Eagles Put on Pads, Try to Turn Page from Miami Loss
The last time the Eagles practiced in full pads for an entire practice was, well, a long, long time ago.
The long streak of pad-less practices ended on Thursday when Doug Pederson made his players bust out the shoulder pads and padded pants and keep them on.
“It was intense,” said tight end Zach Ertz. “Obviously everyone’s frustrated right now; a lot of energy. Guys were flying around, full pads, going extremely hard. We’re really excited for Monday night.
“It’s always good when you play like that (in a 37-31 loss to the Miami Dolphins), when you perform like that, to get out and kind of bang a little bit. It never feels too good after a game like Sunday and you kind of need as a team to kind of reset and get back the basics. Doug’s always has a great feel for that kind of stuff. I think it was needed.”
Three players missed practice due to injury as the Eagles get ready to host the New York Giants on Monay night: receiver Nelson Agholor (knee), defensive end Derek Barnett (ankle), and linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill (concussion).
Running back Jordan Howard was, once again, limited with a shoulder injury that he endured in a Nov. 3 win over the Chicago Bears.
“Mood is good,” said quarterback Carson Wentz. “Mood is high. That’s always one thing I’ve appreciated about this business and this organization about how we always turn the page. The second you get on the grass, get back on the field, it seems like you’re just playing ball again.
“You can feel the upbeat, the energy. At the end of the day, where we’re at isn’t where we want to be at this point. At the same time, we have a great opportunity ahead of us, and we’re excited to put the rest of it behind us and go play some games.”
As for Howard, he hasn’t played in more than a month. Pederson said on Thursday that he didn’t believe the injury is season ending.
Without Howard, the Eagles’ running attack has been underutilized ad the Eagles have lost all three games without him.
Against the Patriots, the Eagles ran 21 times and passed 40 times. Against the Seahawks, it was 23 rushes to 45 passes. Last week in Miami, there were just 19 runs to 46 passes.
Quarterback Carson Wentz has taken a lot of heat in the three straight losses, but he hasn’t been helped by a run-heavy game plan, either.
“I know this is probably for you guys a broken record, but it has to start with me,” said Pederson. “I have to look at my performance and how am I preparing the team? How we practice during the week, am I doing enough there? In-game decisions.
“I have to look at that first, and then I have to see - and we can't control obviously injury. We know this is a violent sport and we're going to miss some guys from time to time. But how well as coaches do we prepare the next guy?
"So I have to look at that and make sure those guys are prepared. And then as we get into games, how are we making adjustments and are we making adjustments in games in all three phases to try to be successful.”
