Three Takeaways from Howie Roseman's Media Session
PHILADELPHIA – Howie Roseman met with reporters on Wednesday for the first time since Aug. 31, and he was about as candid as he could be without, as the Eagles general manager likes to say, “giving away the answers to the test.”
Here are three takeaways:
Injuries. One of Roseman’s best lines came while talking about the injury issues the team has had.
“Hope is not a strategy when it comes to injuries,” said Roseman.
The GM went on to say that, “When we look at the last three years, in 2017, we were able to overcome it. The last two years, the injuries have really hurt our football team. There is a part of that that is natural during the game. Injuries are going to happen. But we have to figure out a way to get better here.”
The Eagles hope they found a way when they hired Arsh Dhanota in June to be their chief medical officer. Dhanota was brough in to observe the team’s training staff, weight staff, sports science, and the various processes that go into making medical decisions and training regimens. He will make his recommendations to Roseman and the Eagles sometime this offseason.
Roseman also conceded that, yes, injuries end to occur with older players, but the rub is, he gets attached to his older players and doesn’t want to part with them.
“I think that when you talk about the chance of getting hurt, the older you get, the higher chance you have of getting hurt, so I definitely think that's a factor in the injuries,” said Roseman. “I mean, my body doesn't feel the same way that it did five, six, seven, eight, nine years ago. Yeah, the simple answer is yes.”
Yet, Roseman signed off on bringing back Darren Sproles, even though they had Boston Scott turning heads in training camp, and Jason Peters, even though they drafted Andre Dillard.
Roseman also brought in DeSean Jackson, who played one full game this season at the age of 32, but who was drafted by the Eagles in 2008.
“One of my weaknesses is getting attached to our players,” said Roseman. “There's no doubt about it. We have a lot of voices who are not afraid to air their opinion, and I think that we always want that and obviously we have the coaching staff, too, who gives us their opinions, as well.”
With Peters, who turns 38 on Jan. 22, itching to play again and Jenkins, 32, letting it be known he won’t play under his current contract, it will be interesting to see how Roseman and the organization handle that in the offseason.
Youth. Roseman knows his team must get younger. He talked about the 10 draft picks the team is expected to have this spring.
Another strong line from Roseman came when talking about the draft.
“Going forward we need to infuse youth in this team,” he said.
The Eagles had just five picks in each of the last two drafts and, Roseman said, was a reason the team went looking for veterans to plug some hole.
“We have a lot to do going forward,” said Roseman. “When we look at our team from 2017 to 2019, we knew that we had one team. Really, a team that we were basically going to stick with. We didn't have a lot of resources in terms of draft picks. That's on me. We made trades for some veteran players to go win. We stick to that. We're glad of those decisions.”
Speed. You didn’t need a stopwatch to tell that one ingredient the Eagles lacked, particularly on offense, was speed.
Carson Wentz averaged 6.6 yards per completion, which was tied with Patriots quarterback Tom Brady for the lowest of any plaoff quarterbacks this season. That’s hardly stretching the field.
“You're always looking to get faster and you’re always looking to get more explosive,” said Roseman. “I think that's always been something that's been fun for us to try to do.”
The Eagles added DeSean Jackson o bring that quickness quota up. Roseman said that Nelson Agholor is one of the top-10 fastest receivers in the league and believed that with Jackson and Agholor as well as the addition of rookie Miles Sanders, the Eagles would be just fine.
“Now obviously that didn't work out in the exact way we were hoping for,” said Roseman. “So for us, it's an important thing to do. Obviously, Carson has the ability to make all of the throws, and we don't want to take that out of our arsenal … it's something that has always been important to us in building the team.”
