Inside The Birds Pregame Show With Greg Cosell: Philadelphia Eagles vs. Green Bay Packers Week 1

[Music] hello everyone welcome to another season of the inside the birds pregame show I'm Jeff Mosher joined by my inside the birds co-host Adam Kaplan and back with us as always he's the best in the business at tape breakdown Greg coell fellas how we doing excited for some football I I really am I spent so much time I have like 70 pages of notes from rewatching so much stuff this summer you know because I can watch it differently but it hit me today that I'm really tired of watching the stuff from last year and I just can't wait for a real game yeah so that you can get 70 more pages of notes right exactly right right right right well Adam I know you've done an NFL training camp tour you've seen the Eagles a lot and you're excited also for the dawn of another NFL season can't wait yeah the first game and look there there's a lot of things that go on week one's kind of weird the expect the unexpected and the game that we're gonna be breaking down Jeff as you know is not in our country it's in it's in Spain at what looks to be a soccer stadium it's actually in Brazil Brazil I'm sorry in Brazil right in Brazil excuse me but the I I I took a look at uh several pictures and I and and I like what um John Ferrari said the Eagles assistant GM it's kind of like the Home Depot Center the the configuration is really for soccer they could call whatever they want but it looks like that so South paos we're in Brazil in sou Paulo it's going to be nice it's it's just interesting you know it it I know fans are not super happy that the game is not at the link but we'll see what happens week one is is always interesting no always it really is and we always it's funny week one there's always three or four games that are total head scratchers where you go how did that happen who expected that and then the league kind of settles into being what we sort of more expect although there's always a couple of teams either way teams that win more or lose more that you don't expect throughout the season but week one is crazy ask you guys don't play in the preseason you just don't know right I want to ask you something off that so I was I was one of the teams that I visited uh with said to me and the guy was a Personnel director he said and and he goes look if you're watching our team we're we actually tackle because tackling is kind of a lost start particularly early in the season yeah it's not great now in your tape study that's so I want to throw it back to you in your tape study over the years just generally do you do you see that in the first couple weeks well I think tackling overall is not what it used to be I mean I don't think teams number one are allowed to play physically as much as they used to and whether it's OTAs whether it's training camp there's just not as much physical football that's allowed and tackling like anything else must be practiced so what you see a lot of is guys trying to make bigger hits without proper tackling technique and you know look I know you guys talk to Scouts just like I do and I watch obviously a ton of tape but you don't see a lot of guys with great tackling technique these days because it's you know it's you have to practice it and you you just don't get a chance to practice it 100% well you guys set the table very nicely here week one is always unexpected but what we can or at least what we do expect is a pretty good game between two teams that people expect pretty good this year and that's obviously the Eagles beginning their season as Adam mentioned in an unfamiliar Place souo Brazil at Corinthians Arena to take on the Green Bay Packers this is the first ever NFL game played in Brazil we're all excited to be back on inside the birds pregame show a little bit of a different format this season we'll be breaking down the show for an hour uh and this show will be released early every game day to make sure you have the most amount of time to get in for the best Eagles breakdown that there is so welcome to football and let's get on to this week one matchup uh both teams will start with injuries as we normally do the beauty of week one is that usually you don't have to spend 10 minutes on injuries compared to week 10 11 or 12 both teams come in fairly healthy the Eagles will be though without one of their key semi key offseason signings which is linebacker Deon white he did not make the trip because of an ankle injury Adam that has provoked the question had he been healthy what would have been his role as we've talked all summer long about the interesting rotation going on at linebacker yeah this there's been a lot of a lot of conspiracy theories where did this injury come from he wasn't hurt in the preseason wasn't hurt in training camp see what happened here well bottom line is you got hurt in practice something happened uh earlier this week and by NFL rule if the player is not going to travel with you you have to be the player has to be listed as out and in fact Jeff because the Eagles left on Wednesday and the final statuses were not due till Thursday they still had to do it because he they flew early right uh so that so he's not playing uh it what I find interesting what the Eagles did and as much as I've criticized not just the Eagles but just all teams with these depth charts these unofficial depth charts some of are wrong I give him credit what we understood happened uh the final couple weeks of training camp it was really white it it was Devon white and by the way he's playing the mic position not the weak side which we thought would happen when they signed him he's actually playing the mic in their in their their front uh with ncoe Dean those guys are kind of one and two they list white as the first guy but quite frankly ncoe Dean was the the best linebacker they had since the open practice where he Dean didn't play well Jeff Dean really got himself together and closed really well and quite frankly and we know he's going to start in this game I know that I know that White's Making in fact his base salary became fully guarantee this this week because he's on the week one roster so he's going to make nearly five million this season you got to play your best guys you know that that's the way it is do you have to answer your question Dean's the better football player right now I I if he plays well this game I can't see him giving that up yeah and you know craigg that that really lends into the bigger picture that we'll probably talk about as the season goes on Adam talked about well the best linebackers are going to play and I think we have a situation that we'll get into more in a little bit but just as you look at it big picture I don't think it's Crystal Clear yet who the best Eagles linebackers really are we have Zack Bon trying it out a new position fulltime for the first time you have NCO Dean coming back from the injury and you have a Jeremiah trada Jr who I on our platform you mentioned once you felt his tape in college was better than niobe Dean's College tape I did but I uh but from what I understand that I was not at training camp you know so I don't know exactly what happened but from what I understand trod the sense is he's not quite ready to play significant snaps at stack backer um he'll be a special teams player and from what I understand he's going to be very good at that but he's not quite ready and that's why certainly Dean and I heard the same thing you know that Adam was talking about that Dean really played well in recent weeks in training camp and that he's clearly the guy that's going to play meaningful most of the snaps at linebacker come uh tomorrow night come Friday night gotcha and now the only other question mark I guess for the Eagles injury concern was Isaiah Rogers who's been Limited at practice with a hand he's he's uh not out of the game he was just limited at practice and I think Adam he's been dealing with the hand for a little bit so we'll we'll see what Vic fangio decides to do with his secondary when he comes out in a base defense and a nickel defense if Isaiah Rogers is involved in one the other both none we'll see Jeff what's interesting about Vic fangio and this new this revamped defensive staff almost all the coaches are new I went to I think 12 practices uh in training camp generally we we could all test to it we've all been in practices over the years the years that we've cover the league usually you get a pretty good feel of what the defense is going to look like we know it Vic runs right we know coverage wise odman front all that two inside backers you you know the fiveman front whatever you want to call it yeah what I don't know is what you just mentioned on the back end the way that they ended training camp is Mitchell when they're in with two corners Mitchell is an outside corner and niichel Mitchell was going inside and Rogers was coming in just like he did in Indie with h Kenny Moore so I I'm assuming that's going to happen but here's the other question and TR we we saw big nickel and training camp Vic Vic ran some of that in Denver Maddox now is most exclusively a safety so will he be a slot corner is it going to be Mitchell going forward and C de yep Jeff to and I'll throw it back to you dein's role is not really set we don't know exactly where he's going to line up uh we think he's going to be a nickel but if he is then what about quinon and nickoll so those are the those are the that's the conundrum to try to figure this thing out going forward certainly and we'll discuss that you know certainly as the season goes on as Cooper deene gets himself a little more game ready and even in this show when we start to talk about defensive structure and what that might look like as for injuries with the Packers I don't believe anybody is out of the game and especially any key starters they have a couple of guys who are on the injury report nursing injuries Romeo dubs the wide receiver with a hand uh Edan Cooper their rookie with a hip Marshon Lloyd backup running back was dealing with a hamstring Tucker craft their tight end uh a back and then cornerback Carrington Valentine and a running back a backup running back third Emanuel Wilson also dealing with some bumps and bruises there of all the names of those guys Adam Edan Cooper kind of jumps out well Romeo dubs to too because he's a starting receiver but Edge Cooper was this uh you know lightning linebacker what was your understanding of his role that that could be in this game if he plays this okay this is I'm kind of stunned by this but I know it's early it doesn't mean he won't be starting for a lot but to end training camp former Eagle knock great Eric Wilson was starting he was one of the starting linebackers hey it is what it is remember they're changing their scheme we'll talk more about that Jeff Halley's going to run a 43 and theyve run a 43 and I don't know how long so right now Cooper is not starting without the injury he wasn't starting doesn't mean he won't take over Isaiah McDuffy is one of their their starting backers Kay Walker was a first rounder two years ago and 22 is is a starter and Eric Wilson's the other starting outside backer again they're starting three backers off the ball linebacker so it's uh it's kind of interesting uh Eric Wilson's a guy that when he was in Philly Jee you know this he just he was very light didn't happen for him he's bounced around but I give the guy credit apparently from my understand he had a pretty good training camp yeah I I mean Greg when I look at that I think just from remembering him with the Eagles I would think Eric Wilson's on the field if they're in a true base 43 early if he's in on nickel well you know that's an area maybe the Eagles will look to exploit uh obviously Edge Cooper is a guy you also though liked coming out of Texas A&M I believe this year right Texas A&M yeah and and my sense is he probably wouldn't play in the nickel I think it would be Walker and McDuffy but I guess we again we don't know that for sure but that would be my sense right right excellent okay other than that team's pretty healthy teams had very similar off Seasons they both went out and got a running back the Eagles got saquon Barkley the Packers got Josh Jacobs right they both went out and got a pretty good safeties the Eagles brought back CJ Gardner Johnson and the Packers signed Xavier mckin so that's four players players are going to be pretty instrumental to this team's successes or lack thereof going into 2024 why don't we start looking at the Eagles offense and how it's going to play against this new Packers defense as Adam mentioned they have a new defensive coordinator we'll get into his scheme his name is Jeff Halley he was the head coach of Boston College um the Eagles have some newness themselves on offense Greg with Kell Moore now the offensive coordinator give us the Scout the book on Kell Moore and what he does offensively that he should bring to this Eagles offense well you know it's funny I I mean obviously I've seen him through the years but I also talk to a bunch of coaches about him and and the sense I got and this may not be profound and you could probably say this about a lot of coaches but I was told that he'll do multiple things in other words he's not just a guy that does one thing and you say hey foundationally this is exactly what Kell Moore does and this is what you know he's going to do you know I think in an Ideal World he'd like to play with three wide receivers and I think that that's one reason they made the deal for Jan doson because they just did not feel like they had a third wide receiver worthy of getting significant snaps um and that's that's why that deal became so critical and obviously he was a former first round pick I guarantee that there were a lot of teams that had him rated highly coming out of Penn State as I did as well I don't know what happened in Washington he had a very good rookie season where it looked as if he'd become a quality receiver I don't know what happened with the new coaching staff um I don't know if Adam has any information about that but um obviously it wasn't working out there but I think Kell Moore would like to be very multiple with his formations out of three wide receivers I think he'd like to use more motion than we seen from the Eagles in recent years I think you'll see a lot more of that um that doesn't mean there won't be 12 Personnel but I think right now don't they only have two tight ends on the roster that will be active for the game so that doesn't mean there won't be snaps of 12% but I don't think foundationally Kell Mo sees that as important as playing out of 11 personnel Adam why don't you talk about what we've mentioned on inside the birds podcast a few times since the trade for Jan Dodson on why Washington felt like it should move on yeah so it was kind of a situation where pretty early in their offseason they this staff whether was their front office or coaching Stafford both got down on doson they inherited him he was not drafted by Adam Peters the new general manager he wasn't with Dan Quinn this new staff and alamad zos is a guy that pretty much was going to play over him that that which sounds crazy but that's kind of where they were at doson just did not perform well I could tell being there uh the vibe was not good for him he's a good person off the field it's nothing on the off the field it's on the field um gets knocked for playing too finesse not physical and I I just got the feeling that they I know they were shopping them they didn't want them they weren't going to cut them but Jeff to answer your question sometimes guys move on and and it it you're some you're somewhere where they want you and Eagles clearly wanted him as Greg said they didn't have a third receiver uh he's going to be that uh he he'll probably more back up Devonte Smith and AJ brown but the knock on him is not the most physical guy doesn't always win routes when he should win and that that shows up on the field unfortunately you know and it's funny because I remember and Jeff obviously as a Penn stator you probably remember him very well but thought one of his really good traits watching him coming out of college given his size he's not a big kid was that he was really competitive and he played with a tenacious nature and so I don't know what happened I mean with the kid personally I I can't speak to that but that was one of his really positive trades coming out of Penn State yes and he also caught nearly everything thrown at him I know I know and he made tough catch to watch him struggle to catch the ball even with Washington yeah is certainly a head was a heads scratcher yep so we'll see I mean look we know not every first round pick makes it so we'll see but the Eagles again you know what what happens with when teams trade like that for a player as as you guys both know is that somebody in the Eagles front office you know whether a scout whether it's you know a Personnel guy really liked him coming out of Penn State and when he became available and they you know they want to go get him because they feel then that they can make him into what they think he can be right now the reality of what he has been Greg and I think that when he came over to the Eagles people automatically thought oh number three slot receiver the Eagles were struggling with a slot receiver right and that's a natural fit but for those who don't realize I think 60% or more of Jan dodson's career snaps with Washington over two years came from the outside so he has not been someone who's been a natural slot receiver and then you also juxtapose that Greg with Kellen Moore is kind of known for using some of his better most talented receivers in the slot going back to CD lamb in Dallas last year with Keenan Allen you've got a weird chck position here I mean Jan doson just got here still has to learn the offense hasn't really been a slot receiver it does make me wonder do we see more of an AJ brown or Devonte Smith well that's why I mentioned the point about formation variation and and the multiplicity of formations that Kell Moore is going to do I mean he could you know a lot of people might forget that until his the about game seven of his college career AJ Brown was a pure slot receiver in college so he's played there um Devon Smith can line up anywhere we know doson can Assuming he's the guy that's what they got him for so I don't think this is going to be one of those situations where they line up basically in one spot you know I think that's one of the things about Kellen Moore that we will see is that he will move receivers around yeah it's probably an interesting meeting room Adam because you know we've got some Intel that the Eagles really don't want to play Devonte Smith in the slot too much given his size they don't want him as lead blockers on screens you know he's he's the slim Reaper he's not necessarily built the same way Keenan Allen and cidd Liam are uh and the same thing you can say for AJ Brown as far as having a history with injury trying to make sure the knee is right so it'll be ve I think this is the most fascinating first you know not test for Kell Moore but first observation of what he does as how he fills that inside receiver role and to your point you've mentioned this it could be that a rotating position that also includes a second tight end yeah yeah we we've talked about that with calcatera by by the way Briton kbby had a phenomenal training camp he obviously could play the slot that's his position they tried him on the outside he's just very small but the thing that that they've got to get going here is dodson's just got to win that that third receiver you might remember Cole Beasley with Dallas who was phenomenal on Kellen everywhere he's been he's had to have somebody who could play inside to be a factor yeah and I would tell you Devonte Smith's numbers inside are phenomenal like really good when he plays inside so Greg's right you could just keep rotating guys we don't want to overstate having a third receiver but uh Jeff what was it story John T flipo told us about the third receiver you're only as good as your third receiver says Troy Eggman yeah Troy told him that in a production meeting so you know what you got to have one and right now datson is it just like you have to have a third corner lot of defensive coaches feel you're only good in your sub packages as your third corner you know no that's the game in many ways now yeah uh last year being a great exam not that the Eagles had a great number two Corner either but man they were really picked on on the interior with their rotating number of slot cornerbacks let's talk about a really interesting match I the one I find fascinating is really the trench battle here you have an eagles offensive line that historically has been dominant has three really excellent players one at left tackle one at right tackle one at left guard but is also IND indoctrinating for the first time in a while two new starters and for the first time in over a decade a new center with Cam Jurgens and a new Right Guard in McKai beckon who may not necessarily have won that job more than fell into it without a real comp competitor Tyler Steen was banged up for a lot of camp and then Greg you look at the other side this Packers defensive front a little bit light but ' got some good I mean Kenny Clark is good Preston Smith ran Gary uh Luke vaness is a guy who's going to enter year two so how do you see that matchup and what are the strengths of the Packers front line compared to what the Eagles have up front I think it's a really good defensive front and and you made a point you know I think it's important to reiterate that they're making a transition essentially from what they were in the past which was much more of a 3452 and now with um Halley they're going to be a four down front that's his background that's what they're going to do and that you know if you look at if you say that the starters are Gary and Preston Smith on the edge and Slayton and Clark inside that's really good but even guys who are backups I remember last year Watching Carl Brooks who was a rookie I think had a Bowling Green and I did not do him coming out and he flashed every game they still have then two first round picks they have dvon Wyatt from Georgia who's was a first round pick they've got vaness who you mentioned even Kingsley egari is is a good player so this is a really deep defensive front with a lot of really good players so um and that's the way they'll play they're going to be a four down front it'll be to me I think it'll be interesting Adam to see what they do with vaness year two a guy who has you know the size of an edge rusher but the athleticism to maybe move inside in niichel and if you're looking at Makai beckon and you're looking at cam Jurgens and saying I want to test these guys and passp I want to see how good they work together I want to see the operations in a stadium that could be loud and have half Packers fans I want I might want to put vaness in the middle there and see if I can move him around a little bit for mismatches yeah in fact I think that's going to happen vaness when they when they play nickel him to play inside a tackle but one thing I do want to mention when you look at this Packers situation for and one of the reasons why they they moved on from Joe Barry is they really an underachieving defense I don't doubt that they're talented but for whatever reason they weren't as good as they should be the fact I think think Greg you and I have been talking about this issue with their defense for years for some reason they're not quite as good as they should be despite all this Talent first round picks yeah guys are very gifted and they just don't play up to that level for whatever reason but I mean heck as Greg said they're they're like eight deep if not more on their D line but they don't whatever happens Jeff individually they don't they just don't get it together all the time that's why they wanted a scheme change you know very often when that's the case you go with a scheme change yeah and that's what they did here and Halley is going to play I mean keep in mind Halley's got a really interesting background he's been in the league before as as you guys both know but fans may not know because they might think of him at as being at uh BC now he also coached at Ohio State for a year and that's where he really played a lot of that four down cover one Centric defense that that Ryan Day wanted to keep you know from the urban Meer days so you know that's a lot of his background he's transitioned a bit to playing more quarters cuz the league has as well um but he also has some really intriguing pressure Concepts you're going to see this team pressure more than the Packers did last year and again that's part of the scheme change but they've got really good players even you know even beyond the front you look at their secondary I mean Stokes is a first round pick jar Alexander is a first round pick McKenna was a first round pick I believe I mean even if Javon Bullard starts at safety he's a second round pick I mean this is a team with a lot of high pedigree pick absolutely uh you mentioned that his the the book on Jeff Halley at BC was aggressive defensive coordinator a lot of cover one cover three sort of in that mold and I can't help but think you know the transition to incorporating more quarters might be his best friend in the game tonight I mean if you go back a couple years ago the Detroit Lions and Aaron Glenn he wanted to bring the house he wanted to play one safety high and Jaylen Herz ate him up with AJ Brown and they passed the all over that day 35 they didn't have good enough Corners you know uh you obviously that's what it comes down to I I spoke to a number of coaches this offseason defensive coaches and the first thing they say when you talk about pressure is they they say well you got to cover on the back end you know and and they have two first round picks playing outside corner you know they've got Stokes and Alexander and Alexander's you know unfortunately for the Packers has had health issues the last number of years but obviously they're going to start as as had Stokes they're both going to start the season healthy so we'll see how that goes but keep in mind that there's also a Rex Ryan element and a Mike penon element to half's background so there's a lot of pressure packages here there's he's a student of all those pressure schemes so you're going to see not only the foran pass rush but you're going to see some pretty intricate pressure schemes as well well Adam that brings us to a big conversation about this offense this year and having an answer to pressure and not just hot routes but a guy that the Eagles went out and think can be a big response and that's saquan Barkley catching passes out of the back field I have a feeling on inside the birds postgame show tonight you and I will be talking about whether or not the Eagles finally are going to start running I me sorry throwing the ball to their running back yeah because as you and I have talked about before in the 23 training camp you and I were there and we were blown away by how many checkdowns that Herz was was having also getting Swift involved downfield a bunch and then it didn't happen the regular season now Jaylen did not the the the blitz numbers were not good for him last year he just he struggled with it for whatever the reason he just happened so the hope is now that he'll he'll get a clearer picture get rid of the football now oric Stokes I do want to mention and Greg mentioned his injury history this is pretty bad the last two years he's missed 22 22 games over the last two years it's a lot of football he's missed they're not very deep at corner at all um as we've talked about Kell wants to run 11 personnel in fact I know for a fact he like to run 10 if he can as someone very close to him told me that's in his background yeah so we might learn a little bit about Johnny Wilson it's not a guy we probably will talk a lot about this season Jeff as you stly pointed out several weeks ago from from uh what you had heard Johnny Wilson's a really good blocker that does matter if the coaches trust him he'll be out there he's also over 66 so this this is this is fascinating I I on Greg's point we're going to learn very very early in this game yeah yes Barkley's going to be involved sure catching the football and running it but how much do they trust uh the backup receivers how much does doson play do they play any 10 also does cvy play does he rotate with with doson and how do they and do they feel like they could beat those Packer Corners there two quick points Jeff if I could their two backup Corners have played a lot of snaps now obviously they're backups but Carrington Valentine and Corey Balentine have played snaps in this league so it's not as if have backup Corners who have not played at all so so they they have played and the second point is very often teams Blitz not necessarily to sack the quarterback but to keep the back in pass protection okay we're talking about Barkley as a receiver I mean you can almost go back and I just thought of this while Adam was speaking believe me I didn't plan this it just popped into my head but uh I remember years ago when with the big matchups between the Patriots and the Colts when Bill bich used to Blitz just to keep Eder and James into pass protect because he was such a great receiver it wasn't done necessarily to sack pton Manning but they just did not want uh uh Edan James who was such a good receiver to be a primary route runner in the concept of their passing game and so you know obviously that's different when it's first and 10 or normal down and distance situations but when it's third down maybe third and seven you know sometimes teams Blitz and I think you'll see this from Jeff Halley to Blitz to keep the back in and and therefore Barkley justes you know and fans might say well how you have to throw it to Barkley well you gotta you got to protect first because you don't have a pass game if you can't protect think protection first right and that'll be a big test for something we've talked about ever since the Eagles signed Barkley it felt like there are uh people who are advocating for saquan Barkley as an excellent pass protector an excellent Blitz protection but you know Adam and I spoke and that's fine that's good but Adam and I spoke to said that it's not as good as you would think it and I would agree with that people assume that because he's a big strong guy and and even if he is you know but the point is if he have if he has to do that he's not a receiver right right absolutely another really interesting point off what you just said Greg I know that recently uh some headlines are made about an anonymous coach saying that the book out on gyen Herz is you zero Blitz him and he's going to make a mistake he's going to be indecisive that's the that's Now The Elixir and I've seen people respond well now that Kell Moore is the offensive coordinator they're going to have Outlets they're going to have responses and I just I always like to say hey look just because you have a response to a third and eight Blitz doesn't mean you're getting first down a lot of times to your point Greg on why you Blitz you zero Blitz because the quarterback has to throw it immediately if he has to throw it immediately on Third and eight and only gets five yards the defense still one so even if they didn't Sack or even if they didn't get a turnover yeah and a couple of points there no one zero blitzes 15 times in a game exact that too so so it becomes a very selective thing and normally quarterbacks and Jaylen will see it I mean he's a veteran quarterback normally you can see that now sure do teams disguise it of course they do and and zero Blitz has become much more multiple than it was years ago so teams do a do a lot more in the secondary sometimes zero Blitz is not pure man sometimes it's it's almost like a Zone match on the back end you know teams have become look it's everything is cyclical everything evolves and and coaches you know coaches are pretty smart so um you know obviously your Point's a good one I think that they're very aware of that and there's going to be ways that he's been taught and coached by Kell Moore and by others on the offensive staff in terms of what he sees and where to go with the football but the bottom line is is what I said is is you still have to protect and that's critical so what a lot of teams do as well is they show pressure and they force the offense to have to protect then they drop out and they have seven in coverage and then the offense keeps two guys in to protect a back in a tight end and you end up with three receivers running routes against seven in coverage and football is is a is a numbers game in many ways and the defense wins that very often before the snap of the ball definitely all right so let's move on from talking about the Eagles offense versus the Packers defense we'll switch sides now talk about the Eagles defense against the Packers offense before we do that I'm not sure if I mentioned at the start of the show Eagles are two and a half Point favorites in this game against the Packers which a illustrates how close that the line makers think the odds makers think this is going to be and I guess what they're saying is on a neutral field well this is a neutral field two and a half points so if it if it were in Philadelphia you would probably see Eagles as a as a small favorite if it were in Green Bay you'd probably see the Packers as a small favorite just an I always think a two and a half point line at a neutral field is pretty interesting you know what's interesting on that it it opened in May right when the schedule came out at Eagles were either four four and a half it got down to 1 one and a half now it's two two and a half depending on what book you look like obviously money depending which side uh you know depending on what it's heavy that the the lmers are going to move it so they so they don't the books don't lose money but you know overall yeah I think it's it's the belief is it's a pretty even match up oh just to add a couple injury notes here so Marshon Lloyd still dealing with his hamstring injury which he's had since early August wow Dylan's out for the season with the neck injury he will not play so if doesn't play and you mentioned Jeff the kid uh Wilson he's questionable he's had a hip issue you know by the way when you got a hip issue you got to be able to block also if you're in you gotta be able to power through your running back that's a concern Tucker kre got added midweek with a back injury that's a concern who by the way he missed he had the last rated of kidney last year uh dobs was been cleared to play so is Cooper we could add that and Jeff mentioned excuse me Greg mentioned Carrington Valentine one of their backup Corners he's been cleared from the the hamstring he'll be a able to play yeah so what I take from that Adam is if you have Josh Jacobs on your fantasy team um and you're deciding whether or not to start him or somebody else in a flex start him he's going to touch the ball a whole lot theoretically without anybody really there to back him up yeah and and the thing is with uh you I know we're switching sides of the ball but I do want to mention one thing though with in terms of the Eagles defense we we'll see how well they cover because that there were some times Jeff they were not covering well at all the linebackers MH which has been a problem for for a while and it's uh you know you mentioned at the top that one of their backers will be out Devon white and and I'm I'm interested to see what Matt leor got cooked up here I am interested too you know what I'm also interested to see as we switch sides um and talk about the Eagles defense what does Vic fangio have cooked up especially based on things that we saw at training camp I am not surprised I don't think anybody on this panel is that at training camp we saw a lot of inside linebackers rushing the passer okay um that is a staple the Sim pressures as we've seen around the league is a staple of a Vic fangio defense what I would love to see and I'm really fascinated when they do that who's going to be dropping into coverage from the edges and in general Greg I this is the first time in a long time Adam and I have talked about we really don't know what the fourman rush is usually with the Eagles it's pretty you know the fourman rush and you probably know the two guys who are going to come in the second strength for man Rush this year yes you know Bryce Hall will will be part of it yes or Huff Bryce Huff yes you know Jaylen Carter but you've got Nolan Smith you've got um uh who's who's the other Edge rusher whose name I'm forgetting right now who really fell off at the end of last year sweaty sweaty sweaty yeah Josh sweat you got Nolan Smith you got Josh sweat you got Milton Williams you you've got Moro Jomo when you look at this team it's not as certain as it's been in the past no just one quick point just so people know what a Sim pressure is Jeff sure a Sim pressure is a fourman rush second level Defender is a rusher and a first level D lineman drops out so it's a fourman rush right so that's so it's not you're not bringing an extra player but you're bringing someone from the second level and I call it Blitz light Greg you're not really blitzing but you're bringing somebody late and dropping somebody late usually you're you're ultimately trying to get a matchup of a of a second level rusher on a back that's what you're trying to get right but anyway so getting to your point um I loved your point about the you know the stack backers because Zack Bon you know going back to his days at was Consin was an edge pass rusher okay and a good one and then when he played in New Orleans he only played in their base defense when they went 4-3 and his large percentage of snaps when he played as in New Orleans he played on the ball not off the ball so this is really a new position for him so as Adam said about what Matt laflor has cooked up that'll be very interesting to see how um they attacked Zack Bor in the pass game um and I'm curious to see too how they attack ncoe Dean in the past game because noobe Dean despite his size is really at his best as a downhill player um so it'll be interesting to see you know and Matt laflor obviously with the Shanahan background and I mean he's going to attack these linebackers now I don't want to sit here and say that means it's going to work and they're going to you know have 500 yards we don't we don't know anything about how the game's going to play out but there's no question that that's one area he's looking at to attack and Jeff let me add this uh that Isaiah Rogers will not play with a hand injury so just we could just update that so so so right now again we know that Mitchell and Bas ke Ringo is gonna start outside with Darius Slay oh oh that oh so you think it'll be okay so you think that that's what they'll do I personally believe that based on look I thought key ring I look you said you were 12 practices I wasn't at practice but I thought he played extremely well in the game all right just so you know Ringo was not it was Mitchell the entire C just about the entire Camp was was an outside corner b and then in the games he played a lot of slot right no no I I understand that but I'm I you're gonna see both Mitchell and Cooper deene playing the slot in this game yeah if if thee plays well we'll see but um the way that they were doing it to close training camp it was slay and Mitchell on the outside and nickel uh Mitchell went inside and then Rogers came outside so now obviously Ringo moves up he's one of the top three corners now maybe when they go nickel Ringo's outside obviously and then Mitchell's inside without Rogers so this this Jeff and I know and fan is right you and I talked about this on our one of our shows Vick's right they're a big balanced 1112 attack with with Personnel three receivers versus two they do a lot of it but they're super deep at receiver Jeff they're also deep at tight end yeah without Rogers Jeff and I know Rogers is a smaller player but he's very fast and he's been a good story in training camp that's not good when you're not having one of your your top corners and did we didn't know Rogers would be one of their top corners in the training camp when it started but he certainly did close training camp as important guy yeah you know I I don't know how much base defense the Eagles were planning on playing even if so even if the Packers came out in 12 personnel with Musgrave and craft which normally you would answer with a base defense those guys can catch the ball pretty well so I think we'll see tonight does Vic fangio just want to stay in nickel even without ERS and play quinan Mitchell at Nickelback and key Ringo outside because that's what he's most comfortable with or will he respond to 12 personnel with base and then just have Mitchell outside and slay outside uh I think how much Cooper Dee plays if he plays at all will be also really interesting because because Greg he he he's only been back at practice for about you could say two and a half weeks but there were several days off in between because they had day off before a game day off after a game he only got into one game I wonder how much he his Readiness will a impact his ability to play by the way I I don't mean he's going to play 50 snaps of course but I think he's gonna play and I think right now he's he's he's a nickel player he's gonna play that's where we practiced that absolutely they see him down the road as a safety but he's not ready to do that yet so obviously Matt laflor is are a really good play caller and he knows this is a new look Eagle secondary and Greg let's talk about the diversity then of receivers that the Packers have to play with because they are not your typical that's your X that's your your y That's your Z they've got guys who can cause mismatches everywhere they got a lot I mean I watched a ton of their offense the past game you know because I wanted to relook at Jordan love because you know during the season I can't watch a quarterback 250 dropbacks in a row I can't do that during the season because I'm doing week to week you know and I have to watch as much as possible but in the off season I can do that so the two it's funny the two receivers that really stood out to me watching you know 250 300 love dropbacks were Jaden Reed and uh Davian Wicks and you know again they have a lot of them so I'm not sitting here saying that these guys are you know going to end up with 90 catches we don't know how all that's going to play out because I I really like Romeo dobs as well and I think Christian Watson if he can stay healthy he may not be a true volume guy but obviously he brings that vertical Dimension to an offense but Wix and Reed really stood out to me um and and Jordan love I mean we'll get to him in a second but he improved dramatically but this is a team we know Matt lafl he's going to want to run the ball you know he's you're not going to see Josh Jacobs with eight carries they they he wants to run the football and look last year the focus was on love deservedly so but in that stretch where they played really well toward the end of the season there were five games in a row where Aaron Jones had more than 20 carries so this is not a case where it's just let's toss it all over the yard you know they want to run the football so that brings in the question I already asked about the front four but I think we've also got to see how this new front five assuming that there's a fiveman front on uh rundowns performs Jaylen Carter Jordan Davis the big story of the offseason Adam was Will these guys be conditioned enough to play and God bless Vic fangio for his cander and his honesty because even in as recently as a couple of days ago he still is not telling you that he's 100% sure that Carter and Davis can play the type of snap that they're going to need to be able to play which is a little bit of a red flag yeah this this condition thing that Greg is interesting because and also the dline the new dline coach who came from Seattle mentioned the same thing he talked about the conditioning which is odd uh we were not expecting that so Clint hert by the way who's who's terrific so look we know it's Williams Davison Carter uh ojomo has been a good story I know Greg has a lot of information on him he was I know Greg really liked him I really liked him coming out of Texas yeah and then Thomas thas Booker has been one of the great stories of training camp and and see to me that's one reason why Thomas Booker's on the roster because they don't feel clearly as you guys are discussing that Davis and Carter are ready to play the number of snaps that in an Ideal World they would want them to play keep in mind fio had Christian Wilkins last year he played 60 snaps a game you know they probably don't feel that Davis and Carter and Carter has all World ability but you know you got to be on the field so they probably don't feel like both guys are ready to do that so Booker is someone who's really Stout inside he's not a pass rusher but he's really Stout inside and I'm sure that's why he made the team and by the way I don't know if if he's going to play you know I assume he'll be active maybe you guys have more information but I remember Byron young coming out of Alabama and I thought he was a really interesting player because he's multi-positional as a lot of their defensive linemen are Milton Williams is multi-positional Moro jomo's multi-positional so Graham has become multi-positional in his later years so you know I think that that's clearly important I think that there's no question guys that the reason why Booker and then this late edition of uh Byron uh young are because those guys could see some decent amount of playing time yeah and obviously you you were impressed with what you saw from Booker but more so than even Amoro a Jomo I think those guys can step in and play versatile positions and alignments I look at aomo as a guy who's just you're going to rush the passer with him three technique I mean I'm not saying he's bad against the Run run but I think those other two are there to equip them in run def tell you what I'm going to tell you Jeff I I you know look I I don't put a lot of stock in in preseason in terms of like schemes and tactics at all yeah but you can look at individual players and and yeah we know sometimes they're playing against guys who are not starters but you can still look at traits and attributes sure and I tell you ojamo had a number of snaps in the preseason with just physical prowess where he showed really good contact force and he moved people so you know again think I'm not going to sit here and tell you Moro jomo's going to be a superstar but I think that with development he can be a solid two-way D linan where he can play The Run effectively and give you some pass rush like I said I'm we're not I'm not saying he's going to get 15 sacks you know down the road but I think he has the ability to do both and and I'm G he's one of those guys as we start the season that really intrigues me to see how this season plays out for him um and you know obviously they want Davis and Carter to be the two interior players that get the large majority of snaps but if they're already talking about conditioning issues that's not likely to get a whole lot better you know because during the season you're not having hard practices right yeah that's true that's a great point and it is also valid that last year Jordan Davis was in way better shape to start the season and to your point Greg as the season went on is when he started to lose that shape and conditioning yeah I mean look I think hoe Roseman would admit freely and he even said this when he drafted him that if he's not rushing the quarterback by year three then it's not a great pick now I don't think any of us think Jordan Davis is a big-time sack guy he's not you know he's not going to get you know 14 15 16 sacks but I think at this point in time you expect Davis to be able to play on Third and long and be some be a factor as an inside rusher you know it's not all about sacks I can tell you that from watching tape for so many years you know it's not oh if he doesn't get 12 sacks he's no good but he's got to be some kind a force as an inside rusher on third down answer my questions real quick yes or no does Dexter Lawrence play on third down for the Giants yes does Christian Wilkins play on third down well did he for the Dolphins and probably go for the Raiders there you go there's no question he has to be that to be consider well okay I I want to add this I didn't maybe other reporters who were there saw it I'm not saying he didn't play on third down but he has not been a factor on third down in terms of a pass rush this is it's just not his game he manhandled you know when how big he is and strong he is and he's best shape of his career but as a pass rusher it's just not there yet now maybe the the Bell goes off here uh tonight and or Friday night here against the Packers and maybe he shows something we haven't seen I agree with Greg ojomo I I did not see him a lot in training camp last year I watched him a lot this year I was wow Jeff he was playing the three they moved him for I he was terrific this is a good story now Booker Booker's not a pass rusher no he's not he's also not the like he's got good size he's got some get off he he but what they like about him is he could play the nose and other D tackle positions he can so so and and let me ask you this question on we'll leave why the Raiders got rid of him why they cut him after one year which is kind of odd but we we'll leave the the reasons why let just let's stick Greg to your tape study Alabama what did you like about Byron young um you know I'm trying to I I just remember liking him I'm going to pull out my notes what year did he come out last year last year yeah so he remember there were two Byron Youngs there was him from Alabama and the other one so he was in the 2023 draft right yes all right I'm gonna tell you right now so there's Byron Young from Alabama and there's Byron Young from from Tennessee right yes who had a wonderful rookie year for the saint uh not saint the Rams last year as a third round pick I believe he was or a fifth round no third round pick yeah you're talking about which Byron young the other one for the Rams who had a nice rookie he outside yeah so I made the here I pulled out my notes I said that he played multiple positions along Alabama's defensive front in both 21 and 22 um but my sense is the high percentage of NFL teams will see him as a d tackle playing both three technique and one technique and even fronts but also capable of lining up inside at five technique and four ey and fiveman fronts and I'm sure that's one reason Why the Eagles signed him because he can do both I said The more I watched young the more I liked him in transitioning effectively to the next level with a desirable combination of positional versatility and strong traits both as a run Defender and developing as a pass rusher so I kind of liked him I thought he was a strong Prospect who's just scratching the surface um of of what he can be now again you know that doesn't make me right and it doesn't mean it'll all develop but I thought he had the chance to be a quality player in the NFL certainly a rotational player for sure absolutely all right so again this goes back to me one of the as much as they've remade the secondary and that's going to be a big Focus tonight especially against this Packers receiving core I still want to know if it's third and seven on the Packers opening drive what four are rushing the passer assuming because for the most part Vic 75% of the time is going to rush four I know Bryce Huff's going to be there I know Jaylen Carter is going to be there I assume Josh sweat's gonna be there right that fourth guy is either going to be Milton Williams it could be Brandon Graham moving back inside like he did the Super Bowl year H maybe they find somebody else more a Jomo that they're well if it's not it's not Jordan Davis yeah and and by the way as we all know and I've known him for years and I don't I'm sure Adams had conversations with him as well um but Vic vano is is is not necessarily warm and fuzzy and he's going to play the guys that he believes can give him the best production which which most NFL coaches do anyway so they would love it to be Jordan Davis but it may not be you know Brandon Graham could easily be part of that and he could you can move him inside which we've seen the last couple of years it could be moo oomo it could be Milton Williams I mean they're going to need to find that fourth guy Jeff and I'm not sure until we start seeing the real games that we know exactly who that's going to be they might exactly what going to be yeah well the one guy and I Know It people were starting to get a little bit concern is Nolan Smith Jeff Nolan Smith is a guy he did well against the twos in training camp not so well against the ones you can understand he goes offensive Line's pretty good but this is another guy you want to contribute we were expecting him at the start of training camp to be more of a factor but Greg I know you saw that he was problematic in the games I was not at Camp you were yeah in the games against twos and threes y he just got swallowed up with every pass rush he was not good at all and in fact I was really disappointed watching him because I know he's a great kid um and I know he probably works at it really hard but you know I'm just going to tell you that which doesn't make me right maybe the light the light switch goes on okay I'm not going to sit here and I'm not going to Define his whole career right now so it could change but I did not think he was an edge player coming out of Georgia okay and I had conversations with some coaches who believe that he should have made the switch to stack backer right away and that that's where he should be now again that doesn't does make any of us right or wrong we don't know for sure but he had a really hard time rushing the quarterback in the preseason games and I watched every one of his snacks I remember you saying that not right away and not Apples to Apples but if Nolan Smith started his career as a stack backer and you work with him for a few years on learning that position that he has the athleticism that could make him a Fred Warner type player if he really 62 and a half 63 240 absolutely now whether that can still happen I can't answer that he's now going into what his second year second year okay so again maybe the light goes on maybe they keep working with him I know he's a great kid and probably very receptive to coaching um but right now you know I've been I'm very fortunate that I've gotten the last two years to go to the o line masterminds event with Duke Manny weather and Jeff Schwarz and all those guys down in Frisco Texas and I've gotten a chance to really talk to O lineman which has been really beneficial for me because I don't fancy myself was an offensive line Guru by any stretch but the bottom line is you talk to offensive tackles in particular and the first thing they say is that the toughest thing to handle is speed to power if you can't be beaten with speed to power they feel like they can handle any pass rusher I remember talking to Andrew Whitworth who obviously played for 20 years and he said eventually they got to get through me the guys that dance and do all the moves I'm just waiting for them they eventually have to get to me so so Nolan Smith right now cannot Rush with speed to power now I don't know if he if that's I'm not going to sit here and say I know exactly how that's taught I don't know if that's a technique issue I don't know if that's viewed as a strength issue I don't know the answer to that but he can't do that right now well you know we get a lot of emails now and a lot of ever since he did not have a great preas and showing should they move him to stack backer should they move him to stack backer and the interesting thing is Greg as a opposed to last year where they at least practiced him a little bit we saw that in OTAs in Camp it looks like this year they have exclusively used him as an edge rusher so that conversation about if he is not a pass rusher Edge rusher but he is a stack backer is probably not a conversation until spring and summer of 2025 now watch him get a sack tomorrow night I know right or three right that's gonna happen he'll get a sack tomorrow night right right one thing the one thing on Nolan Smith though he did bulk up you know he he tried and he's in his now it's mid 240s but the knock on him is that the his frame is still small but he's very thin waisted he's not really a he can bulk up a little bit in weight but he he doesn't have that kind of body not a big guy yeah exactly so this is to play inside backer in this front we know Jeff the the group is they have a lot of them but I we'll we'll we may have time to talk about Burks before we get out of here but the bottom line is not everyone sold Nolan Smith the same I I I I I know a staff that the the staff had a major disagreement with a front office on Nolan Smith they thought he was too small to be an edge rusher yeah the front office loved him um they love the explosion but je Greg just talked about it we're not seeing it that's that's that's something to Monitor and again this is week one this is the first why I said I don't want to Define his whole career right now let's see what happens this second year but Jeff they need one thing before we move on Bryce Hoff is playing in a new scheme he's never played in anything like this but by the way I thought he showed some physicality in the preon I was very impressed with his ability at the point of attack in the Run game a lot of people didn't know CU because he was predominantly a a pure pass Edge rusher for the Jets but I thought he showed some physicality at the point of attack okay well Bryce Huff's got to rush the passers that that's good though that's part of what right how you you you evaluate a player he's got to play the run as well but he's being P paid 17 million year he's got to rush the passer sweaty as it mentioned Jeff earlier he he he really struggled late like I remember talking to GR you and I talked to Greg about it and you just said he just he did show up late in the SE look the same right right so BR be to be honest with you I know for a fact Graham's tape was really Brandon BG's tape was really good last season the limited snaps I'm not so sure right now jayex we have no idea if he'll play at all but Jeff I just don't think we know what to expect from this pass rush quite frankly I that that's my thing is that usually you may question a lot of the Eagles defense especially on the back end throughout the years yeah usually you don't have an this much un certainty about the pass rush and the front line so I imagine again that'll be a big topic of discussion tonight on inside the birds postgame uh show so Greg real quick but I don't I don't want to turn the page and get wrap this all up without talking about the Packers and Jordan love and specifically why he works well within Matt LEF flor's play calling system and what to expect formally from the Packers offense tonight well they'll be a mix because they'll play 11 they'll play 12 I mean that's what they do Matt laflor is is very much like that but I think have to let's talk Jordan love first of all Jordan love just in terms of physical traits because don't forget being 64 and 220 is a trait Jordan love is a top five quarterback in the NFL in terms of physical traits and I thought the area in which he improved dramatically last year and it was very very evident on tape okay and I I I thought it really really showed up um he showed as the season progressed much more of a calculated pre-nap under understanding recognizing defenses that's really important you know for people who who are on social media they've heard Tom Brady talk all off season about how important it is to recognize what you're seeing pre- snap that's critical and he got so much better at that I also thought he as part of that he started to use his Cadence really really well to force defenses to declare their intentions he became a better processor and decision maker from the pocket so and he's capable clearly of making plays outside of structure so there really isn't anything that Jordan love can't do now he still needs I think to work on mechanics overall he's got it still has a tendency at times to throw the ball off balance when he doesn't need to but he's such an easy thrower that at times he gets away with it but I think that that's something that just needs he need needs to keep drilling um and occasionally he can be a little reckless but keep in mind over the last what I'm I'm looking at my notes cuz you know I watched a ton of him and I'm looking at my my notes here um let's see in the last eight games beginning week 11 versus the Chargers he completed 70.3% of his passes and he threw 18 touchdowns with only one interception so he obviously was cutting back on the the recklessness and undisciplined nature that he sometimes played with but I this get back gets back to the Eagles pass rush if you can pressure him you're hoping that that shows up but if you can't pressure him I mean he's he's a really gifted player Greg you've used the term he comfortable passer he looks so comfortable he's such an easy thrower yep and and and uh quick release he he has a flick every once in a while kind of like Rogers ironically he I thought the kid you mentioned the Chargers game was the week before the Thanksgiving game that Thanksgiving game against Detroit I I thought he was Elite yeah he was I you would know better than I and Jeff because you you're watching more than anyone we know but was there a better quarterback in the second half last season I thought he was incredible he was phenomenal yeah you know what's funny um years ago um I was on with Colin coward and I was actually out there at the studios and it was after his next to last year in college okay he had a great year a great year and I told coward and people can find it I'm sure you know this stuff never goes away obviously they can also find me saying things where I'm sure I was wrong you know but I said that Jordan love with continued development he's has the look of a top 10 top five draft choice and then of course his last year in college they had a coaching change he never looked comfortable and obviously he was not a top five top 10 pick and he sat for three years but traits wise you're dealing with a guy that is without question in the top five in the league interesting well that is what the Eagles have to face also now for the next I don't know hot minute the highest paid quarterback right in the NFL because he just happens to be the most recently paid quarterback right right right in the NFL so that's how it works all right great analysis there we're end the show like we've always ended our pregame shows however in the past I've always given you guys a couple of days to think about a score a prediction and MVP this time I'm just GNA put you guys on the spot because you guys are true professionals so Adam I'll start with you tell me what the score is going to be and who is going to be the game MVP well I know the total the the oddsmakers have it at 49 because you look at the talent level of both teams but week one is strange you never know what you think happens doesn't happen this should be a high-scoring game weather's not going to be a factor uh but I I just don't think it'll be super crisp it's going to be fun game don't get me wrong I'm gonna go Eagles 20 Packers 24 o predicting a Packers win in in the week one you are going to be the bad guy this week on I know I G to get hate I I I bring I deliver it to you although I haven't given my pick yet either who's going to be the MVP of the Game Boy not that Isaiah is like an all pro but that's he's one of the top three corners outside corners so I think that's a concern that he's not going to play Greg mentioned the how the Personnel groupings and Matt lefur is a really good schemer and designer and play caller that does worry me a little bit so I'm gonna go with Jordan love who Greg just gave a great breakdown on I Jordan love I'm a huge fan uh he to me will be running for the MVP this year not not just this game as the MVP but actually the NFL's MVP award I'm I'm I'm super in on Jordan love all right sounds good Greg I go to you who wins the game What's the score I'm going to go with with love as well I mean I have to just because you know I spent so much time watching and I think there's too many concerns about the Eagles defense right now but having said that week one is so wacky I mean hey we could we could be looking at a 107 game who knows but I'm G to pick the Packers 30 to 23 so I guess I'll get I'll I'll be hated as well Jeff all right well I'm going to be the nice guy on this platform for the for the first time not the first time but for the rare time usually on the guy that wants to be love Jeff we know I do I need I need love but not Jordan love I just need the love of the inside the birds fans I picked the Eagles to win 2723 and I tell you I picked saquon Barkley as the game MVP I have a feeling oh that with it not being a true home game so you do have to deal with the crowd and maybe some silent count and working in a new center a new Right Guard that Kell Moore is going to say let me let my massive offensive line get this game uh get us on the right foot offense against that Packers front and I just have a feeling Barkley's going to have a couple of explosive plays that might be the difference so I'm picking the Eagles to win 2723 with saquon Barkley as the MVP and that's going to do it the first official inside the birds pregame show of 2024 is in the books and now we leave it out to the Packers and the Eagles to duel it out on the field we'll catch you all next week for Greg coell and Adam Kaplan I'm Jeff Mosher enjoy your football watching [Music]