Eagles keep busy during their virtual offseason
Pederson’s virtual offseason only busy work to keep players engaged
One of these weeks Gov. Wolf will tire of playing with his color-coded map and allow Eagles’ coaches and players to go back to work at their training complex.
One of these weeks the NFL’s plan to protect players and coaches from the spread of the coronavirus in the locker room, meeting rooms and at practice will be real and posted, not an uncomfortable discussion.
Best of all, one of these weeks head coach Doug Pederson will get a chance to see how much
Andre Dillard wants to play left tackle, whether first-round pick Jalen Reagor is for real or a virtual pro day workout warrior and if second-round selection Jalen Hurts really is the quick study who won games against the best teams in the country at two different powerhouse colleges.
Until then it’s all sizzle, no steak.
Right now, it’s Dillard, who was overpowered the brief time he played last year, and not free agent and future Hall of Famer Jason Peters at left tackle, protecting Carson Wentz’s blindside.
It’s Nate Sudfeld, the backup quarterback who wasn’t reliable enough to be the backup last year, at quarterback.
And it’s Reagor, who ran like a Notre Dame tight end at the NFL combine, as the team’s third-fastest speed receiver, playing in the fumes of Marquise Goodwin and DeSean Jackson.
Pederson has no clue when the lights will actually go on, enabling him to really evaluate. He’s caught in a virtual world that golfing counterpart Sean Payton, another veteran head coach with a Super Bowl title, has deemed insignificant.
With no chance of discovering what kind of team he has, it makes you wonder why Ped
erson even bothers with this virtual dog and pony show.
“I just didn’t want guys to be idle,” Pederson said on a teleconference Tuesday. “I think when you become idle, you get a little bit, you know, it becomes a challenge. So this way it gets the guys up, it gets the guys moving, it gets the guys thinking about football. Is it right? I don’t know.
“We still don’t know if training camp is going to start on time or not. But at the same time, I do know that at least we’re getting some football done and hopefully we’ll be better off for it.”
For those ignoring it, a block of NFL players are making the wrong kind of headlines. Guns, illegal poker games and alcohol have been part of the trouble, according to reports. Of course, all those guys were in virtual training, too.
With nothing etched in stone in any of the professional sports, and with governors looking at each other, not the cold, hard facts to deal with the pandemic, a general malaise has set in. It’s not just a matter of when, but if.
Deep down inside, Pederson is using the virtual offseason to keep his team together. Until he’s told differently, he’s locking in on late July for training camp.
“I’m preparing as if we’re going to be back in our building by training camp,” Pederson said. “Nothing is definite. Nothing has been said. But I’m preparing that way to be back in the building, hopefully in mid-July, so we can be on the grass. That’s my preparation. That’s my mindset right now as I prepare for training camp. When we get these guys back it’s got to be full steam ahead.”
Training camp basically is all an NFL team needs to enter the season, judging by the 2011 NFL lockout. Players and coaches assembled for the first time at training camp. The first month was particularly sloppy but the play picked up as the year wore on. The Eagles got off to a slow start under Andy Reid, who rallied the Dream Team to an 8-8 record.
With rules further restricting the amount of contact at training camp practices, courtesy of the new collective bargaining agreement, an abbreviated camp will have to do.
Pederson’s hope of five to six weeks practicing on grass, if you will, seems like a pipedream. Particularly if there’s an unexpected breakout of COVID-19, which, gauging by the statistics, would appear unlikely anywhere but in a nursing home, best to all those fighting through it there.
“It would be unfortunate, obviously, if someone were to come down sick, but I think moving forward with all the precautions, all the necessary testing, all the medical data that we in front of us we would be able to handle someone if they were to come down ill at that time,” Pederson said. “It’s a little bit of a hypothetical question that’s somewhat hard to answer because so many guys, so many players, so many coaches in the organization would possibly be affected.”
Until Eagles players get the word to return, they’re on their best behavior to follow the suggestions laid out by Pederson and his staff.
Measuring compliance is next to impossible.
Pederson said he’s sat in on virtual meetings where it’s clear players are taking good notes. Of course, they could be just good doodling, too.
Pederson said the strength coach and his team can gauge progress by what the players look like. Really? Ever sucked in your gut and pumped up your pecs for the swimsuit shot?
This virtual offseason is strictly busy work for a team the head coach doesn’t believe mature enough to do it on its own.