'Get His A**!' Eagles vs. Browns Practice Ramps Up Intensity
PHILADELPHIA – An unidentified member of the Cleveland Browns traveling party was standing on the sideline watching the Philadelphia Eagles defense go against his team’s offense on the second day of joint practices between the two teams when he hollered: “Somebody needs to get on 42’s a**.”
That is safety K'Von Wallace's number, and he was delivering clean, hard shots during seven-on-seven, red zone work.
It could have been anybody’s number, though, because the Eagles showed up on Tuesday, a day after letting the Browns get the better of them in practice.
“Cleveland was probably happy with how they performed (Monday) and we had a little bit more grit to us (Tuesday),” said center Jason Kelce. “You have to come out here with that intensity every day, and it’s a good wake-up call to be honest with you.”
The Eagles moved practice up from 5 p.m. to 1:45 with the threat of thunderstorms for later in the day, and it was indeed terribly humid. The Eagles were ready.
“A lot of guys came and said, ‘Hey, we gotta be better,’” said veteran cornerback Darius Slay. “Of course, we had a straight day, but we gotta have great days to get where we need to go. Me, as a leader, Fletcher (Cox), BG (Brandon Graham), and all the guys, we looked into our groups and was like, ‘Hey, man, it’s time to go today.’
“We know how preseason goes, so this is our work, so we gotta go get in there. Guys went in and attacked it.”
It was during the same drill that Wallace got singled out when linebacker Zach Cunningham deflected a Deshaun Watson pass over the middle and Reed Blankenship picked it off.
The duo made a similar play on Monday, but this time Blankenship turned up field, as this pick wasn’t in the end zone, and rookie Sydney Brown threw a block that the Browns took exception to, leading to a nice little scuffle in front of the Eagles’ sideline.
“We’re practicing hard, they’re practicing hard, and that’s what it turns into, a high-intensity practice,” said Brown about the scuffle. “It’s hot outside, it’s early in the day and we were ready to go.”
Brown was asked if the block was clean.
“I’ll have to go back and look at the tape, but I’m sure it was,” he said.
Then he added when asked about his intensity level: “I want to be a feared player. That’s been my mindset going into this.
"I play with that intensity every single day. You’re going to connect at some point. You’re going to feel it. My intention isn’t to hurt people, but if you’re carrying that football, then you have to know I’m coming for you.”
Never one to shy away from physicality, Derek Barnett also got into it with a shove of Browns tight end Thomas Greaney.
Ramping up the intensity was the first thing coach Nick Sirianni brought up in the team meeting, and the Eagles certainly responded.
“It was one of the first things we talked about in the team meeting, just being upfront with it,” said Kelce. “We were not happy with the way we performed (Monday). That’s not up to the standard that we hold ourselves, too. We made it a point to come out here and do better (Tuesday).”
The Eagles' first and second teams both picked up 8-0 wins, when Jalen Hurts hit Brown with a touchdown and Kenny Gainwell ran in for PAT going against Cleveland’s first-team defense. Marcus Mariota found Tyrie Cleveland on a nice throw in the back corner of the end zone against the Browns’ second team D.
The Eagles' defense stopped the Browns' first and second teams, with Blankenship notching his third interception in two days off Watson, this one on the end zone, and Josh Jobe intercepting Joshua Dobbs’ throw to Cedric Tillman.
“Guys were fired up to get back out on the field,” said Kelce about his teammates. “Had a much better day, and we’re just going to keep on trying to improve. That’s the name of this game.
“Nobody right now is good enough to win the Super Bowl. Everybody has to keep getting better. The teams that continue to do that, the teams that continue to work and obsess about improving their game, their technique, what they bring to the table for their teammates, those are the teams that are going to continue to get better.”
The Eagles certainly showed that on Tuesday.
Ed Kracz covers the Philadelphia Eagles for SI's EaglesToday.
Please follow him and our Eagles coverage on Twitter at @kracze.
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