting of the four, I believe, and was actually involved today, was playing both inside and outside

with the third team defense over some guys who you might have expected to be ahead of him. And Nickerson's a little bit interesting because he was with Fangio in Miami last year. This is a, he's a 29-year-old, so this is a season veteran started two games for the Jets in 2018,

was out of the league entirely in 2023, but played five games for the Dolphins last year with Fangio. He's got the long dread, so he's easy to find on the field, a little bit undersized, listed as 510, 179, but a player who I think, I would actually expect that he will be signed

to the active roster before training camp. That's just a tingling feeling. It's a spicy prediction. I like that. Yeah, there you go. Okay. we should do like a prediction show you could before uh you know next next next week by the way speaking of that uh we should talk about the special teams period today where the eagles were practicing

pinning the opponent deep on the punt right they had the gunners out there and nick syriani was fired up he did not like what he was seen from the gunners um i believe sean stevens was the object of his ire at one point for not downed counting the ball that landed right about at the four-yard line, didn't, didn't try to catch it, tried to let it bounce and then missed it. Nick Siriani was all over Sean Stevens, and Sean Stevens had been a tryout player who earned a roster spot. That said, the play of the practice, I believe, was made by Josh Job on a play. Oh, I like that one, yes.

Where he was at the one-yard line and then had to jump up, you know, pull like the volleyball pool move, where he jumps into the end zone, bats it back, lands in at the, like, the two-yard line. Fantastic play by Josh Job. And then shortly after that, Quinion Mitchell failed to make the play, once again drawing Siriani's ire. However, I kind of think that this was maybe a chest-not-checkers move

from Quineon Mitchell. Quinion Mitchell's thinking, you don't need me being a gunner, Nick. Let's leave that to Josh Job. You know what? That's like a veteran move. That's the Chris Long-Kyle-Long getting in a fight at the beginning of a joint practice to get out of practice.

Yeah, and then draft me in the first round of down punts in the two-yard line. Yeah, I like that. I like that. That's smart thinking by you. Did you think that was, what did you make of Nick being so fired up about that? Yeah, that's Nick for you, man, attention to detail, right? Everything matters. I like that.

That's part of Nick's charm as a coach. I like that. He coaches them hard. So it was only, like, there weren't specific coaching points here. It wasn't like when he was working with Johnny Wilson on, you know, move and go with a ball. And instead of, you know, pulling it around and going the other direction. It was just like, hey, we got to get this done.

Yeah. We got to, we got to pin him deep. We got to pin him deep. Clay was fired up as well. Yes. The Sean Stevens one is the one that really got him going because it was a good punt. He was right there and he just didn't make the play. Yeah.

You know what? If I was Sean Stevens, I would turn to Nick and I'd say, if your offense is good, we're not punting, man. Yeah, I think that would have been a really smart thing of Sean Stevens to do. I know, making a joke. By the way, on the topic of special teams here, I don't want to say concerned. It's been two practices that we've seen. But Anaya Smith has a little trouble catching the football sometimes. Well, I probably had to drop today as well.

Yeah, yeah. And on my turn, but yes. Somebody's in the son. Yeah. So it's true. I think we should keep today's focus, Zach, on defense. And then we can flip the focus on it. We can talk about some general.

stuff today, but we'll get more into the weeds on offense and tomorrow show as we continue to go through the depth chart and stuff. I think linebacker was interesting. Now, we talked to Zach Bonn before practice, and with the ones, for the most part, it was Devin White and Zach Bonn. Now, Kobe Dean with the twos. Now, he was not, he wasn't a full participant. And there was a time when it looked like he was the lone linebacker on the field with the ones. But right now, just a snapshot in time. It feels like Zach Bonn is ahead of him. And I thought the Zach Bonn press conference was kind of odd because the last time we talked to him,

you know, he was he was talking about how excited he was to, you know, to get a chance to rush the passer and be on the edge. But everybody was talking to him today like, oh man, like, aren't you,

aren't you disappointed? Didn't you? I thought you wanted to rush the passer. Like, aren't you bummed? And everybody kept trying to get him in these things. But like, if he was rushing the passer,

he's like fifth on the depth chart. Right now he's like lining up with the ones. Shouldn't we be asking him about, Isn't he excited to get a chance to be on the field on defense? I see your point. My counter to that is if he expressed specific excitement about doing this, he wants to get back to rushing the passer, right? You're viewing it from like the perspective of this is his best chance of contributing to the team as an offball linebacker.

And that very well might be the case. But if he's looking at it like what he wants to do, is rush the quarterback, which was a sentiment that he expressed to us. But I don't think it was all or nothing. Oh, it's not all or nothing. But I think that I was genuinely curious to hear his, his perspective. Oh, sure, the perspective, yeah. On that.

And I also wondered, like, you know, when we spoke yesterday to, you know, to the assistant coaches, it was kind of articulated that this is really a passing camp right now, right? So if this is something that they think he can do, he might as well be in that role. Like if he's going to play inside and outside, you know, Bobby King was saying, I think Bobby King used the same term that Dan Campbell did, which was like they're in pajamas right now. And honestly, I mean, if you're just thinking about the reps, that is a, it's a great point. Because if he's ever going to be asked to do it, get him those reps now. Exactly. When when you're doing more run stuff, you know, get him on it.

like he doesn't he doesn't it's not like he's going to get live pass rushing reps right now. So let him do the thing that he can actually work on. Yeah. So that's why I frame the question. Are you expecting the opportunity to do that this year? Right. And he's like, I'm not expecting anything. Like I'm doing what they tell me to do.

That was actually, I did think that was interesting was sort of the behind the scenes of like there was never a conversation with him about like, hey, this is what we want you to do. Like here's the plan. It was just like they just told me to go with the inside linebackers. Well, so there's, I think sometimes there's this misconception. about NFL free agency where, you know, if, if I get offered a job somewhere, I'm like debating it for weeks, I'm like asking every single person in your contacts is getting a text. Like, hey, what do you think about this? Yeah.

Like, I want to know, like, what's the specific role? Like, you know, how am I going to be used? What's the future? Like, oh, you know, a thousand questions, right? And in like NFL free agents. I will never stop flirting with Zach. in an NFL free agency, okay? They, you get a contract offer and it's like, yes or no.

There's no, there's no visiting. There's, there's no will. How are you going to use me? What? No, your agent does work ahead of time in terms of getting to know the depth chart. Your agent does a lot of the background work, right? You presumably have, if you're a standout free agent, you have time going into free agency, like, all right, these are the teams that are going to be.

interested in you if you're someone like Zach Vaughn right and I like you want an opportunity and so it's the first day of free agency a team's a team's calling you they have a new defensive coordinator they have uncertainty with their with their defense

they're offering you a deal there's some guaranteed money in there it's like that's that's how this works in NFL free agency we've talked about undrafted rookies where the team calls you they say this is what you're offering and it's not if you're like, you know, you know, what's the rent in that city like, right? You, you either stay

or yeah. So, so yeah, Zach, Zach, Zach, Zach, don't have time to like talk to Vic Fangio or talk to Hallie Roseman. You're, you accept the deal. You go in. You have a physical. You meet your coaches and that's it. Yeah. There was actually, there was an interesting play today with with Zach Bonn that I thought was an interesting snapshot of some big picture stuff with the team. Zach Bonn is running with Sequin Barclay on a wheelerout. And he's running with him pretty well. I would say that Sequin probably had about a half step.

And I would guess that the design of the play, you might want to throw that ball to Sequin Barclay. Like that's what he's here for. Now, maybe the design of the play is to open things up for Paris Campbell, who's coming across the field from the slot and is open and has a step. And that's the ball that just, Dylan Hurts throws. And it's a completion. It's a nice throw. You know, you take your 10-yard gain and you move on. But you turn down the big play. And it's interesting to me because

on the one hand, like, oh, Zach Bond's running with Sequin Barclay. That's, is that good for is that good for Zach Bonn? Yeah, that's nice. Maybe he could play a little bit of linebacker. On the other hand, are you disappointed that Seyuan Berkeley is not running away from Zach Bonn? Like, you would hope that he would in a situation like this be completely running away with him. And then the next level is, don't you, don't you kind of want Jailen Hertz to throw that ball? Like, isn't that what Sequin Barclay is here for? And we have been wondering if Jailen Hertz is going to make the best use of the non-A. J. Brown, Dallas Goddert, Devante Smith weapons in the passing game.

It is a growth of Jalen Hertz that we need to see. And so, like the Saquan Barkley addition to the offense being a real major difference maker relies on that a little bit. And we didn't, he didn't throw the. that ball today. Just like one play, one snapshot of a lot of different moving parts that are happening with the team right now. I thought it was an interesting play. That's a good point, because I expect that to be a Sequin play. Now, if I can circle back with you on the linebackers, what did you make of of Nicopa Dean still not kind of being that are you operating under the

presumption here that Bonn is ahead of Dean going in the training camp? I think it has, I think it probably has more to do with Nicopa Dene, not being 100% yet. But I do think that it's an indication that Vic Fangio doesn't view Nacobi Dina as like a definite day one starter next to Devin White. Like you would think that you would be working on their chemistry together. I think it is certainly notable. What about you? It's very notable. It's very notable to me because when it was three weeks ago, I thought it was more injury.

it was dictated more by injury. Now I'm starting to think that, yeah, Nicobo Dean's going to have to earn his spot with the starters. I think Devin White's a starter. Now, it's still early, but I think Devin White's a starter. And then I think it's going to be being, it's going to be Bonn or Dean. What did you make of Devin White out there?

I didn't see him. He had an interception seven on seven. I wasn't seeing on him as much as I was last week. Okay. He didn't do quite as much. Although he did. the one big play of the practice on defense was the first session of seven on seven, I believe it was the second play, Reed Blankenship, flashing in front, tip in the pass,

and it's intercepted by Devin White for, I mean, what had to be the whitest interception the Eagles have had in a while. I see what you did there. So I'll say this about Devin White. We've mentioned this with guys in the past like Ernie Sims. This is the type of setting where he should excel. And I give him credit, like he moves well. He runs differently than other linebackers.

He was, he's a high-level athlete. That's why he was the number five pick in the draft, right? So we'll see what it's like come later in training camp or in the preseason if he plays in the preseason. But I think Devon White's kind of a big role on this team this year. And him, I bet that you did like more in the draft than I did. Devin White. You know what, honestly, that year, the Eagles were drafting much later on, right?

I don't know how much work I did on Devin White that year, but I certainly liked him at LSU. Don't pass the buck. Brod, he rode horses. There you go. Yeah. Zach, I know we've been spending some time talking about sleep quality, that aura ring that you've got.

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I was talking to Chris and the Jamie. And this time of year, if you have a lot of time of the sunglasses, if you have a lot of the sunglasses, I'm have the right pair of sunglasses, it really, it, it's, it's eye opening, literally, right? You can keep your eyes open. We'll get ready for the season ahead with the quality shades built the last. Our friends of Shady Rays have you covered with premium polarized shades that won't break the bang. Shady Rays is an independent sunglasses company, offering a world class, a world class product, rated five stars by over 300,000 people. Their shades of durable frames and crystal clear optics, making them the perfect choice for all outdoor adventures.

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Exclusively for our listener, Shady Rays is giving out their best deal of the season. Head to ShadyRays.com and use code P-HLY for 35% off polarized sunglasses. Try for yourself the Shades rated five stars by over 300,000 people. In this setting, we do not see much of the defensive line. I don't think that there's much to go over there, Zach. Is there anything else in the back seven that you think is worth touching on? In the back seven? No, I keep making a point to myself to watch more of Trotter

and just haven't seen much during the past few days or these three days. I'll try to get more tomorrow on that. No, I thought Isaiah Rogers made a nice play on the ball on the opposite sideline. Yeah. Yeah. And I just put in my notes like Rogers again making a play. And I thought Christian Parker, the DeBacks coach, had a nice little anecdote yesterday. You know, I asked him about Isaiah Rogers, what his expectations were.

And he said, first he had to see, you know, when they would get their hands on him. But he was preparing for a game two years ago against the Raiders when he was with the Broncos. And he watched the Colts film. And he watched that Devonte Adams comeback route that, like, that Rogers played really well. And he didn't know who that player was. So we actually looked him up after that play and watched some of them. And kind of Rogers has been on his radar ever since.

So, and he also expressed what Rogers said in the press conference with us last week, which was an appreciation for the moment. Like, he says you can tell how much Isaiah Rogers appreciates being there. Anyways, I understand we sometimes pay more attention this time of year to flash plays. than like just strong solid coverage, right? I'd like what you pointed out about about Ringo, because I thought Ringo just had strong solid coverage. But whenever you get your hands on a ball during these practices,

it obviously stands out to us. And it seems every practice we've watched, Rogers has gotten his hand on a ball. All right. I don't, we will get into more of the weeds on offense tomorrow. And again, we're back at 3.30 tomorrow. After practice, we can talk about some of these wide receivers. I think John Ross has been a little bit interesting.

Aenea Smith also participating in team drills today for the first time that we have seen. But there is one major and very heavy quotations given that we are talking about a minicamp practice. But one thing that we should talk about today, Zach, is with Landon Dickerson out. And Lane Johnson sort of teased this during his press conference that Mackay Beckton has been working at Tackling Guard. And with Land and Dickerson out, Mackay Beckton was lining up as your first team left guard today. Now, Tyler Steen remained the starting right guard. Matt Hennessy remained the second team right guard. And so while it has sort of set up as a head-to-head match there,

I think the fact that Mackay Beckton flipped from right tackle to left guard with the starters today is very notable. And I want you to also tell the listeners what Jeff Statlin said yesterday about his theory of like rotating guys. throughout practice for training camp and how that may work. Yes. So I'll start with the Stoutland part because this is something that, you know, those who watch us every day know that we've discussed this in terms of what are they going to do during training camp. And Jeff Stoutland during his time with the Eagles has had competitions where, you know,

I think back to 2021 with Dillard M. Milata, where it was literally one on, one off. And then there have been times when it's like, all right, this is the guy. and we'll just kind of study the film. And what Stoughton says is he much prefers to keep the same five out there. He calls it the five-wheel drive and where you get them together as much as possible and they can synchronize. So they are working together. It's kind of the idea of having all five with the same lockers next to each other, right?

He thinks it's hard when you're rotating players in and out. Now, he says unless they're like, I think the term he used is somebody's services and and you look at it and you say you better get a good look at this or you might be making a mistake like unless that happens you're just saying let's go and that's how they're kind of looking at it with tyler steen so that jumped out to me because that that made me think all right steen's the guy unless steen does not play well or unless someone plays spectacularly that said if mcky beckton who they gave decent money to right on a one-year deal.

If Mackay Bechted looks good at guard and looks like he has rare traits, you've got to think about it. Because you're talking about a former top 15 pick who's 25 years old, who might eventually be your starting right tag. Like, you know, there's a lot there's a lot there that you can't teach with Mackay Befton. I mean, I think there is a real chance that McKay Bechton is the weak one starting right guard. Yeah. Now, there's some people in the league who look at this and say, like,

are you really putting a 6-7, 350-pound, 360-pound player at Guard? That said, Jeff Stoutland is very specific about what he looks for. And I thought it was interesting yesterday when he was talking about his prototype of guard. And he mentioned Brandon Brooks, who's 6'6, right? Like back in 6-7, Brooks was 6-6. And he says, like, that's the guy. He's like, ain't a lot of guys like that. But that's the guy.

That's who you're looking for. And so, and Linda Dickerson, by the way, he's a bigger guard. The Eagles are not these, you know, if you think about some other teams, like the top guards are 6-3, 6-4, I think Jeff Stoughton likes these bigger guards. So if Beckton can do it, I would absolutely think, like, on the same wavelength as you, that he could be the starting right guard. By the way, the Eagles also signed Max Sharping yesterday, who a former second round pick has starting experience in the league.

He spent his time today sort of rotating into the couple snaps at Red Guard, but continued fortification of just some lottery balls at a position where they don't have a definite answer. Yeah, you're absolutely right. How would you spread your turkeys right now on the week one starting Red Guard? Steen 60 No, Steen 70 Beckston 25

Hennessy 5 But it's still early on I think it's I'd go like 4140 I think I think Beckton has a real chance That'd be interesting to me That would definitely be interested in me Before we get to the book

What else did It's worth It's worth sharing with people from the assistant coaches yesterday. Excuse me. I'm sorry for my voice today. So from the assistant coaches yesterday, Clinton hurt said that with Jordan Davis,

the big thing with him is like the shape that he's in, right? That he thinks Jordan Davis has worked on it. J. Allen Carter, he said he got to know Jalen Allen during the draft process last year when he was the decontinent to Seahawks. The Seahawks were down to Carter and, and Devin Weatherspoon had number five. They thought both would be really high-level players. He's already seen maturity in Carter since the pre-draft process a year ago.

So those were some of the headlines there. They didn't get as much from Bobby King. I think you guys talked about it on the show. He said that he's a historian. He likes the next year. He's a historian. He said his favorite linebackers. You mentioned it, Buckas and Lambert and Tower and Ray Lewis.

from Christian Parker. Yeah, I thought there was a handful of notable things kind of on. They're looking at Cooper DeGine in a few of these different spots, which we've obviously seen. He mentioned that he's been in communication with Bradbury. Bradbury's been here, and they've been on the phone and on Zoom meetings. So, there was that. Doug Nussmeier, the quarterback's coach.

It's long history with G.O. and Hurtz. He's impressed with the way Hurtz has kind of learned from different, you know, has adjusted to different coordinators like and to different schemes. He thinks that's like a credit to Hertz. He needs to see the way Hertz learns. And he's kind of learning with Hurtz. He mentioned this time. I think it's like 2.4 seconds.

and he made like two references to it. And I said, what's the significance of that number? And he's like, oh, that's just, you know, it's just a number some people use. It doesn't have to be that number. And then we're like, what's your number? And he wouldn't say. But then I actually. I actually Googled the number.

And it's actually something that like the Cowboys have said. It's like it's a big Mike McCarthy thing. So clearly this is something that was kind of like pushed. I had not heard this before, but like they, it's a big thing in Dallas where Nussmeyer was. And then Stoutland, it was interesting hearing him talk about Jason Kelsey. It was the first time he's spoken since Kelsey's retirement speech. And just, you know, he says he feels good about, you know, he feels good for Kelsey, but he's going to miss him.

He says Kelsey's family. He spends more time with him than his family. He says he's been a partner in this whole thing. He kind of spoke about the way he coaches or he has the players, introduced concepts and like they they installed it in a game and and Kelsey's creativity really flourished but he really made clear like the sky wasn't falling because because Kelsey's not there he says they they have a culture in place that was there when he took over that there was Todd Harriman's and there was Jason Peters right and like you know the the show goes on and

I I I thought it was a pretty interesting like on a on a deep level that you think about yesterday, there's this golf tournament where Brian Dawkins is there with Brian Westbrook and Hugh Douglas, and you go on down to, you know, Corey Simon. And then there's, you know, Jeremiah Trotter. And then in the afternoon on the NFL's official transaction log, Jason Kelsey and Fletcher Cox, they're officially retired. Processed. And the Eagles are preparing for a mandatory minicamp with the replacements for those players. with Jeremiah Trotter Jr. on the team.

Like the NFL life cycle keeps churning, right? And it's definitely not frozen in time. So that's kind of, you know, I think like even though Kelsey's not here anymore, you know, there's there's there's other guys in there. Well, it's a great transition, Zach, because if you're talking about the NFL life cycle, let's take a 25 year snapshot of a particular franchise. Guys, tell us, tell us a little bit about what went into this book. We're going to have lots of time to talk about it. I know that we will. And we'll, we'll get into it more.

But this is, it's described as a collection of essays. If you can explain sort of what went into that, is this original reporting? Is this you just plumbing your, your own depths? Give us a little bit about the process. Well, a little bit of both. Like, I don't want to be disingenuous. You know, there's original reporting in there, but it is a lot of work that I've done over the past, you know, decade plus and then some research as well. So it's a combination of those three in terms of how all the material came in there.

I was actually, I was under agreement with the publisher triumph publishing for another book. a year, you know, a year and a half ago around the time of the Eagles Super Bowl. Contingency book is that. That book did not come to fruition. And then there was, so there was, you know, kind of like a pivot. And they brought this idea to me that's something that they've done in other markets with other teams. And there's more of these books coming out where they, they, it's a curated history. So I have behind me the Eagles Encyclopedia by right.

didn't you and i point that out because ray's the eagles of psychopedia is amazing it was an amazing resource for me during this but this book that i'm writing is not or or that i wrote rather is not an encyclopedia it's a curated history so it's meant to kind of it's not exhaustive it's not going to have every season in there it's not going to have every player in there right it highlights the christian else will be in there though right christian else is not in there it highlights the executives good thing i had pre-ordered the executive I'll give you a copy. The executives, the coaches, the quarterbacks, like the iconic players, some of the other stars,

some of the great moments, and then the 2017 season, right, the Super Bowl season. Admittedly, it probably skews more toward recent years, the past decade than some of those earlier years. But there is, you know, there's a chapter on Andy Reid. There's a chapter on Donovan McNabb. There's a chapter on Brian Dawkins. There's a chapter on Brian and Westbrook. There's a chapter on Jeremiah Trotter, right?

But it does skew more toward the past decade. Like, I'll be transparent there. And it's, well, people, you might have to remount to add a Christian, if you know, it's chapter based on the chat. And it's not, yeah, like it's, it's, it's meant to, like, I don't want, you know, I think there's some good nuggets in there, right? but this isn't like uncovering like the the deepest darkest

bad point gas it up yeah no no I I I am the point is it's like this is meant for Eagles fans who have lived through these this 25 years which is undeniably like the most successful stint in franchise history you know they won a Super Bowl in this period they they were in you know like 25 percent of the championship games during this period, right? And it's a chance to kind of relive some of these, these memories and these moments. And I had fun talking to some people.

I mean, I can guess you up. And one, like, this is, you have talked to some important people who are giving you important perspective on the arc of the last 25 years. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Like, you know, I mean, you don't mean, I want to talk to everybody. I didn't talk to everybody. but I did speak to some people who have.

Notably, you did not interview me, which I did think was a miss, but that's okay. Who have perspective. And then there's a lot of things like, you know, there's something I found when I wrote my previous book, which was, it sounds so weird when I say that. Like, I don't mean that as a flex where, where like you include something in there. And someone like picks that up as like, oh, this is a great detail. And I'm like, this was in an inquirer story back, you know, and people are like, oh, I might have missed that day. Right. So there's like there's there's there's nuggets in there that that might be new to some people, but, but, you know, might have been out there. Then there's some nuggets in there. By the way, that were that were new to me, that I either unearthed during this or that in speaking to people, they brought up to me.

You know, there were a few occasions where like some really important people in this organization's history, said to me like, I've never shared this before. And when someone says that, you're like, yeah, we're talking. That's the nugget that you need to be telling people. That's a good look. But yeah, you don't want to tell that now. Like, you don't want to give away the best stuff now.

But you know, you save that for like the launch day publicity, right? Yeah, but you don't, you don't tell us what that is. But now, yeah, the good seed. I like that. Yeah, there's, yeah, there are a few different things, you know, where, there's there's one person I spoke to where I remember I'm like what's what's something that that like you know people don't know about that that would have been a really interesting turning point in the organization and I got an answer here and

I'm like ooh that's a good one I've not heard of that before and then actually and then there was something that I heard and I it was like an amazing anecdote and I'm like this is going to lead a section and then I go back and I find out that Bo Wolf wrote about this like like eight years ago. Like gosh. I can say Beau's name is in the book specific. Well, he's in the book twice.

He's definitely in the books in the acknowledgments, but he's in the book by name when him and Brennan's wife are in the elevator together. Oh. Yes. And it was just a great way to close the chapter. Oh, that's nice. Yeah.

How did you, from a writing exercise standpoint, how did you approach like writing one of these chapters on one of these, whether it's a season or a player or a coach, how is how is that different than if you were writing an article? It's, that's, that's a good question. It's just, it's a wider lens, right? So you have so much more material that you're kind of working with, right? When you're writing an article, you're typically just dealing with like the material specific. for that article. But this, you can you can kind of broaden you, yeah, you, you widen that that lens quite a bit. And then, you know, the other thing I'll say too with this is that I got on me, I wrote this book last summer. There been something, there were a few chapters like the

J-1-Hurts and Nixiriani chapter. I waited for until after the season because they were, you know, still early in their career. But I had to get the book in. The book was doing. last summer, right? And if you think about like what the sentiment about the organization was last summer, so when I reread the book, you know, when I was going through the edits a few weeks ago, I was like, oh, the book certainly takes on a tone. You would write following a Super Bowl season more so than a tone you follow when they're when they're one and six. Matt's Patricia, yeah. Yeah, so I will say it would probably be in my best interest, like from a marketing, you know, from like the feeling of the consumer. If the Eagles are like four and oh and the best student football when this comes out because.

Yeah, it's interesting that it comes out in the middle of the season. Yeah. The arc of the first three games really well. Exactly. Yeah. Because like, play a big role. Fans are like, I don't think this about Howie and I don't think this about Jeffrey. but like if you think about what the sentiment was after the super bowl last year it was definitely

there was uh it was they were definitely riding the wave and rightfully so they were coming off the super bowl season well i mean we have we we talk on the show zach about your uh indefatigability how hard you work uh having just not even not even watched but just been aware of what was going on last summer as you were going through this i mean that's like your that's your time off and you're grinding out these you know thousand 10 000 words stories and like the plumbing the arc of the last 25 years uh i i applaud you congratulations you are you are wonderful well that's i i genuinely appreciate that that's that's nice you to say um i am uh i'm not being self-deprecating here i i guess i'm like opening up a vein here when i say this it was uh

it was a very art you know the expression it's it's it's better to have written than it is the right yeah was very much applicable here there were times when um I was not my best self because it's like um you know the book's 87 thousand words and it's a lot of thousands yeah did you do that for Brent Selleck? I did not do that from Brent Selleck. But Brent Selleck has an appearance in there around the Snowball chapter. But no, like, you know, I've never run a marathon, but whenever I ask a marathon runner about running the marathon, I'm always like, what's it like at like mile three or mile four?

You're like, oh, my goodness. You know, I have, I'm 22 miles to go here, right? And so when it's like, when it's, you know, July 7th and you have 60,000 more words to write, you know, you're 20,000 more words in or your 20,000 words in and you're making calls and you're, you know, you're teaching a class and you're doing this podcast. And then, you know, you're doing like this Connor Barwin story for the athletic at the time. And it's like, is the juice worth the squeeze here? But the reality is, is that when it comes out and you get the, there's nothing cooler. Like I said this with Annie McCullough a few weeks ago. There's nothing cooler than walking into a bookstore and like seeing, you know, seeing something you put a lot of work in displayed.

So yeah, so I appreciate you bringing it up. And I imagine we'll talk a lot about it. I don't have my talk. You know, I posted it. I posted it this morning because they finalized the cover yesterday. And so they sent me that and they're like, you can put this out there now. I haven't wanted to put it out until there was a cover.

But I don't have all my talking points. There's still some things that work. I'm kind of like some details. I'm ironing out with the book. But September 24th is when it comes out. You can pre-order it now on Amazon. And I'm happy to talk a lot more about it this summer. And I will say as much as that.

pathological work ethic continues, and I know that you've got plenty going on. It is nice to see based on your dress that you were spending time at the beach this summer. All right. Do you guys think this is a beach shirt? This is not a beach shirt. I would not wear it in the beach.

Bo, first thing he says to me, it's not going to the beach. That's not true. The first thing I said was congratulations on the book. How is the response? Yeah. This is a white linen shirt. Okay?

It's just like a nut. This is a shirt you would wear. No. No, you wouldn't wear a white linen shirt. Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter what I think. Emily likes it. That's what matters.

Yeah. When I pulled up my app today for what it felt like outside, 95, it was, it was going to feel like 95 degrees outside. It was 88. This is going to feel like 95. I was looking for something airy. I was looking for something, you know, um, um, modern and something I'm happy with. I didn't think much of it until I got to work.

So that's, that's all. This is not something I would wear to the beach. I didn't say anything. And then you sat down and the different media member was like, hey, just get paid from the pool? Yeah, I'm like, I'm going, like my son has his last baseball game tonight. I'm not going to wear this on the field of baseball.

I'll put on. This is like a shirt I would wear out the dinner. Emily likes it. That's all that matters. Joya, What's Julia's view here? Or does she not want to come on that? No, no, no.

I'm sorry, Joy. You don't have to chime in. But, yeah, I will ask her after the fact. I think this is a fine, like up, like, it's a nice shirt, but it's dressed up. It's a beach casual. All right. All right. Nonetheless.

Julia says it's a nice shirt. Thank you. Cousin Gray says linen is the fabric right now. Yes. Emily said, so, so, so why don't you get a linen t-shirt to wear like a nice linen t-shirt instead of like a heavy polo shirt, right? And so I was like, all right, I'll wear linen t-shirt. I thought it was like a nice upscale shirt. That's all.

Nobody said otherwise. Okay. All right. Okay. I had to go ahead. I mean, we'd gas on you up so much. I had to have one conversation. All right.

Well, that'll do it for this episode of the P.H.O.I. Eagles podcast. You can pre-order. Zach's book on Amazon. Is that where you want people to go to right now? Yeah. There was going to be other places where I direct you to as it gets closer to the release date. But right now, if you want to pre-order, you can go to Amazon. Sure.

Okay. Well, you can pre-order the franchise, the Philadelphia Eagles, a curated history of the birds coming September 24th on Amazon. We'll talk playing more about that. We will also talk plenty more about what happens at mini camp tomorrow with a particular focus on the offense. Jalen Hertz did throw another interception today, but I thought it looked a little bit better than he did last week. We'll unpack that a little bit and plenty more to come over the course of the rest of the week. We'll be back at 3.30 tomorrow. Thank you so much for watching and listening.

We will talk to you then. And as always, we love you.