ITB Week 6 Pregame Show With Greg Cosell: Philadelphia Eagles Vs. Carolina Panthers

Hello, everyone, welcome to the Inside the Birds pregame show. I am Geoff Mosher with Adam Caplan. And of course we have Greg Cosell with us to help us preview this week six game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Carolina Panthers at the link on Sunday, one o'clock kickoff. And I'm excited to talk about this matchup. I think that there's a lot of different things, not just from an injury standpoint, but from a matchup standpoint that we're going to get into. We're going to see a backup quarterback make his first real meaningful start. We're going to see a defense try to carry an offense on its back, perhaps. And then even the Panthers have some interesting situations. I mean, none of us had Bryce Young leading the NFL in passing yards per game going into the year on our bingo. Speak for yourself, Geoff. Oh, I know you did not. So it's fun. It's fun. We're going to address a lot in this show. We're going to get really deep into the woods of what both teams are doing right now. And it's going to be a fun show. Obviously, it's not fun times for the Eagles from an injury standpoint, though, Adam. We have to talk about this because for the first time covering the Eagles, I don't think I've ever seen an injury report that big. In fact, I was almost thinking we should do a who's playing report, instead of a who's not injured report. Here's the thing. It got a lot better Friday. It started to get better Thursday when Smith, as we understand it, had a nice practice. And I'm thinking, okay, maybe, maybe, maybe I told Mike Gill on Thursday, I said, Hey, I'm not saying he's not playing. I start the week. I didn't think so, but I'm liking that he's doing better. Devontae's been clear to play. He has no game status designation. That's the term. Yeah. He's going to play. Yeah. Now, I have to put a disclaimer, barring a setback in their Saturday walkthrough or pregame warmups. Always. Okay. The dreaded setback. So right now, he's clear to play. So he's going to play, barring a setback. Okay. All right. So that's good. I like this. Let's start with the offense. All right. So the big news is Devontae Smith is full, Pat. No injury designation on the porch. No game status designation. No game status. Right. Right. Barclay is out. Okay. Saquon Barclay remains out. He's out. And in terms of offense, we're just going to Jalen Hurts is out. If you haven't, if you've been living under a rock, he has a blood clot in his leg that moved. And so right now, his status is out for Sunday. And we're all waiting for more, so are the Eagles. He's week to week. I will call him week to week because now that I know about it, that's all I'm going to say about it. We wish him well. We don't really know enough about it. I know enough about blood clots, sadly. I know about these things and it has to clear or you won't get cleared. So, yeah, he's out. Go ahead, Geoff. It's really interesting. A lot of these guys, like there are eight guys who start the week, you're like, okay, there's probably not going to play. Like six of them are going to play this week or at least they're going to be available. Yes. Pretty cool. Yes. Well, let's just get through who's not finished off. All right. So we mentioned Barclay and obviously his backup, Will Shipley, not only out, but he did go on injured reserve. So you're looking at Damien Pierce, you're looking at Carson Steel. We'll see if they make some elevations. But Jaydon Blue will be the third. And I want to talk to Greg about this. I know he liked his college tape. I remember that. Right. If they don't elevate Jaydon Blue, I don't know. You have to have three running backs. You can't go to a game with two. I agree with you. I totally agree. So that should be one. As far as the offensive line, all right. Landon Dickerson and Drew Kendall were limited on Friday in practice, but are listed as questionable. So obviously, there's a chance, Adam, for them to get back and play. But we talk about this all the time. You can look at limited as two ways. One, when you're limited on Friday, for a lot of people, that means you're probably not going to play. Or it could be that you're where you need to be, but the team just wants you to not stress it any further. That is, by the way, the latter you just said is the way the teams think. Let's talk to the trainers and coaches over the years. They purposely back off Friday, just to get you, we're going to go through the first part of practice and we're taking you out. We just want to get you fresh for Sunday, go through the walkthrough shoot. That's a great way you said that. Yeah. But yeah, the big, Kendall, see, Dickerson, we'll see. The good thing he's out there, he talked with the media, it was great. He talked in the locker room, that's a positive sign. But Kendall, whatever he's dealing with, you know, he did nothing last week. He didn't really do anything midweek and then he started working late this week. I'd be, I'm not super optimistic. You know, they don't have a lot of choices, you know, at center. Jake Majors or Willie Lampkin, you and I talked about this earlier. Yeah. In an earlier show, but you're going against this front of Carolina that that would concern me with a guy who's got a bad knee. That's right. How Greg on the subject of offensive line here and just your old tape review, if one can go up with the other, let's say Dickerson gives it the old shot at left guard, but Kendall can't play center. And you have to decide between Majors and Lampkin. Is there anything you saw on tape that would lead you to believe to go with one over the other? I mean, we're talking about two guys we've already talked about a little bit lighter, short arm, things of that nature. But any thing on tape that stands out to you that one might be a better option than the other? You know, that's a hard question. I'm just being honest. You know, because look, I'm not charting every play, guys, as you know. And I certainly don't have the same kind of knowledge as an offensive line coach. You know, to me, and this, I could be dead wrong. Maybe if they're all line coaches listening, he'd say, Cosell, you're an idiot. But to me, Majors would be the choice. Majors has played a lot of center in his life. Now, as you said, Geoff, and you're 100% right, does he have all the attributes and physical attributes you want? Of course not. Otherwise, he would have been drafted, you know, high, higher. And was he a free agent or he's a free agent, right? He was an undrafted free agent. Yeah, he was an undrafted. So he would have been drafted because when a guy plays, has 56 starts at the University of Texas at the same position, if people think highly of him, they draft him. You know, so something was missing in the minds of pretty much every team in the league. So that's a hard question because I'm not charting every play, but Majors has obviously played a lot of offensive center. That's who he is. Right. Right. I think he started over 50 games at center at Texas. 56 games at the University of Texas. Right. But that's also where Lampkin played in college, if I'm not mistaken. Am I right? I don't know. You know, prior to this with the Eagles, I don't know a ton about Lampkin's background. And I'll be the first to admit it. You know, the majors I watched, as we discussed last week, Lampkin, I did not know much about at all. Right. I think it's fair, Adam, even just say here that those guys got to be on high alert anyway, even if Kendall and Dickerson go. Because I mean, Dickerson is going to go out after five plays. You have no idea. Right. We've seen that before. We've seen that before. Sadly, yeah. Yeah. And just the way things are going. So we'll have to see the kind of order that, I mean, this is obviously a discussion inside the building, what they have to do and how they have to out there and why they cross-train. The thing though about Lampkin, I think Greg kind of talked about this on Inside the Tape, his lower body strength is phenomenal despite, we know how short he is, he can't do anything about that. He's a stronger player than Majors, like that's obvious. Yeah, I would agree with that. Yeah. So Jake Majors to me is a nice story. There are questions around the league because we've asked some people behind the scenes around the league about in scouting, whether he's an NFL player. They like the person, he's tough, mentally tough, he's gone through a lot to get here. But he's bounced around a little bit, there's a reason for it. Willie Lampkin is a guy a lot of teams like, believe it or not, despite him not being drafted. Willie Lampkin, I just looked up his background because he was at Coastal Carolina. Yeah, Coastal Carolina. He started for three years. He started for two years, he started all the games at left guard, which is what he played last week for the Eagles. Last year there, he started all 13 games at center. It's on both. Yeah, so that's the thing. Geoff, when you brought it up to me earlier this week, I was like, yeah, but I think he's stronger at guard because it's more like you need his physicality. Yeah. But if Landon's back, he should start at center. I mean, that's really where they needed starting. Wait, if Landon Dickerson is back, who should start at center? No, no, Landon should be back at left guard. Yeah. But I love what Greg said when we did the show. Greg talked about the first two series were not good. He got beat every time, but once he got settled in mentally, he's like, okay, I got to settle down a little bit. He was pretty solid. Yeah. You know, this is a big interior line too. I mean, you know, that's the other thing you think about because that's, you know, Derek Brown, Hunter, Bobby Brown, these are big men. So as I said, I thought he held his own well last week, but he didn't move people. And these are, these are big people who are good players. For sure. The Eagles really do need to get back to moving people. I totally agree with that. All right. I want to talk real quick about the quarterback situation, but let me just get through the rest of the offense injuries, then we'll get to defense. So the good news is Marquise Brown was a full participant with the ankle, and he's got no injury. I'm sorry. He has no game designation. So he's good to go. Grant Calcaterra, full participant on Friday, questionable, but full. See, that's the one, Adam, where we would say, hey, if you were questionable, but you are full participant on Friday, you get a good feeling that that guy is going to play. Well, here's the thing. Remember, they would have to create space for him to get on that 53-man roster, and that's to be the challenge for Howie. Well, they did put Will Shipley on. I understand, but they have some other guys who could, like Jacurian Ben, had also practiced a lot this week. That's true. And by the way, Zach Ertz is out of elevations, if I'm not mistaken. He is. Yes, he is. So if they want him on the 53s, or they want to play, they got to put him on the 53 inside. This is what my issue was last week. They signed Carson Steele off the practice squad. They don't elevate him, but they don't use him on offense. He only played specials. But yet, their running game was atrocious last week. Why wouldn't you at least get him some carries? I just thought last week was questionable. And also, to move this forward, we're back to the same thing at running back, with Barkley out as we knew was going to be out. They've got Steele, they've got Pierce who struggled, and Jadon Bleu. We'll get to Greg when we break down the game. But I'm very interested to see if they start, they have to work these other guys in, because Pierce, it just didn't work. It didn't work. For sure. For sure. Other good news for the Eagles is that Dontavian Wicks has no game designation. He was a full participant, amazingly, because he was dealing with the hamstring injury, but he is fine now, good to go. Tyler Steen, good to go. By the way, that did not look good. When I was worried it was just pictorial. When he reached like this, I was like, oh no, don't be biceps or pictorial. I love that he went in, that he went out. That's another one where I start the week, I'm like, I don't know what to expect from this guy. That's great news. No game status designation. No game status designation for him, no game status designation for Fred Johnson with the knee, he's good to go and for EJ. Jenkins with the toe, good to go. So that, offensively, the big takeaways are, obviously, you're a starting quarterback, obviously, you're down your backup and you're starting in your backup running back, but you do get your number one wider senior back and your tight end group looks a lot healthier. I did neglect to mention that Eli Stowers, who is in the practice window, was a full participant and is listed as questionable, but another move would also have to be made, right? If you want to, yeah, we got some weeks to let that thing marinate. So actually really good news. Yeah, really good news for the Eagles. Way better than anticipated. Yep. Devante, I just hope he holds up. I just hope because he's had this injury now 10 weeks. Let's not forget. It's a long time. Right. Then he added the toe thing. Like, where did this come from? Yeah, this is just the biggest concern for the guys who are healthy is that, can he, can Kendall, can Dickerson, if they all wind up playing, can they last through a game? Hey, you guys have been lamenting the lack of a vertical threat. Well, guess what? The Hollywood Brown has been cleared. Yeah. So let's see. Let's see. I know you're going to jump on me. Backup corners. What's that? Against backup corners. I know, against backup corners for Carolina. Because I know Geoff saw me for saying, well, can they protect? Every week. Throw the ball. I know, but you know what? They've got how, let's see that 5 million go to use this week. There you go. Hey, football is heating up and everyone's pulling up because PrizePix has all your picks in one place. New users, get yourself a head start with PrizePix. Best offer yet. If you win your first $5 lineup, you'll get $150 in lineups. That's right. New users get $150 in lineups if you win your first $5 lineup. PrizePix is available nationwide. So what are you waiting for? Lock in for kickoff with PrizePix. What you want, I'll tell you what I'm on. It's the Bengals, wide receivers, T Higgins, Jamar Chase. 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Basically, you know, we'll, 95% of the time, not only do these players not play, the league, the club will get a phone call on Monday if the guy plays. They have to explain, why did you list him as doubtful? Right. You're not supposed to do that. If you think it's 50%, questionable. If it's 90%, doubtful. So he's not expected to play. I get a lot of calls on Monday, because I'm doubtful every week. What do you? We doubt it. We doubt it. Maybe you're old guy, dude. You move well. Hey, I was at the gym this morning at 5 a.m. But here's a question. Did you really run a 4.7 in high school? No, I ran a 4.8. It was my freshman year of college. We got time for baseball. Did you have wheels on your sneakers, though? No. A skateboard? No? Okay, good job. I'm a fluid, long strider. Sure you are. Are you? Bill Pulley in the Philadelphia General Manager said he would never sign, he didn't care how good the tape was, a linebacker who ran worse than a 4.75. He didn't give a hoot how good the guy looked. Good thing I didn't play linebacker. Yeah, there you go. But just to get back to the edge here and put it in perspective, assuming that Ebonessa is out, then you really have only Nolan Smith Jr. You have Jonathan Grenard who did practice in full. That's good. He is not carrying a designation, so he's good to go. But as we've mentioned many times, he has not played a ton of football this year, or even at the second half last year. Conditioning has to be a question, and now you're not going to have Epinessa. So it will be a three-man rotation with Evakiti, Katie. That's Evakiti? Evakiti. Evakiti, Nolan Smith Jr. and whatever you can get from Jonathan Grenard as he comes back. If anybody gets hurt there during the game, does Jahad Campbell become an edge pass rusher? Well, that's something I wanted to discuss with you, or does Zach Bohn do it? We'll talk about that. Last but not least, the following players on defense carry no designation and practice in full. That's Jahad Campbell, Jalen Carter, Evakiti I mentioned, Epps I mentioned, and Mac McWilliams and Andrew McCuba. So I think that covers everybody on defense, and it looks pretty good for them in terms of getting guys back. Man, was that a mouthful right there? Yeah, that great job. I'm pleasantly surprised because the Steen one, I was like, I don't know how he's playing this week, and he did a great job at the medical staff. Because I know some of the fans were killing them on Twitter, like, what is wrong with these people? Can't they get these guys to play? Just some bad luck. It just happens. But I'll be interested to see, because Hertz is out, that's obviously a major problem for the Eagles, in terms of having their quarterback there. But I'll be interested to see what the sentiment is prior to the game, do people actually think? I'm feeling a lot better about the game. Yeah, let's do it. And by the way, let me just fly through the important Panthers injuries. Oh, Carolina's got some injuries here. Yeah, their injury report isn't really, it's kind of misleading because they have guys on IR that are obviously out for a long time. And I believe both cornerbacks, right? They're starting cornerbacks are both out in the reserve. So that's Jason Warren and Mike Jack. Yeah, they're going to be out. So the Carolinas on backups. Offensive line got better for them. Theoretically, Adam, I'll let you handle that. But Damian Lewis has been out. He's questionable. And they're starting tackle who's been out all year. Taylor Moten was in the window and he is listed as questionable. He had a blood clot in his lung, by the way. So if there's any anyone who understands that Taylor Moten does. Yes. So what is your understanding about this offensive line? So with Moten, it's a cardio conditioning issue. It's he's good to go in terms of, he looked good, they gave him a lot of reps this week, get his feet wet. This is his first full week back. This is a big week for him. It was surprising if he played, he just hadn't been back long enough. I know people are going to point to Zachary, it's completely different. It's completely different. Zachary's been working out for six months. Moten was restricted to certain things because he was coming back from a blood clot and having to take blood thinners. Now, Damien Lewis, who missed the prior game, he took a lot of the ones on Friday. He should get clear to play. That's big. AJ Dillon has been... He's a good player, right, Greg? Damien Lewis? He's a solid player. Okay. Monroe Freeling, unfortunately, didn't practice a lot this week and he's doubtful, so that means he's not expected to play. It'll be stone foresight more than likely if Moten can't go. Yeah. What's that? It'll be stone foresight if Moten can't go. Probably remember him from his Chargers days. Okay. Yeah. And Falcons. Yeah. He's been around a little bit. Wow. Stone foresight. Wow. That obviously would be a problem for them. But other than that... AJ Dillon is out. That's really not a big deal for them. He's not. Then Tershan Wharton, one of their big defensive tackles is questionable. Yeah. He's been out since the spring. Well, the big key for them is Jalen Coker carries no designation, so he's going to go. Yeah. Coker's back, but the big one is Wharton. He's got a real shot to be activated. They have Saturday 4 p.m. Eastern to activate him for the game, where he's got to wait a week. But Turk Wharton, he practiced a ton. He's being paid a lot of money. He's a good interior pass rusher. That's a good player. Yeah. It's a good deal. Yeah. So the kind of like the Eagles for them, where they have some injuries that are really, really tough, they're starting corners and on their offensive line, but they're also getting some guys back who will help them. So let's get into the Eagles offense, Greg and Adam, against the Panthers defense, because this is going to be the first meaningful, like actual start for Tanner McKee that isn't against week 18 in a meaningless game. Okay. Go ahead. What I was going to say, because again, I don't know how much time, it's not a matter of time, we can talk as long as we want, but how much time we can truly spend, because there's a couple of things that we don't know the answer to. Okay. Number one, the Eagles at this point, we don't know what their run game is going to look like, it's not been very good. So the question is, are they going to put McKee under center? And of course, he did that in college, or are they going to put them in the gun and spread it out? So because teams have been blitzing the Eagles a lot and been very effective. So when you put a quarterback in the gun and spread out, obviously you can see it better, the defense has to commit sooner, and McKee from everything I understand is a pretty sharp guy. So to me, that's a big question in this game, how the Eagles choose to play offense predominantly. As we know, nothing's 100 percent, but do they put McKee under center where he did that a lot in college, and I'm sure he's comfortable with that. But without the threat at this moment in time of a serious run game, that may be a hard deal. It's a great point, and it might not just be a McKee slash running backs issue. If Dickerson and Kendall play, you feel a little bit better about your size upfront than what they may do as an Lampkin, right? So you may want to at least try to, like Greg just said, try to at least get a respectable run game going, see if you can work off that. If they don't play or if they come out and you're really undersized, again, I think Greg makes a good point. Adam, you've said they're down in the secondary, put them in shotgun, spread it out, and throw the ball. Why not? That will give you a better chance. It depends too. They've played a lot out of 11 personnel and the Panthers defense, even versus 11, will play big nickel at times because Trayvon Mourig is kind of a common knee. He's one of those guys. He's not talked about in the same breath as the Emmanuari's or the Derwin James or those kinds of players, but he's similar stylistically. So you're dealing with a guy that can play in the box, overhang, on the ball, and therefore, he's a quicker, better athlete so he can blitz. So you have to be aware of that. You know, Devin Lloyd is a really athletic linebacker. So the question is, they're going to get pressure somewhere along the line here because they've not handled it well. So you have to decide the best way to counter that. Right. Greg, tell us about Will Lee, the rookie corner. What do you know about him? Oh, I did him coming out and I'm going to pull out my notes on him because I really liked him. And I believe he was a fourth round pick, was he not? Out of LSU, was it? No, Texas School. He was in the 2025 draft. Wait, first year, second year? No, he's a rookie out of Texas A&M. Oh, yes. He was in the 26th draft. Yes. Go ahead. I'll tell you in a sec. I'm pulling it up because I'm very- He's starting, folks. They've run out of corners pretty much. He has to start. So- I watched him for two years. He went to A&M. So I watched him for two years. So I thought that his tape showed a strong corner prospect with outstanding length and fluid movement with plus transitional quickness and the loose hips to open and run. He was strong and pressed man playing both mirror match and targeted physicality, both attacking wide receivers at the snap, disrupting them before they even got into their route. Once they get into their stem, squeezing and driving them to the sideline and out of bounds. He was very physical, guys. I thought his coverage trait stood out throughout his tape. He also played a lot of zone as well. I thought he needed work in zone. I thought he was a much better man coverage corner. But he was 6'1.5, 189. The reason he was a fourth round pick is his 40 time was 4'5, too. That's the reason he was a fourth round pick. Yeah. You don't see a whole lot of corners, outside corners running a 4'5, too. That can draft at high. That's right. Not on purpose, I should say. Greg, their safeties are Nick Scott and Zaki Wheatley. I recall you being somewhat a fan of Zaki Wheatley at a Penn State, the safety. Or is that a different guy? No, I liked him. He's a rookie as well, right? Yeah. I'll pull up. I liked him. I was surprised he got drafted as late as he did, because he was drafted pretty late, right? It was a fifth round pick. Yeah. He's a tall dude. Yeah. I thought that he showed a pretty strong, you know him, Geoff, because of Penn State, you know? I thought he showed a pretty strong safety profile. He has size, he's length, he's 6'3 and an eighth. He was aggressive, he was competitive, he triggered downhill. Now, I don't think he ran. Was he injured? Because I don't think he ran. I think you're right. But, you know, so my guess is he wasn't going to be a burners, and that might have been the issue as to where he was drafted. And his other testing wasn't great, so I'm sure that was a little bit of a red flag, because his other testing wasn't great. But I thought he was pretty fluid. I thought he was kind of loose. I thought he had the athletic and physical traits to develop into a starting safety, and obviously starting now. So, you know, I don't know what they think of him, but he's starting at safety. How would you describe the overall identity of an Ejero Evero defense? Did I pronounce that right? Ejero Evero, yeah. Yeah, he's a little bit of Vic Fangio adjacent because of the background in Denver. But so they're not a heavy, you know, blitzing team normally. You know, obviously, they've got Jalen Phillips there. You know, we know he's a good player. So, you know, I think I think you'll see probably more zone than man. That would be my guess. But, you know, again, with the corners, because Evans is the other corner, and he was an interesting guy coming out, by the way, as well. So because I remember doing him, I forget what school, maybe Kansas State, if it rings a bell. Oh, I thought it was Missouri, but you might be right. Yeah, Missouri. I think you're right. I think it was Missouri. So, you know, I think, you know, I think you'll see them play more zone. I, you know, if you look at their breakdown, they don't play a ton of man, you know, of cover one, and they don't really play two man. So you're going to see a lot more zone. Now, that doesn't mean you can't press. It depends what kind of zone you're playing. Right. I know you always have kind of the data on this. Are they a big pass rush win rate team? Are they a good quarterback pressure team? Or have they been middle of the pack there? I can tell you that too. Obviously, they lost Nick Scorton, their second round picker. Yeah, they lost him like the first day of training camp. Yeah, because that was their plan. Their plan was to, we signed Jalen Phillips for a lot of money. We have Nick Scorton, a couple other guys that we think can rush the passer. But when Scorton went down, it kind of made it a Jalen Phillips operation. Obviously, Derek Brown, one of the better D tackles in the league as well. But really, not the same without that one, two punch that they were hoping for. Yeah, no, no question. Let me check on the pass for sure, right? If you keep talking, I'm just trying to- Well, while he looks at the Adam, I want to ask you this while Greg research that, because the Eagles are in a precarious position here. McKee is now QB1, Hertz is out, and if this were three weeks ago, Andy Dalton, who has a familiarity with the Panthers, he might come in handy here, at least as a backup. But now, they go into the game with Cole Payton, who has a long, long way to go before he should be a quarterback, and they signed Joe Milton from the Cowboys. So, that is, I can't imagine that was their ideal scenario, because Milton has not played in a system that Sean Mannion is running. No, well, Shoddy does run at West Coast, but they're not all the same, and he's coming here, he's gonna get one and a half practices. He's gonna get one practice and a walkthrough. Right. Dalton, our understanding is that he decided to sign elsewhere. That's why they signed Milton off the Cowboys practice squad. Okay. We should have that team next week, but Joe Milton is one of these guys, been in probably 10 practices over the years, whether it's New England or Dallas. Huge arm. Yeah, you watch the arm, you go, holy smokes. Yeah. But if you're in the stands, you got a better chance of getting it, because he's one of those guys where you're just not sure where the ball is going. That's exact. I saw it's the senior ball. Yeah. It's a shame. Nice guy. I feel bad. He's supposed to be a great, great guy. Yeah. I remember when he was in New England. That first year when Drake made, I think it was May's rookie year. Yeah. There were people who raved about him just because the sheer talent with the size and he throws it so easily. It looks totally effortless. I remember in the combine drill, the one where they just have the quarterbacks drop back and throw the long deep fade. I watched him and he put the ball in the air for about 70 yards like it was nothing. Exactly. Like it was a pebble. Greg, you were probably there for that. I'm sure you were there for that. I was. I've been there in every one. Anyway, the pass rush win rate guys for Carolina, they're in the middle of the road. They're right in the middle of the road. That's what I thought. Okay. One last thing on the quarterback situation. If McKee, let's hope McKee stays healthy. If he were to get hurt, I think the US have a real conundrum because at least Joe Milton played NFL football. I guess I would say I would not be surprised if Milton was in there over Cole Payton, because Milton has actually played NFL football. No, because he just got there. But you could scale things down. I know they can't run the football. Everything is short, short drops, get out of his hands. He's got the mechanical, it's the game. It's one thing if Barker was playing, okay. You could take the air out of the football, literally. Yeah, I mean, if Payton has to go be the quarterback because McKee gets hurt, they have to run the wing tee. This week, it's got to be Payton. Now, next week, get Milton in for three practices. Yeah, that makes more sense. Do the developmental period after practice, also before practice. Yeah, it could be done to get reps, but forget it this week. There's no way. I think Payton's first NFL snap when he was active a couple of weeks ago, he was the personal protector on. Is that right? Yeah, I have to look. I believe he has special team snaps already. Okay. Because we saw it happen in in a training camp, not training camp, preseason games. Yeah. Right. Where he was getting you thrown out of the field in non-quarterback situations. So yeah, just really interesting there. And he has 10 special team snaps this year, fellas. And no offensive snaps. So just interesting. All right. So again, we're talking about the return of Devontae Smith and Hollywood Brown, at least gives them the opportunity to stretch the field. Well, the other thing, and again, we don't know until they play. So we're just having a great conversation talking ball. But that's one reason I mentioned the spread stuff, because now they got wide receivers. And again, it comes down to pressure as well. If they feel they can protect with their own line, then you might feel that that's the best way to go, because then your pass game can be theoretically sustaining and theoretically explosive because you have Devontae Smith and Hollywood Brown. So those guys can run working against backup corners. And I think their slot corner will be Smith-Wade, because when Horn and Jackson were healthy, Smith-Wade was not the slot because they would bring Horn into the slot. Will Lee did play outside right from day one this year, so it's not like he's a backup. He was a starter from day one in their nickel. Oh, I got one for you, Greg. I don't know how much he's played, but they've got Isaiah Simmons. Does he play at all? Former first-round pick from Clemson, Isaiah Simmons? I guess not. Greg would have said so. He's listed under safety, by the way, so he's gone from linebacker to safety man. I had a conversation with a coach at the combine a couple of years ago about Isaiah Simmons, and it's a coach I know well, so he was being totally honest with me. I just couldn't believe what he was saying about Isaiah Simmons and how he just doesn't understand the game. He was telling me that when he played linebacker, he didn't even know what a pulling guard was. Even after being in the league for two, three years, he just didn't register to him. Oh, God. Oh, boy. Which is why what's happened to him, because you're dealing with a guy, I remember standing next to him at the combine on the field at the dome, and the guy just freaking looks like Tarzan. Yeah. I mean, and he's a ridiculous athlete, but he can't play. Surprised they didn't just try to put them on the edge and say, go get the quarterback. Usually, if that's the case. Some teams have tried that, and I guess it hasn't worked out enough where they felt like they wanted to keep them. Well, I guess if you don't know what a pulling guard is and you're playing the edge, you might get concussed if you're not paying attention. Totally interesting. I mean, they're good up front. Derrick Brown, both Browns are good. Lee Hunter is a rookie who's a solid player, big, physical. Obviously, Lloyd is really solid. They brought in, how was he pronounced? O'Carrakay. O'Carrakay. Just a veteran knows how to play. Maybe not the same player he was three or four years ago, but he knows how to play. Well, the big one is, how's Jalen Phillips look to you? Solid. Yeah. I mean, he's one of those guys. Saks are a very funny thing. You watch tape and you can see a guy being really good as a rusher and not necessarily get sacks. He's a good player, Jalen Phillips. Right. No issue there. But they're not a bad defense. Right. No, no. I was going to say their defensive front sounds very good, even without score and their back end can be exploited. So to your point, Greg, I think in summary with Devontae Smith back with your tight ends back, this might be a game where you go old school Bill Walsh and you pass to set up the pass deeper pass or you break that up the right, like you just get in shotgun, you get in shotgun, you'll see the defense, you'll let him, you know, you'll let him see, Hey, are they blitzing? They not blitzing? You know, you use the past game as kind of your sustaining element to defense. And again, that doesn't mean you're going to drop back 60 times. Maybe you make that a little more of the foundation than trying to run the ball. And Jeff, they're going to get, they're going to start to get answers on the key. You know, he had a rough training camp, rough off season. He was overthinking. He was not playing free. He just would not throw the ball into. I've never seen this before from him, but it really started. I remember Greg, we did the Inside the Tapes show after that game, and Greg goes, he's going to go home and have a sleep this night because there are going to be throws there. He's going to, I can't believe he would make. The free part is interesting, you know. We'll see. You know, people say that all the time about players, that that's the way you want to play, but you know, freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose. Yes, it is. Look at that smug, look at that. I get them. But honestly, Geoff, you saw some training there. He just was holding on the ball, holding the ball, and when guys at the quarterback, the quarterback position, excuse me, have an issue, like they're overthinking, I don't care if they've got a cannon. They're indecisive and the ball comes up short because they're not driving the football because they're just late. Yeah. Right. They're late way too much, man. It was very troubling. I mean, you hear a lot of quarterbacks talk because I see it on social media, guys who played in the league, and they all talk about certain players. You just got to rip it. You got to drop back and rip it. You just got to turn it loose. I mean, cut a loose is your term. I like it. Yeah. You got to turn a loose. Cut a loose. Good stuff. I think we can all agree here if the Eagles decide that they want to make this more of a defense ugly, muck it up, run the ball game. You cannot give 25 carries to Damian Pierce and expect a lot of. I mean, if you're not using steel in some form or fashion, to me that would feel like malpractice. You got him on your 53, he's out there, he's got more juice than Damian Pierce. So it would be interesting to see if he could give you anything from an explosive run element. Well, that's where we're all curious to see about Shaden Blue. He was in last year's draft, right? 2025? Yes. That's right. Yeah. I mean, I don't know what happened in Dallas. None of us. You never know that when guys who you think should make it get cut. You just don't know. But I mean, this guy's an explosive back. I mean, he's got track speed. I mean, he's got a very interesting traits profile. He's not big, a 5'9, 196, ran a 4'38. I mean, he can run. That's, you know, there were times I thought watching him, I thought, gee, could he be a James Cook kind of back? And when I said that, you know, I didn't know James Cook was going to start carrying 300 times. Yeah. I hope people understand that. Yeah. I didn't see him as a guy that was going to carry 300 times. I don't know if the Bills did either. Well, if he keeps fumbling like that, then he's probably not going to be carrying 300 times. And that's exactly what Joe Brady said in a press conference. But anyway, you know, this guy has juice. So we'll see. You know, who knows? I mean, I don't know anything about what the Dallas situation, but you know, he's certainly not a volume runner, Jay Don Blue, but he's got a ton of juice and he's a good receiver too. Yeah. I did learn a long time ago that you can tell that the Eagles season is going off the rails when they have too many former cowboys, you know, going back to like DeMarco Murray and Orlando Scandrick. I mean, for whatever reason, when the Eagles get former cowboys on the scene, it's never a good thing. Well, I just want to put Jay Don Blue or Jayden, however he pronounced it. He had pretty significant character issues. I could tell you for a fact, I could talk to people in scouting around. Well, that could have been the issue too. Yeah. That was why he dropped in the draft because he, his tape was really intriguing. Very. To be honest with you, Malik Davis, I remember Malik Davis was the backup. He beat him out for the job. Malik Davis got hurt and they still didn't want him. It tells you a lot. Not good. Andy Dalton, also a former Cowboy. Yeah. Didn't have a great preseason. I'm just telling you, former Cowboys to come over and play for the Eagles, it's never a good situation. Our friend Harold Carmichael ended his career as a Cowboy. We don't talk about that. Because he told me he's heard it from so many fans. He just can't believe they won't let it go. Anyway, there you go. All right. Let's switch sides here. Because if the Eagles are going to win this game, it has to be because their defense, in my opinion, kept them in the game and probably created a turnover or two. But Bryce Young, we talked about earlier, Bryce Young playing really fast. Greg, when you watch him play right now, what is the biggest takeaway from why he looks like a real solid number one overall picks that quarterback now? Decisiveness. I think that's a combination of coaching and him. The ball is coming out. He's confident, he's decisive. A lot of that does have to do with the route concepts versus anticipated coverages. Plus, the other factor is he's so much better in both the pre-Snap and the post-Snap phase. This game in the NFL now is very much a post-Snap game with all the movement that defenses do at the snap. You have to be able to function in the post-Snap world, and he's done that very, very well. And the other thing, while he's not an explosive athlete, he's deceptively slippery, and he keeps his focus down the field. He does not drop his eyes. So he can move. He's very controlled and calculated in his movement. It's never frenetic. It never looks like he's lost. And he makes a lot of throws down the field. And the final thing is he's a very good deep ball thrower. Oh, yeah. And obviously, having Coker, who's been a great story at a Holy Cross and Macmillan, you know, two years ago, he didn't have those guys. He had Adam Cullin playing the fly. He didn't have that kind of weaponry. I watched Bryce Young's tape this summer, his final seven or eight games when they made their playoff run. And the guy I noticed immediately was Coker. Now, obviously, I've been a big Macmillan fan from the time he came out. And I think that's shown up in the league. But Coker, I didn't do him coming out because I think he was Holy Cross. And so he was a guy I didn't get to. And I'm watching him this summer. And I'm going, wow, I really like this guy. He's long. He's a little juicier than you think because he's a strider. You know, I learned that many, many years ago about receivers that have length. They don't have to be four, three, five guys because their stride length becomes their vertical dimension. And Coker's got that. He can run a little bit now and he can stride out. Is that a little Alshon Jeffreysh in that kind of comparison where you're not the speediest guy but you have a stride? Yeah, although Coker's a smoother athlete than Jeffrey was. Jeffrey wasn't, to me, super smooth. He could get vertical, but he didn't look smooth doing it. Coker's a very fluid mover. You know, it's interesting, Jeff. They've got, Tett McMillan's got size, Coker's just over 6'1. Bryson Tremaine is a big dude. He's like 6'4. He's actually a solid player. Yeah, he's did a good job. And Waller has become a factor. They got a lot of tight ends. Waller. Oh, and they have former Eagle, not great. John Metchew had three catches the last game. So they've got some talons. Yeah, I was going to ask you about that, Greg. Not just Metchew, but the idea that it looks to me like Bryce Young is really, I mean, Tremaine, he's comfortable throwing to guys who are not necessarily his number ones and number twos. He's spreading the ball around. Don't forget, he played with Metchew in college. Oh, great point. So, I mean, Metchew, he knows. And I thought Metchew would be a really good pro for what he is. I'm not, he wasn't going to be Jamar Chase. I thought he'd be like a slot movement guy. But then he got that illness. He was, I forget what it was. I thought it was Hodgkins, but yeah. Yeah. So he's just kind of working his way back. But he, to me, would have been a really nice, solid like 2A, 3 kind of guy, depending on where he was. But he's made some place for them the last number of weeks. Because Ligette's out, he's on IR, and he's been a disappointment to them. Right. Right. People may not remember, but Ligette had a chance to beat the Eagles two years ago in Philly, but dropped the ball in the end zone with 40 seconds. And the Eagles narrowly escaped. I remember that game. Yeah. And then after that, the Eagles went on a tear and won the Super Bowl. But that was part of that strain of hungry wins. Yeah. They're interesting. Their players, their skill players are not bad. Hubbard is not a bad back at all. I mean, there are games, he gains 100 yards. He's just one of those solid grinders. But there's also other games depending on the game and the opponent where he could rush for 30 yards. So that's a little bit week to week with him, but he's not a bad back. The scouting report on him I got from someone in Pro said that, got a little bit of a wiggle, straight ahead runner, does not run with good vision, which is why they drafted Jonathan Brooks. Unfortunately, he's getting hurt, but he's a productive, unbelievably productive people play fantasy. Know it, raise your hand. Yeah. But we need to mention Brad Idzik, John Idzik's son. What a great job. You have to realize this guy was an offensive quality control coach five years ago. Give Dave Canales credit for handing off the play calling. That takes some gazintas. Well, the whole, I mean, Dave Canales was once a strength and conditioning coach before he became the offensive coordinator. I'm sure Philly fans will hear this and think, well, why didn't the Eagles do this? But they also have Darrell Bevel on staff. You can say what you want. Some people love him, some people don't, but the fact is he's a veteran NFL offensive coach. He's seen a lot of things. When you have a young coordinator, it's great to have a veteran who's seen it all to bounce things off. Don't forget, Canalus was in Seattle as a wide receivers coach for years. Canalus is another guy that has a background in offensive football. I remember meeting Canalus years ago when he was with Seattle at the Combine. Sharp, really sharp guy. Obviously, it should get the credit, he's the play caller, but they've got a lot of people there that he can bounce things off to figure things out. Yep, and that is Daryl Bevel has been a two-time interim head coach. Yeah. He's been around a long time. He's worked a lot with quarterbacks, worked with Russell Wilson in Seattle, and he is there to support these young coaches. Greg nailed it, and Pat McPherson is our tight ends coach, he came over from Seattle. Obviously, Dan Morgan, they brought a ton of Seattle people, and it's starting to hit. That's where Sirianni did not do well for them. Again, no knocking on anybody, I'm just a believer in that personally. No, Adam and I talk about all time. With all the coaches that I've been around in my career doing this a long time, these veteran coaches who've been doing it a long time, they are really encyclopedic in their knowledge of the game now. Again, there's a difference between that and calling plays, but that's not my point. The point is, when you're facing a defense that maybe does the same stuff, they do this kind of blitz or whatever, and you have a guy who says, yeah, I remember seeing that 10 years ago, and then you have an answer for it. That's the other thing that's been evident watching tape with Bryce Young, he has answers. He's a very smart young man. I know him, I actually know his family a little bit too. You're dealing with a guy that's incredibly intelligent, and he understands the game and he has answers. Greg, I was watching some tape of them and I was really surprised. It sent me to the Stats websites and found that they actually run the highest percentage of RPOs in the NFL through five weeks. It's a big first down play for them. They seem to be able to stay ahead of the sticks that way. Even in an era when teams and defenses have caught up to that, why is it so successful and how will the Eagles have to be aware of it? It's hard to know why. Theoretically, it's a good play. When you put it on the board and you go, let's run an RPO because you're basically just reading one guy and if he reacts to the run, you got your throw. It's not a hard play. I would say they're leading the passes out of RPOs as well, so they use it for their pass game a lot. Also, Young has a very quick delivery, very quick. I think that's the big thing. Also, it's a good play for them because then there's no pressure because the ball's out literally in probably one second. No one's in his way throwing the football. Then you see Macmillan catches the ball in those windows really easily and turns up field. I don't think they did that in years past. That must be an idzik thing. Yeah, trot ball fits who your quarterback is. You got to play to your quarterback. Yeah, for sure. Macmillan is really good. I mean, really good. How would the Eagles you think generate pressure with their depth issues right now on the edge? Is Zach Bohn a guy that continues to be a part of their- That's a great question. I mean, obviously, they got three guys now, but if somebody gets nicked up and hurt, the question is who becomes an edge player? I would be surprised if they made Bohn that guy because he's so good at linebacker and he's such a great pass coverage player. Again, I guess the next man up might be Jihad Campbell at that position. They might be, and then Trotter would play middle linebacker, which we may already see. Trotter is going to play snaps anyway. Yeah, that's a good point. I also think, Greg, it's not necessarily, even if someone doesn't get nicked up, they're getting what they want out of their three guys, they're just going to need some extra pass rushers. You might see Bonn used like last week against Jaguars, where he's the fourth in a sim or the fifth in a five man. Right, he was the guy that was used. Every time they had a four man, not every but one, I think, because I think Gene rushed one time. But pretty much every time that they went four man sim or five man, it was Bonn. Right. Adam, this is the game where the Eagles need to win. They're at home, they got a lot of stuff going against them. But where they are healthiest right now, is they have their two starting outside corners. They have DeGene to play safety and nickel, and they even have Epps, right? Yes, they're down one safety, and when they want to go to nickel, we'll see what they do there because that doesn't help them. But this Panthers team haven't faced a whole lot of juggernauts. Let's be honest. I mean, they've done well. But this is where that's why you're paying Wolin that $12 million for one year, and that's why you got an all-pro and drafted Mitchell. This has to be an Eagles secondary game, the way I see it. Yeah. Now, the pastors have got to hold up, and now as we speak here, we're not totally sure what the Panther offensive line will look like. We know Rashid Walker is playing left tackle. That's already settled because what's his name is out. He's come out for the tournamental attendant, Ike Iguano, but Rob Hunt at right guard. Sounds like the left guard, Damon Lewis will be back. Fortner is filling in for Brady Christensen, and we'll see. Right tackle is kind of tricky. Yeah. Advantage is here with the Eagles. I think they have to win inside on defense because Fortner is not a physical center. He's long, he's pretty athletic. That's the reason he's not in Jacksonville anymore because he got drafted to play center in Jacksonville and started as a rookie in Jacksonville. And then they felt like he wasn't the answer because he wasn't physical enough. Right. Right. And obviously we saw Jill Carter last week. Right. So I mean, they have to be able to control that. You know? Yeah. Okay. And if you can hurry that passer because of it and get some opportunities, you'd like to see the Eagles be able to convert. This is the biggest thing with Eagles defense right now, why they're not ranked as high in like DVO and EPA. They create no turnovers and they get no sacks. Right. And now I get it. They're thin on the edge, but they still have guys on the interior that can get sacks. And we saw- Carter's got to win. Carter's got to win. And Gernard and whatever snaps he plays, he's got to win. Like this is why he's here. He's looked really good when healthy. I know he's been healthy, has not been healthy enough, but he's looked really good. This is the, I agree with Greg in that, Eagles have some advantages here. They have to win. When you've got advantages like this, it's got to happen. It's got to happen. Yeah, for sure. Zach Bond's such a great player, but it can't start with him. When you have the pass rush and you're creating turnovers, then you look at him making tackles everywhere and stopping key third and fourth and one. That's where he just almost gives them like the wild card, puts them over the top, but it's got to start with the pass rush and they got to create turnovers in some form or fashion, especially with what they'll probably be, I feel safely in saying, a limited offensive output. So that's the key for the Eagles defense. That's a look at the matchup between their defense and the Panthers offense. Everything in life comes down to choice, doesn't it? Whether it's choosing the team you root for, who you listen to, or how you power your home, you deserve the freedom to choose your own adventure, and that goes for your power bill too. Right now across the US, Americans have the potential to harness limitless, clean, affordable energy. We could be powering our hospitals, our schools, our farms and so much more. 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So whether you're stocking up for the tailgate, the watch party, or celebrating a big win, you know you're getting the good stuff without overpaying. They even show love to the community with specials for fans, students, service members, and healthcare pros. Camden Apothecary, top quality cannabis, great prices, and an experience made for Philly fans 21 and up. Let's get down to what we do. The best, fellas. Let's predict this game, the outcome, and the score, and the player of the game. Greg, start with you. You know what? I'm going to pick the Eagles to win. Okay. I'm going to win 20 to 16. Wow. I like it. Very good. It's a gut feeling. I mean, it's not based on... Look, with what I do, there's 10 variables on either side. I could go any number of ways when I look at a game, which is why I'm not usually a picker of games, because there's so many variables, and games play out totally differently. Gee, it's like last night's game. There's no way going into that game that the Seahawks wanted Sam Darnoldt to have 55 drop backs. I mean, but games play out. Sometimes you never know how they play out. Yeah. Is it possible to feel worse about a team after they win a game? Because I came away from that thinking, I think the Seahawks are going to be okay in the long run. They get their running backs. But the Broncos look like crap. I mean, they are. So what I'm struggling with is who's my MVP. Believe it or not, I'm going to pick Tanner McKee. Oh, that's where I'm going. You stole one from Adam. He wanted it. Do I think that he's going to throw for 350 and four touchdowns? Obviously not. But I think he's going to be solid in the context of this game. And I don't think this game will demand that the Eagles throw for 300 yards. Or I think this could be one of those games where they could have 250 yards of offense and win the game 20 to 16. Sure, sure. OK, so I'm sorry, what was the final score again you said? 20 to 16. 20 to 16, Tanner McKee. Adam, what do you got? The 250 yards, here it is. Tanner McKee 240 yards, Eagles rushing 10. That's it. Yeah, there you go. All right, I've got it. I'm going to go, I'm going to go 2416, Eagles. Tanner McKee, Tanner McKee, I just, I'm feeling, now wouldn't, I told our Patreon folks hours ago, I said, all this great injury, updated, good news, injury information for the Eagles has changed my mind completely. I'm going Eagles, you know, we've gotten lucky the last two weeks, the Eagles have lost, I can't forget, I picked against them for two weeks. I should have lost both games. I'm going to take the Eagles here. And I feel like whoever is lining up in the interior of their offensive line, we don't know yet, but I feel like, if it's got to be Lampkin, hopefully it's not Jake Magers and Lampkin again, but if it is, at least they got their feet wet. They know what's expected of them, but they're going to do a good enough job to give Tanner time. And I just feel like he knows, this is a one for opportunity, don't blow it, but Smittyback, Goddard, even Hollywood Brown. I know he's barely played one healthy. He could run. You guys killed me about the vertical dimension last week. They have one, you got to use it. There we go. You punks set me up. You do this to me every time, right? You both go to the Panthers, but the Eagles are favored. I'm sorry. The Panthers are favored by, it went from one nap to three nap. By the time they kick off, it could be even bigger. And you guys both pick the Eagles and have to make me look like the bad guy. All right. I picked the Panthers to win. I do think the Eagles will give a great effort. I think this will be a very good game. I picked the Panthers 23-20, kind of felt like they might be up like 23-17. Eagles got a field goal. They think they're going to get the ball back, but don't kind of game. But yeah, I picked that to happen. And I was going to give Darren Waller as my surprise MVP, if I catch two touchdowns in this game. Because all he does is catch like, he's like Darius Cooper. He'll get four catches a game. Two of them will be touchdowns. So that was my, I think it's going to be an ugly mucking up game. I do think the Eagles defense will play well. I just think that you're missing Jalen Hurts, and you're missing Saquon Barkley. We don't know about the O-line. I hear you. It's tough. It's really tough to pick the Eagles at a moment like this. But you guys did, and I didn't, and I will feel the wrath of that, especially. Good news as we leave, guys. The weather is going to be in the mid-50s. The wind will be a little bit of wind, but we're finally going to have a fall day. Let's get some good football, will you? Please. All right. Sounds good. Obviously, make sure you catch the Inside the Birds post-game show with myself and Adam, the post-post-game show with Andrew DiCecco, and all the great coverage that will come after this Sunday game. That's going to do it for this episode of the Inside the Birds pre-game show for Greg Cosell and Adam Caplan. I'm Geoff Mosher. You've been watching the Inside the Birds pre-game show on Inside the Birds.