‘Divisive Leaks’: Eagles Vet Bluntly Reveals Problems in Philadelphia Locker Room
Maybe a Philadelphia Eagles' victory or two can stop the bleeding.
But can winning stop the "divisive leaks''?
As the Eagles head to New York to play the Giants for the second time in three weeks - mostly as a tuneup as Philadelphia likely settles into the No. 5 slot in next week's NFC playoffs - the buzzing and the bitching doesn't seem to be fading.
And safety Kevin Byard, new to the team this year, is being brutal honest about that fact ... while also offering a theory as to one of the reasons why.
"I come from Tennessee,'' said the former Titans standout, acquired in-season by Philly, "which is obviously a smaller market, I feel like it was very easy to keep 'in-house things' in-house.''
And in big-market, high-profile Philly?
"It's very different over here,'' Byard said. "I feel like there's leaks everywhere ... it can be very divisive in a way. It can kind of force players or whoever it may be to almost protect yourself.''
The fact is, when a team is properly constructed and healthy in most every way (beyond just what's on the injury report), the size of the "market'' needn't matter much. Last year's Eagles won the NFC and went to the Super Bowl and did so with an absence of the sort of back-biting and finger-pointing and "miserable'' mood this year's edition of the team is suffering through.
And obviously, Philadelphia didn't just turn into a "big-market team'' this year.
But that doesn't make Byard wrong about some of the essential differences between playing in Philly vs. his days in Tennessee. The Titans do not undergo the same scrutiny as the Eagles do ... and that's especially true when we're talking about an Eagles team that started 10-1, has now collapsed to 11-5, and is allegedly, privately, thinking of going through the motions today against the lowly Giants, thus conceding the NFC East to the Dallas Cowboys, avoiding injury and "arranging'' a postseason Round 1 foe to their liking.
Philadelphia needs a win and a Cowboys loss at Washington to re-capture the NFC East crown. More likely? The Eagles end up with the No. 5 seed in the playoffs and open on the road against the winner of the NFC South.
Will success there lessen the "divisive leaks''? Hopefully. What will failure bring? We think Byard just told us.
