injuries

All posts tagged injuries

EAGLES ARE AFRAID TO SAY…

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/11/16
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Front Office (F.O.), Players, Rants, Rivals, Special Teams, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

INJURIES are now the norm. This is an issue that the Eagles have avoided discussing. Initially as a fan, I gave them the benefit of the doubt on this. However, now their lack of mentioning it, now feels too deliberate to ignore.

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Eagles players spend far too much time being unable to show up and do their jobs. If you missed time at work like Eagles players do, your job would be looking to replace you. One of the axioms of the NFL is “The greatest ability, is availability.” Well fellow fans, our team stacks up poorly in that department.

Understand, this is no way an indictment of our players. Nobody wants a torn this, ruptured that, or any of their muscles tearing away from a bone. Yet that’s what we have on this roster. Throughout this roster. Regardless of position or age. And it’s been going on for years now.

I understand Head Coach Doug Pederson’s loyalty to the coaches on his staff. He deserves the chance and reserves the right, to go to bat for his guys. However, not taking a hard look at a couple of coaches, may negatively affect the entire staff, when everyone gets shit-canned, due to annual and systemic under-delivery. It could also undercut young and promising careers, for coaches as well as players.

There could be an argument made that perhaps our Strength and Conditioning department is less than competent at keeping our players strong and in good condition. Then again what does a guy like me know about football conditioning? Especially vs a group of top experts.

Hey! Speaking of experts at the top of their field, did anyone notice that our Strength and Conditioning Coach is essentially a dietitian? Also his Assistant S&C Coach, is a big, fat, round guy? No really. That’s going on. Right now.

DT Timmy Jernigan and LB Nigel Bradham. WR DeSean Jackson and RB Darren Sproles. These are the guys in charge of making sure that those players are ready to go every week: 

S&C Coach Josh Hingst, and AS&C Coach Keith Gray:

The S&C coach for the Eagles, was the S&C assistant for a year in Jacksonville, before we brought him here. For four years before that, he essentially made smoothies and planned menus (2009-11 college, 2008 Atlanta Falcons.). There are literally more pictures on-line of his wedding, than there are of him coaching.

The assistant (not just strength, but conditioning) would probably die of a heart attack if he attempted to jog a lap with the players.

Our roster is now a reflection of a department that doesn’t pass the eye test, and then proceeds to fail every relevant test that follows that. It’s gotten so bad that it may now affect our playoff chances.

Something needs to be done. Is Pat Croce doing anything?

THE DOOMSDAY SCENARIO

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/11/21
Posted in: Conversations, Draft, Front Office (F.O.), NFC East, playoffs, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Pederson Lurie.jpg

DESPITE an awful season so far, we’re still just 2 games out of first place with 6 games to play, 4 of which are against division opponents. We still control our own destiny as far as winning the NFC East goes. However, let me indulge those who say the season is already over. Let’s talk about the worst case scenario for 2018.

Lets say the Eagles fall off a cliff, lose all of the next 6 games, and end up 4 – 12. What does that mean for us?

1) It means the Eagles would likely pick in the top five in every round of the 2019 NFL Draft.

We have a good nucleus to build around, and an ass ton of Draft picks to work with. We already have a franchise QB, a solid RT, 2 blue chip TE’s, a solid WR group, youth at CB, a blue chip DT, a young star at DE, 2 solid starters at LB, a K that we can grow old with, a utility RB who may still have some up side, and a third string QB who would be fine as a second stringer.

We need a bell-cow RB, some youth on the interior Offensive Line, youth at Safety, a third LB, and a second DE.

2) It means we (should) get a 2019 schedule with fewer playoff teams on it.

In 2017 we came off of a 7-9 season, and had a schedule that included the Seahawks, Raiders, Chiefs, all 2016 playoff teams. add to that four games against division rivals (Cowboys and giants) who were playoff teams. Coming off of a losing record, we played half a season against playoff contender class teams. If 2019 is easy, so what? We’re owed an easy schedule year.

3) What are the odds that the injury bug bite this hard THREE years in a row?

It’s already weird that it’s biting this hard for a second straight year. So next year we’ll likely be healthier. (Then again, I thought the same thing for this season.) Aging, oft injured vets like RB Darren Sproles and LT Jason Peters will likely not be back. So those annual nagging injuries won’t be part of the 2019 landscape.

4) It means that this next offseason will not be spent writing books and such.

I don’t begrudge the players for basking in what could be once in a lifetime limelight. However, the fact is, those hungry dogs became so well fed, that they had trouble rolling over onto their legs. A 4 – 12 finish would mean that, Summer with Carson up in Fargo this year would have a different feel than it did last year.

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This is all provided that the Eagles year gets worse. In the event of a worst case 2018, the foreseeable future still looks pretty good. In fact, it could be argued that a bad 2018 could be used to our long-term advantage.

This isn’t justifying losing. It’s not spin, rose-tinted glasses, or tireless optimism. It’s about getting up when we fall down. It’s not about glass half-full, or glass half-empty. Its about seeing in either case, that the glass needs to be completely filled. 

 

As long as we’re still mathematically alive for any sort of playoff run, this team has no right to tank. Players like Peters, Sproles and Carson Wentz deserve better effort than that. That said, even if the season does go full-blown Hindenburg, there’s no reason to hang your heads Eagles fans. One way or another we’ll come out ahead of this.

WAS NICK FOLES SABOTAGED?

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/09/18
Posted in: Conspiracy Corner, Crazy Talk, Offense, Players, Rants, Roster, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

beastie_boys_sabotage.jpg

SABOTAGE is a strong word to throw around. Especially when it’s early in the year, and no one is pointing fingers. For me to use that word, probably seems inflammatory to you. It demands that I give my fellow fans an explanation.

Here it comes. here it comes fire.jpg

On Monday, I watched former Eagles Seth Joyner and Barrett Brooks, question why rookie TE Dallas Goedert was used so little, and why a guy like TE Joshua Perkins was used as much as he was. As Joyner said, you don’t move up in the second round of the Draft to take a player and sit him. This preseason there was never any indication that Goedert wasn’t picking up the system. Quite the opposite in fact! Yet this season, Goedert’s formations just aren’t being called much. At least not yet. Not yet.

As thin as we were at WR to start this last game, we only got thinner when WR Mike Wallace went down with an ankle injury. Of course that meant leaning more on WR Nelson Agholor, but shouldn’t it have meant more playing time for WR Shelton Gibson? He’d been questionable, but he suited up for Special Teams. With a second year under his belt, he was a rare bright spot this preseason. So why was he less involved than WR’s Kamar Aiken and DeAndre Carter? Aiken was added to the team just three days before the game, but played enough to snag 5 passes. Gibson had no catches. Apparently his formations aren’t being called much in these two games, either.

Spark plug RB Darren Sproles was held out of this last game. Coach Doug Pederson referred to him as having a “slight hamstring injury”. What? Hold u- Wait. What the hell does that even mean!? Players play through mild hammies all the time, why not Sproles?

It’s not just that QB Nick Foles doesn’t have starters around him. It’s that he’s out there playing with some guys practically off the street. Even when the bench holds better options. (Like I said, certain formations just aren’t being called much.)

Why would you withhold firepower from your QB? Why would you not arm your back-up QB as much as you can?

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Let’s back-burner that and talk play selection.

Through two games, the Eagles have thrown the ball 83 times and run the ball 51 times. So 61% of the time, we pass. In those two games we are 5 for 6 in the red zone (83.3%). However, in the red zone, of the 28 plays we’ve run, only 13 have been passes (46%). Why would you take the ball out of your QB’s hands in the most critical area of the field?

The answer to almost every question in this article is: To avoid ANY hint of QB controversy. If Foles doesn’t have much firepower, he’s unlikely to perform at a very high level. If you take the ball out of his hands near the end zone, he can’t get credit for scoring much, and so can’t create the situation that Tampa Bay will have in two short weeks.

A lid has been put on Foles to keep him from inadvertently fueling the (now mostly dead) debate of whether we should bench a Super Bowl MVP. I won’t go so far as saying that the coaching staff threw the Bucs game, but I will certainly say that deep down, they didn’t mind the loss. Especially since the Bucs had their hands full with us, even as banged up as we were. It speaks well of who we’d be with our REAL starters out there.

If QB Carson Wentz returns and has to play with the same cast that Foles has for two weeks, I’ll write a mea culpa. If I’m wrong I’ll eat crow and suck up any criticism that this article nets me. However, if Wentz comes back and any of the “under-used” players suddenly end up getting their number called more, or if suddenly guys come back, playing through “slight” injuries… If that happens… If that happens, then you’ll know that our offensive struggles were an inside job.

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Stay woke.

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FOUR THINGS: WK 8: EAGLES-49ERS

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/10/27
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, Offense, Players, Preview. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

W8-SF

THIS week we’re coming off of a win, in which we suffered two devastating, season-ending losses to LT Jason Peters and MLB Jordan Hicks. It’s been a season fraught with injuries that we’ve managed to mask, mitigate or otherwise overcome completely. However, there is a growing concern among some Eagles fans and media, that this team has run out of miracles.

This is going to be a very interesting game. A 6-1 Eagles team, playing in Philly against an 0-7 San Fran team. In most years this would be a trap game. This would be the game where the Eagles took an opponent lightly, came out flat, and were left saying…

da fuck

Instead, we got yet another visit from (that bitch) the Injury Bug last week, and it’s left us with questions. Questions like, Will the season fall apart now? Can the coaching staff make enough adjustments to offset the losses? Is there enough talent on the roster to give coaches any decent options? This game will be about answering those questions.

So let’s talk about the Four Things we need to focus on this week versus the 49ers :

1) Win the blitz: After LT Jason Peters was injured, the logical assumption was that RT Lane Johnson would take over the left spot, and back-up OT Halapoulivaati Vaitai would play the right, where he could be helped by a TE. NOPE! Head Coach Doug Pederson is leaving Johnson at RT, and starting (yes starting) Vaitai at LT. That means our RB’s will spend a lot of time lined up on the left to help Vaitai. If the RB’s are blocking left, expect blitzes from the middle and the right. QB Carson Wentz has to identify blitzers quickly and get that ball out of his hands. Otherwise this game will become a nightmare.

2) Air it out: While Wentz can’t spend all day holding the ball, at times we really do need to throw the ball deep this week. We need to show teams that losing Peters didn’t shrink our playbook, so not respecting our WR’s will be costly. In the long-run this helps out our run game. More than that, we need to demonstrate to our own O-line, that the staff still trusts them.

3) Put the top on: The most dangerous player on the 49ers offense is WR Marquise Goodwin. The guy is faster than a rumor, and if San Fran really knew what they had, they might be 5-2 instead of 0-7. We have to contain Goodwin, thereby keeping the rest of their offense in front of us, instead behind us. Goodwin is on the injury list with a “back injury”, but until he’s ruled “out”, he’s still as dangerous as honesty in a PC world.

4) Turn up the heat: Show blitz on practically every 2nd and 3rd down, but only bring it when the distance is 8 yards, or more. Getting to the 49ers QB isn’t hard at all. No need to overextend and expose ourselves and give up one or more big, catch-and-run plays underneath. The idea is to get MLB Joe Walker mentally involved and then keep him dialed in, emotionally. He’s a back-up, but he can’t look like a back-up out there. Otherwise, the 49ers will key on him and give themselves a chance.

If we do all these things, we’re just about guaranteed to win. Now that we’ve covered what should happen, let’s get into what likely will happen:

Offensively, the Eagles are going to give Vaitai help, by having RB’s watch that LT/LG gap for blitzers or rips inside. That, calls for a heavy dose of the big RB LeGarrette Blount this week. He may be allowed to develop a rhythm running the ball, since he should be out there in pass protection so much. (Having him out there and not really giving him the ball eventually tips our play-call to the 9ers. Why help them out?) So expect Blount to run the ball a season-high 18 times. Not using Blount in pass-pro, is an invitation for disaster.

So much is up in the air on Defense. It’s likely that Walker will be asked to make scaled down zone drops, and just attack his run fits. There would be no sense in the coaches telling him to go out there and make plays. He first has to get familiar with not just what he should be doing, but others around him as well.

It has to be expected that our MLB will be targeted in the passing game. While it would be nonsense for coaches to tell him to make plays, let me say AS A FAN, he has to make one or two plays, when they come at him. Otherwise, he will be seen as our weak link.

On the whole, we’ll win because even with as injured as we are, we still have more flat-out talent than San Francisco.

PREDICTION: EAGLES 27 – 49ers 10

yeah bitch

SURVIVING OUR INJURIES

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/10/25
Posted in: Defense, Front Office (F.O.), Offense, Players, Roster, Special Teams, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

wounded eagle

THIS fucking sucks. It’s bad enough that we lost LT Jason Peters and MLB Jordan Hicks for the season. Having to rely on OT Halapoulivaati Vaitai, and MLB Joe Walker, only makes matters worse, because there currently is no safety net behind those guys. Oh wait! It gets better! To add a dash of salt to the cut on our eyeball, there is the distinct possibility that we’ve seen the last of Peters.

Hicks on the other hand will be back here next year. Whether or not he comes back as a starter, has a lot to do with how Walker handles these last 9 games. Depth at LB has been an issue for this team for over a decade now. Like Guard, it is not a position we do a good job of drafting or stocking up on.

The word on the street, in every news paper, and on every website, is that RT Lane Johnson will move to LT to protect QB Carson Wentz’s blindside. This will relegate Vaitai, to RT. Given that Vaitai has problems against speed, or quickness, or strength, or persistence, I’m hoping that the coaching staff will get him more TE help.

Not giving Vaitai TE help would just be an act of arrogance. It could also lead to a career-ending moment for our franchise QB. Few things could be as embarrassing as starting the year as the 6 – 1, number one team in the NFL, only to implode completely and mortgage the future; over nothing more than an unwillingness to adjust the Offensive scheme a little.

I like Walker as a Special Teamer, and he’s fine for giving your starter a breather here and there. He just never seems eager to mix it up or control the area from DE to DE. You want a MLB to piss all over that area, and mark it as HIS. In all truth, during the preseason, I liked LB Don Cherry much more than I liked Walker. Maybe we’ll see Cherry back in here soon. (Gotta work on his tendency to shuffle his feet before hitting the gas, though.)

I’m not sure what can be done to help Walker. Hicks has a reputation for being a ballhawk, so QB’s weren’t too interested in challenging him when he was in coverage. Given that Walker is only 236 and isn’t a thumper, I’m hoping that coverage will be where he excels, and that we can get some tipped passes and a cheap interception (or four) from QB’s testing him.

Three days ago, I wrote another article about how I’m not worried about any of the other teams in the NFC, stopping us in the playoffs. I wanted to wait until after the Redskins game to release it, so that I wouldn’t jinx the win by writing 6 – 1, before it actually happened. Then these injuries happened. I may still release the article after we demolish San Francisco, but right now, I hardly feel like talking shit.

OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE EAGLES

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/05/09
Posted in: Crazy Talk, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Players, Roster. Tagged: , , , , , , . 4 Comments

sam bradford

THE Dallas Cowboys have given me reason to be optimistic about the Eagles 2015 season. Not be because I expect the Cowboys to be bad, but because they make it safe to assume that the Eagles will be good. Again, let me say that I am in no way bad mouthing the Cowboys, just being optimistic about the Eagles, and getting behind guys like Sam Bradford, Ryan Mathews, Kiko Alonso, Walter Thurmond, and rookie Jordan Hicks.

Earlier this offseason when it seemed you needed a season ending injury on your resume to make the Eagles roster, I was worried. Injuries have a way of being cumulative. Overcompensation during rehab for X injury often leads to Y injury. Notice how some guys always seem hurt and some guys never do? Over time injuries mount and they sap a player’s effectiveness.

Enter the Dallas Cowboys. QB Tony Romo’s back is a ticking time bomb. RB Darren McFadden has almost as many missed starts (49) as actual starts (63), due to injury. The guy I thought would be McFadden’s back-up (Joesph Randle) seems to have gotten an unspoken demotion  in favor of former Cardinal Ryan Williams. Williams has a torn patellar tendon in his past. (Here is his career.) 

What gives me so much hope for my team is despite the ICU that is the Dallas backfield, the national media just can’t stop dick-eating the Cowboys. I guess that means that we’re playing 2015 with injuries turned off, in which case we have a pretty good team. I mean most of my worry about the Eagles centered around who we could and couldn’t keep on the field; but if the Cowboys are injury-proof then why aren’t we? Shit, we’re the ones with the smoothies, right?

Of course reality could set in, and both teams could end up with a lot of fucked up key athletes. (Which would probably be what we both deserve.) But hey, if it ain’t broke (at the moment) then I have plenty of reason to be optimistic. Right?