Eagles Release Updates to Offseason Workout Programs
PHILADELPHIA – The Eagles’ offseason workout plans came into sharper focus on Tuesday.
The big news?
Mandatory minicamp, which had been scheduled for June 8-10, has been canceled. Also, there will be two weeks of OTAs, not the three that had been planned, and even during these, there will no 11-on-11 or 7-on-7 work.
These were the compromises reached between head coach Nick Sirianni and the players, who last month issued a statement supporting their union’s desire to not have any offseason workouts at all, believing that players were perfectly fine working out in their own.
"We had some really good conversations with our players, some of our team leaders, about the offseason program," Sirianni told the team’s website. "I've always believed it's important to have that open communication with your team, and it was really helpful for us as a staff as we put together the offseason program. I feel good that our schedule will allow us to get some really good work in before we hit training camp. I really appreciated those conversations."
So, the offseason program boils down to three phases.
The first took place last weekend with the rookie camp.
"It was great to get on the field with the rookies last week and now we're excited to have the veterans back in the building," said Sirianni on the website. "As coaches, what we're looking forward to is taking what we've been teaching virtually and bringing it out onto the grass with the players. That's the next step in the process as we build toward Training Camp and the regular season. Really excited for that."
Phase Two began Tuesday with veterans joining the rookies this week. A team source told SI.com Eagle Maven that Tuesday was "well attended."
The week is to include meetings and on-field sessions geared toward fundamentals, schemes, and strength and conditioning, per the website.
Phase Three will be held next week and the week after, meaning that the OTA scheduled for June 14-17 was also canceled. This phase is designed for more time for players and coaches to work on and off the field. On-field drills will closely mirror that of Phase Two.
"Our goal is to keep building,” said Sirianni. “So up to this point, we've had a lot of great time with our players virtually teaching them our schemes. So now what we're doing is taking that out onto the field, focusing in on the fundamentals, while taking what was learned virtually and getting the reps in person.
“It's one thing to talk about it and see it virtually, but it's another thing to get out there and go through it physically. So that's what our focus is these next three weeks and then we'll pick back up once we get back for Training Camp in July."
After these three weeks of practice, the Eagles offseason program will conclude and the players sent on their way until training camp begins, probably in late July.
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
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