Posts Tagged ‘Michael Vick’
Sunday, December 2nd, 2012
by Brandyn Campbell
(Image via Business Insider)
Poor performance breeds drama. In addition to being disappointing, this has been an incredibly dramatic season for the Philadelphia Eagles. The multitude of storylines show no sign of slowing down, particularly not as they relate to the quarterback position.
Friday saw a report from ESPN’s Ed Werder stating that Mike Vick felt that the Birds were “playing politics” with his injury and using it as justification for starting rookie QB Nick Foles. Also out there was a report from Sports Radio WIP stating that Mike Vick’s concussion was getting worse.
Then came the damage control. Team trainer Rick Burkholder said that the issue was simple: protecting player safety.
“There’s no conspiracy here. As the gatekeeper of these guys, he’s not going to play until he gets past baseline, gets through the five phases.”
Vick then commented on the situation himself, issuing a statement via the Eagles:
“I want to thank my fans for the thousands of well wishes. I also appreciate the support of the entire Eagles organization. I feel strong and healthy. As a professional athlete, I want to play in every game but the NFL has a specific protocol to protect players. My focus is to complete this process successfully, so I can rejoin my team on the field.”
Vick is stuck at the fourth of five stages he must pass in order to return to the football field. But when he clears all phases of the league mandated tests, the team says that he’s still their starter. Reid stressed this fact on Friday.
“I make the decision, and I told you that. Until I tell you different, trust it.”
Uh huh. It seems surreal that there is so much commotion over this, because let’s be honest. Who among us expects Vick to start over Foles even after he makes a full recovery? While the veteran quarterback was far from the root of all the team’s problems in this horrific 2012 campaign, what good does it do to play him now? Vick is all but certain to be shown the curb come the end of the season, as will Reid. The Eagles need to know if there is any realistic chance that Foles is the quarterback of the team’s future. If not, they have to plan their offseason strategy accordingly.
It’s certainly understandable why Vick would want to return to the playing field. He’s a competitor. He wants to show what he can do to other teams in the league. Who wants to end their time with a team with an injury and/or by being benched? No one.
But the time when what’s in Vick’s best interest is a matter of concern for the Philadelphia Eagles is over. No one ever said breakups were easy.
Want more Philly Sports Muse? You can find me on Twitter at @sports_muse and on Facebook.
Brandyn Campbell of Philly Sports Muse, for War Room Sports
Tags:All's Fair in Sports and War, Andy Reid, Brandyn Campbell, Concussions, Football, Michael Vick, Mike Vick, NFL, Nick Foles, Philadelphia Eagles, Philly Sports Muse, Sports Talk Radio, The War Room, War Room Sports
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Thursday, November 29th, 2012
by Brandyn Campbell
DeSean Jackson walks off the field on Monday Night.
(Photo by Michael Perez of the Associated Press)
To say that the Philadelphia Eagles offense has been unlucky when it comes to injuries in the 2012 season is to put the situation mildly. The o-line has been decimated by injuries, Mike Vick and LeSean McCoy are struggling to recover from concussions, and another key weapon was added to the list this week: DeSean Jackson.
Head coach Andy Reid said the wideout was placed on IR after suffering fractures to ribs in the first quarter of the Monday Night Football contest against the Carolina Panthers, ending his season. Jackson finished the season with a disappointing 45 catches for 700 yards and 2 touchdowns.
In related news, Reid also revealed on Tuesday that Jason Peters is also headed to IR. He had previously been placed on the non-football injury list.
It doesn’t like the Eagles offense will catch a break anytime soon as the injuries continue to pile up.
Want more Philly Sports Muse? You can find me on Twitter at @sports_muse and on Facebook.
Brandyn Campbell of Philly Sports Muse, for War Room Sports
Tags:All's Fair in Sports and War, Andy Reid, Brandyn Campbell, Carolina Panthers, Desean Jackson, Football, Jason Peters, LeSean McCoy, Michael Vick, Mike Vick, NFL, Philadelphia Eagles, Philly Sports Muse, Sports Talk Radio, The War Room, War Room Sports
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Friday, November 23rd, 2012
by Brandyn Campbell
Rookies RB Bryce Brown and QB Nick Foles will lead the Eagles offense on Monday Night against the Carolina Panthers.
Nick Foles will see the bright lights of Monday Night Football for the first time as he returns as the Eagles starting quarterback for the second straight game. Foles’ start is expected as the Philadelphia Eagles face the Carolina Panthers this week. Mike Vick is still struggling to recover from and pass league mandated testing for a concussion sustained in Week 10 against the Cowboys .
The rookie quarterback will have another opportunity to get used to the speed of the NFL and find his stride within it. Following his less-than-spectacular debut against the Redskins, where he threw 21 of 46 passes for 204 yards with two interceptions, Foles has vowed to learn from the experience and improve — quickly.
“I’m not going to make any excuses. I need to get better. I’m going to learn from it, though. I was able to see what I did fundamentally, maybe decision-making sometimes, and I’m going to improve on it.”
Running back LeSean McCoy is also dealing with a concussion and another rookie, Bryce Brown, is expected to get his first start in McCoy’s absence. Remarkably, it will be Brown’s first start since 2008 when he was in high school. Drafting Brown was a gamble but the Eagles have used him steadily this season. Brown has so far accumulated 141 yards on 32 carries. He will need to show that his blocking abilities have greatly improved in order to provide some help to the struggling Philadelphia offense.
On the other side of the ball, another rookie looks forward to an exciting game, as defensive end Vinny Curry will be active for the first time this season. And why not give the hometown kid a try? The disappointing performance of the widely touted Eagles defensive line throughout the season has been one of the many storylines attributed to the 3-7 record of the team. The second-round pick is eager to show the fans and his teammates what he can do, but knows that being active for the game doesn’t tell him how much action he’ll see on the field.
“Patience is the key. Face it, those guys are household names [teammates like Trent Cole and Jason Babin]. I also want to establish my name around this league.”
“That’s going to be pretty sweet being active. But now the thing is, hopefully I get a lot of plays.”
Curry’s enthusiasm is infectious and his eagerness to give his all to the team he grew up rooting for means he plans to put it all out on the table. Or, more accurately, on the field. What should Eagles fans expect to see from Curry when he finally gets an opportunity to show what he can do during NFL regular season action?
“Just a guy out there who has worked his tail off. I was brought here in the second round, and I just want to show them what I can bring to the table and let them form their own opinion about me.”
In a game that may well yield yet another bleak outcome for Philadelphia’s woeful season, that’s something to root for.
Want more Philly Sports Muse? You can find me on Twitter at @sports_muse and on Facebook.
Brandyn Campbell of Philly Sports Muse, for War Room Sports
Tags:All's Fair in Sports and War, Brandyn Campbell, Bryce Brown, Carolina Panthers, Dallas Cowboys, LeSean McCoy, Michael Vick, Mike Vick, NFL, Nick Foles, Philadelphia Eagles, Philly Sports Muse, Sports Talk Radio, The War Room, Vinny Curry, War Room Sports
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Tuesday, November 20th, 2012
by Brandyn Campbell
(Image via USA Today)
Andy Reid’s job as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles is safe at least through Monday night, per a report in the Daily News. And if you’re hoping that Reid will show mercy and throw himself on the sword of unemployment, you’re out of luck. It ain’t happening.
Reid was asked whether his own leadership has been rendered ineffective in trying to motivate his men. As we know with our Andy, he likes to evaluate everything. Including himself.
“Listen, I look at everything. I’m not telling you I don’t look at that. I think we’re not winning football games, so I take that responsibility and since I’m in that leadership spot, then my leadership right now isn’t good enough. I’ve got to do a better job there and make sure that we play better.” (Emphasis mine)
Do you think that the phrase “we’ve got to do a better job” or any variation thereof sounds as hollow to Reid as it comes out of his mouth as it does falling onto our tired, saddened ears?
The questioning went further and Reid was asked point blank if there was a stage when he would consider stepping down from his head coaching duties.
“I’m standing in front of the team and telling them these are the things we need to do, one of which is to continue to battle. So, I think that’d be a cop-out. That’s not how I see things. That’s not the way I’m wired. We’re going to keep battling and do it as a team. I’m not going to tell the guys one thing and then do the other.”
Big Red continues to stick up for his team, his players, and swears that there is no leadership void on the squad. And he continues to say that the issues are fixable. If the issues can be addressed but still are problems, then where do you go from there? What’s the point in saying the problems are “fixable” when you have shown game after game that the team is, for whatever reason, not capable of fixing them?
There are no words that Reid can say that any of us want to hear at this stage. We’re beyond that. There is nothing that can be said to begin to address the failure that has been this season. So Reid has stopped trying to explain. And we are no longer willing to listen.
The Eagles currently stand in 15th place in the NFC. The team in last place? Monday night’s opponent, the Carolina Panthers. Does anyone truly believe that there’s a team left in the league that the Birds can handily beat? Or just beat at all? If it doesn’t happen on Monday then a prime time audience will have a front-row seat to the revolt of a fanbase.
Injury news
Reid stated that Mike Vick will be the starting quarterback if healthy next week, throwing aside the conventional wisdom that the season is Foles’ to ride into the sunset. However, Vick failed his impact test and is still at baseline so still has a way to go towards health.
LeSean McCoy is also at stage one of his concussion and is day to day. Reid stated that, in his non-medical opinion, Shady’s injury didn’t seem as “significant” as Vick’s but added, “who am I to judge?”
Want more Philly Sports Muse? You can find me on Twitter at @sports_muse and on Facebook.
Brandyn Campbell of Philly Sports Muse, for War Room Sports
Tags:All's Fair in Sports and War, Andy Reid, Brandyn Campbell, Carolina Panthers, Football, LeSean McCoy, Michael Vick, Mike Vick, NFL, Philadelphia Eagles, Philly Sports Muse, Sports Talk Radio, The War Room, War Room Sports
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Sunday, November 18th, 2012
by Brandyn Campbell
All eyes will be on Nick Foles today at FedEx Field.
(Photo via New York Daily News)
We all know that football is a team sport and that to get a win, all phases of the game must come together to propel a group to victory. But come Sunday, it’s going to be all about the quarterbacks.
When the Philadelphia Eagles face the Washington Redskins at FedEx field on Sunday afternoon, the storylines and excitement overwhelmingly surround the two young quarterbacks who will lead their teams.
The reasons for the QB focus are manifold. The playoff chances for both teams are grim, as today’s game represents a fight for the very bottom of the NFC East. That’s not very fun.
The Washington Redskins have found their franchise quarterback in Robert Griffin III. The hopes and dreams of a team who has been crap for years rides on the shoulders of this young man. Is he the piece that’s been needed all along to start to turn things around for Skins? It certainly looks that way.
As an added bit of intrigue, RG3 spoke about his meeting with Andy Reid at February’s scouting combine in Indianapolis this week. While Reid portrayed the meeting as routine, Griffin stated that the Eagles head coach said that the Birds were “very interested” in him. We know that the chances of Philadelphia actually getting this year’s #2 overall pick were slim. But still, there will be an element of wistfulness at what could have been as we watch Griffin III go to work on today.
And then we have the Eagles. Rather than being on the upswing of the curve like Washington, this is a team in decline. If 8-8 was unacceptable to owner Jeffery Lurie in 2011, the team’s current 3-6 record is an abomination. Two straight years of hope and hype and talent and the team has fallen apart. It’s likely the last stand for Reid and Vick. So that means all eyes are on third-round draft selection Nick Foles.
There is a lot riding on Foles’ young shoulders. He will be fighting behind an offensive line that has performed so poorly that I’ve run out of adjectives to describe them. Will Foles’ play be solid enough to give us hope that he could be the future for Philadelphia? Or do you let him ride out the remainder of the season regardless of how he performs to better assess what you have in the rookie?
Updates on Mike Vick’s concussion reveal that, at least in the short-term, there may be no option other than to play Foles. According to Rick Buckholder, the team’s trainer, Vick is not at all himself after sustaining a concussion last week against the Cowboys.
“He’s not very alert right now in terms of he just doesn’t have that energy. He’s tired all the time, he’s slept a lot, and he’s not getting rid of that fatigue. When I talk to him, he’s just not the Michael Vick I know when he’s healthy.”
At this point, Eagles fans are simply rooting for Foles to largely stay on his feet, put in a solid performance and prevent Philadelphia from falling to the very bottom of the division.
Foles, of course, will need a lot of help from his friends. Thankfully, his first start in the NFL will be against a team that has the 29th overall defense in the league (30th in pass defense and a respectable 7th against the run). But New Orleans was ranked dead last and we saw what happened there. The Birds must utilize the incredible asset they have in LeSean McCoy and commit to the run to help Foles. Defense has got get the Redskins off the field on third downs, a particular problem for the Eagles as of late. In the last three games, opponents have converted on 17 out of 35 third down opportunities in the Bowles era of Philadelphia’s defense. And Bobby April knows that special teams has done the Eagles no favors, this week taking full blame for the poor performance of the unit that led to a heart-stomping 78-yard punt return for a touchdown by Cowboy Dwayne Harris.
Football is a team sport, and at 1pm ET we will watch to see how — or if — the Philadelphia Eagles support Foles in his NFL debut by putting in strong performances during each phase of the game to help him succeed. Vick certainly couldn’t do it by himself and there is no way Philadelphia’s rookie can, either.
Want more Philly Sports Muse? You can find me on Twitter at @sports_muse and on Facebook.
Brandyn Campbell of Philly Sports Muse, for War Room Sports
Tags:All's Fair in Sports and War, Andy Reid, Brandyn Campbell, FedEx Field, LeSean McCoy, Michael Vick, Mike Vick, NFL, NFL Football, Philadelphia Eagles, Philly Sports Muse, RG3, Robert Griffin III, Sports Talk Radio, The War Room, War Room Sports, Washington Redskins
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Tuesday, November 13th, 2012
by Brandyn Campbell
You going in to take a hit or is it my turn?
Andy Reid said on Monday that Mike Vick suffered a “pretty significant” concussion in Sunday’s loss to the Dallas Cowboys. This fact sets the stage for Nick Foles to be the Eagles’ starter against the Redskins in Week 11, which is reportedly set to occur.
Said Reid,
“I’m just telling you Michael is hurting right now. Nick is going to step in and be the quarterback until that point comes, and we’ll take it all from there. Listen, I can’t project the future. I’m just telling you what I’m telling you. Mike is the quarterback. Nick comes in, and he is a relief pitcher and does his thing.”
Yesterday I asked the question if Vick’s early exit from Sunday’s game is how things will end for the quarterback in Philadelphia. Will that be his last appearance on the field as a starter? After all, it’s how Vick got his own opportunity to start for the Birds in 2010, beating out Kevin Kolb for the role after Kolb suffered a concussion.
If Foles shows promise against the Skins on Sunday, how could Reid justify pulling him? He wouldn’t have to because he wouldn’t do it. And let’s say Foles does poorly and the team falls to 3-7 (UGH). The season would be a wash at that point, with Vick virtually guaranteed to be gone at the end of the year. So why not see what you have in the rookie?
Vick will focus on resting and getting better, but will the move to Foles mean any improvement for this Eagles team? A squad already in desperate need of leadership now needs to get clamor behind a new quarterback. Will that transition be the final piece to make the wheels come off of the 2012 Eagles or will Philadelphia finally make a play to stop its five- game losing streak?
Want more Philly Sports Muse? You can find me on Twitter at @sports_muse and on Facebook.
Brandyn Campbell of Philly Sports Muse, for War Room Sports
Tags:All's Fair in Sports and War, Andy Reid, Brandyn Campbell, Dallas Cowboys, Football, Kevin Kolb, Michael Vick, Mike Vick, NFL, Nick Foles, Philadelphia Eagles, Philly Sports Muse, Sports Talk Radio, The War Room, War Room Sports, Washington Redskins
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Monday, November 12th, 2012
by Brandyn Campbell
A tough hit, a tough loss.
(Image via the Philadelphia Eagles)
With each successive loss, hope for this Philadelphia Eagles team was harder and harder to come by.
Five straight losses, the most in Andy Reid’s tenure in Philadelphia. The last time the Birds saw a win was on September 30 — the non-playoff Phillies saw a win more recently than Philly’s football team.
Perhaps more disturbing, there were no signs of improvement anywhere on the squad. You know the talent is there, but the hope of putting it together in a meaningful way?
Gone.
Then came just the slightest glimmer of hope on Sunday in the form of the implosion of the New York Giants against the Cincinnati Bengals, which resulted in a 31-13 loss for the current NFC East leader.
Suddenly, if the Eagles could somehow pull out a win they would still have a shot in the division.
There was hope in the first Philadelphia opening drive of the season that resulted in a touchdown, with a one-handed, 2-yard beauty caught by Riley Cooper to take a 7-0 lead. Vick was off to a strong start — 6/9, 70 yards and a 127.1 QB rating.
But then came former Eagle Ernie Sims to make a play, a tremendous irony as he neglected to do that his entire time in Philadelphia. With 11:29 left in the half Vick was down for the count, out of the game with a concussion and an eye injury.
And finally, it was time. Time to see what Nick Foles could do to help this team.
He made some good plays, he made some ugly plays. For a rookie quarterback who’s gotten no snaps in practice he made a good shot, finishing 22/32 for 219 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Those numbers just so happen to make Foles the highest total by any Eagles rookie QB in his NFL debut. He connected with teammates Jeremy Maclin for a 44-yard TD and Stanley Havili went up the middle for a yard with 1:57 left in the game. And that would be all she wrote for the Eagles in their 38-23 defeat.
The defense was able to put some pressure on Romo and notched 3 sacks, tying a season high. But tackles were missed, and the Eagles again performed their specialty of allowing a team with little running game before the meeting to find a successful one against the Birds.
If any segment of the game captures this five-game losing streak and this defeat in particular, it’s that 2:35 stretch in the 4th quarter where the Cowboys scored 21 points in all phases of their team — offense, defense, and a 78-yard punt return by Dwayne Harris? Which showed a total meltdown on all aspects of the Eagles squad. A streak of total humiliation to put a cap on an unbelievably awful outing against a hated Dallas team that just isn’t good.
Sunday demonstrated that for as bad as the Cowboys are, the Eagles are worse. That’s a hard pill to swallow. But it’s reality.
For those who wanted to see what Foles could do in the regular season, there will be plenty of opportunity to do that now. Despite Reid’s assertion that he’ll have to see how Vick’s health is before deciding who will be the Eagles’ quarterback against the Redskins next week, you and I know that there is no longer any reason to play Vick. While Vick gave Philadelphia the best chance to win when there was some chance of contending, that time has passed. And sadly, there is just nothing to play for at this point.
It certainly can’t be for heart and pride. We haven’t seen that out of this team in weeks. So might as well make it about seeing what you have in your rookie quarterback.
Want more Philly Sports Muse? You can find me on Twitter at @sports_muse and on Facebook.
Brandyn Campbell of Philly Sports Muse, for War Room Sports
Tags:All's Fair in Sports and War, Andy Reid, Brandyn Campbell, Dallas Cowboys, Jeremy Maclin, Michael Vick, Mike Vick, New York Giants, NFC East, NFL, Nick Foles, Philadelphia Eagles, Philly Sports Muse, Sports Talk Radio, The War Room, War Room Sports
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Sunday, November 11th, 2012
by Brandon Campbell
Today’s showdown between the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys at Lincoln Financial Field marks a battle of desperation. Two organizations who entered the season with high expectations now see their teams sitting at a disappointing 3-5, with already slim chances of contending for a playoff spot on the line this week.
Both Philadelphia and Dallas are teams more similar than we’d like to admit. Two squads filled with talent that can’t seem to put it all together on the field. Two quarterbacks in Mike Vick and Tony Romo plagued with turnover troubles whose fanbases are coming to the painful realization that they are not the ones who will lead them to the promised land of a Super Bowl ring. And growing calls for the end of the coaching tenures of Andy Reid and Jason Garrett.
In facing the Cowboys’ 5th-ranked defense, Philadelphia’s decimated offensive line catches a slight break with the injury of ILB Sean Lee. But they will have their hands full with the force that is DeMarcus Ware, who is tied with Clay Matthews for the most sacks in the NFL with 9. Dallas defensive coordinator Rob Ryan will move Ware around but anywhere he goes, Philadelphia’s o-line will struggle.
Demetress Bell will start at left tackle, where he will hopefully be slightly less of a disaster than he was when he stepped in for the injured Todd Herremans on the right in New Orleans. King Dunlap will fill Herremans’ former roll at RT this week. Dallas Reynolds will return at center, as will Evan Mathis at LG and Dennis Kelly at RG.
The Birds saw Vick sacked a season high 7 times and only managed a meager 13 points against New Orleans, the worst defense in the league. Philadelphia must find a way to protect Vick, and the QB’s decision-making must help the line and keep him out of harm’s way as well. For the Eagles to have any success they must involve LeSean McCoy and the run game prominently in their game plan to ease the burden of pass protection off the line.
Philadelphia, who went 0-5 in the red zone against the Saints last week, must make trips down the field count and get points on the board in order to begin to right the ship and win this game.
The Eagles D faces a quarterback in Romo who has the most interceptions in the NFL and a team that can’t get its running game going in light of an injured DeMarco Murray, who isn’t expected to play. Wideout Dez Bryant has 42 catches this season and is a talented but inconsistent target. Nnamdi Asomugha, who has struggled mightily since signing with the Eagles last year, was very successful against Bryant in the last meeting between Dallas and Philadelphia, so we’ll see if that success can be replicated today.
WR Miles Austin is neck and neck with Bryant with 41 catches, but Romo’s favorite weapon is tight end Jason Witten, who has 58 catches on the season. The Eagles defense has gotten worse since changing to DC Todd Bowles. If there is any game to step up and show improvement, it’s against the Cowboys. The Eagles know that with Murray down the Cowboys have no option but to pass. Romo has 10 TDs and 13 interceptions and, while throwing with 66% accuracy, he is killing the Cowboys offense with poor third down efficiency and turnovers. Faced with a turnover machine and a decent but not fierce Dallas o-line, can the defense finally get the job done?
No predictions this time except for an ugly game between two woefully underperforming teams. If the Eagles can’t pull this off at home we are in big, big trouble.
Want more Philly Sports Muse? You can find me on Twitter at @sports_muse and on Facebook.
Brandyn Campbell of Philly Sports Muse, for War Room Sports
Tags:All's Fair in Sports and War, Andy Reid, Austin Miles, Brandyn Campbell, Dallas Cowboys, DeMarco Murray, DeMarcus Ware, Dez Bryant, Football, Jason Garrett, Jason Witten, LeSean McCoy, Michael Vick, Mike Vick, NFL, Nnamdi Asomugha, Philadelphia Eagles, Philly Sports Muse, Rob Ryan, Sports Talk Radio, The War Room, Todd Bowles, Tony Romo, War Room Sports
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Friday, November 9th, 2012
by Brandyn Campbell
Will Jon Gruden put on a coaching headset again for the Philadelphia Eagles?
The fact that Andy Reid is in the midst of his last season as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles seems to be a foregone conclusion. With a 3-5 record and a team in disarray, Reid has shown no ability to remedy the problems plaguing the squad or light the needed spark within his players.
For all intents and purposes, Reid is a lame duck coach.
He’ll keep talking but, like his team, we’ve stopped paying attention.
A true indication of the fact that Philadelphia fans and media are already thinking ahead to life after Reid are the reports about possible contenders to fill the expected-to-be-vacant coaching slot. FOX29′s Howard Eskin kicked it all of on Thursday by saying that Jon Gruden is interested in a return to coaching.
More from Eskin, via Sports Illustrated,
“He enjoys working Monday Night Football in the ESPN Monday Night booth, but he is a coach and has the itch. I’m told he wants to go to a team that can win and the key has a quarterback.”
So, Eskin said that puts two teams in the mix, the San Diego Chargers, where Gruden is tight with general manager A.J. Smith, and they have a good quarterback with Phillip Rivers.
“And the Eagles are also a good fit for the Gruden requirements,” Eskin said. “He loves Philadelphia, thinks the Eagles will be a good team next year, and the keys here: He likes the backup quarterback, Nick Foles, who he has already worked out while working for ESPN.”
How much is Gruden liking Foles? In a conversation about the performance of rookie quarterbacks this season, after talking Luck and Wilson and RGIII, the conversation turned to Foles (via Birds 24/7):
“I had Nick Foles in the preseason against New England. Michael Vick got hurt on the fifth or sixth play, and Foles went the distance, on the road in Foxborough. If you like prototype pocket passers with some functional mobility and a tremendous amount of toughness, Foles is interesting.”
“What really impressed me in the preseason was they weren’t running generic formations. They ran about 30 different formations out of about eight different personnel groupings in successive plays. So I see him recognizing coverages. I see him getting to second and third receivers, just like you’d want a quarterback to do in that system, and I love his NFL size. He reminds me a lot of Brad Johnson, from his football character to his ability to decipher a lot quickly, and we won a championship with Brad.”
Birds 24/7 co-author Tim McManus gave this caution about Gruden’s remarks:
“These quotes suggest he is high on Foles, though as anyone who has listened to his Monday Night Football broadcast can attest, he sounds high on everyone at one point or another.”
So very true…
Gruden last served as head coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he was fired in January of 2009 after spending seven seasons with the team.
Could Jon Gruden be the next head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles? It certainly sounds like a reasonable possibility. But does anything ever go as predicted with the Birds? It’s just going to get more interesting from here.
Want more Philly Sports Muse? You can find me on Twitter at @sports_muse and on Facebook.
Brandyn Campbell of Philly Sports Muse, for War Room Sports
Tags:All's Fair in Sports and War, Andy Reid, Brad Johnson, Brandyn Campbell, Football, Howard Eskin, Jon Gruden, Michael Vick, Monday Night Football, NFL, Nick Foles, Philadelphia Eagles, Philly Sports Muse, Sports Illustrated, Sports Talk Radio, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, The War Room, Tim McManus, War Room Sports
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Thursday, November 8th, 2012
by Brandyn Campbell
Todd Herremans is out for the season.
(Image via Barstool Sports)
The issues for Philadelphia Eagles’ offensive line got even worse on Wednesday when right guard Todd Herremans was placed on injured reserve with a broken foot, ending his season.
We knew the situation wasn’t good when Herremans was carted off the field on Monday night. He appeared in the locker room on crutches following the game. But as the Birds’ season grows more and more desperate, we needed some measure of hope. Surely, somehow, Herremans would be okay.
Perhaps he will be, but not this season. Official word from the Novacare Wednesday afternoon confirmed our fears: Todd Herremans would go to IR. In his place, the Eagles promoted Julian Vandervelde from the practice squad, a lineman the Eagles had cut just before the start of the regular season.
Evan Mathis is now the only starter still standing on the line. The Daily News’ Paul Domowitch called the mix-and-match mayhem “Evan Mathis and the Pips.” To call them “porous” almost sounds too positive. They can’t block a thing.
Mike Vick continues to take a beating behind them each and every time he gets on the field. Monday night marked a season high 7 sacks on Vick with the line yet again performing abysmally against the blitz. Which means that the Eagles had better be prepared to see a lot of it from Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan on Sunday.
Mike Vick is surviving as best he can. “I just gotta believe in the guys in front of me,” he said on Wednesday.
For the season, Vick has already been sacked a whopping 27 times. That’s four more than all of last year and we’re just past the halfway point of the season. And that number doesn’t include the dozens of hits the quarterback has taken.
The question is always, What can this team do to improve. Are there any answers to turn this thing around?
Vick says all he and his teammates can do is to keep on keepin’ on.
“Keep fighting. Preparation is very important. Don’t let up. We’re going to catch a break here sooner or later. This week has to be the week.”
“It’s not the funnest thing in the world to get hit over and over and over again. But I keep getting up. And I thank God that he blessed me with the ability to keep getting up, keep fighting, keep battling for this football team.”
“That’s why I continue to go as hard as I can and continue to make each and every play that I can. Even though I sometimes find myself doing too much and overcompensating.”
The Eagles’ o-line woes point to one of the biggest conundrums for the Birds for the remainder of the season. Many want to see Vick benched in favor of rookie Nick Foles, and that may well happen at some stage. But even if Foles displays the same promise now as he did during the preseason, how long do you expect him to hold up behind this line?
With four straight losses, things clearly weren’t going well for the Eagles even with Todd Herremans in the lineup. His season-ending injury adds to a long list of issues that makes it hard to see how there is any realistic possibility of the Eagles having anything but a miserable remainder of the 2012 season.
But if they can just get a win against Dallas it will all be just a lil’ easier to handle.
Want more Philly Sports Muse? You can find me on Twitter at @sports_muse and on Facebook.
Brandyn Campbell of Philly Sports Muse, for War room Sports
Tags:All's Fair in Sports and War, Brandyn Campbell, Dallas Cowboys, Football, Michael Vick, Mike Vick, NFL, Philadelphia Eagles, Philly Sports Muse, Sports Talk Radio, The War Room, Todd Herremans, War Room Sports
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