Football Season Is Here
It's a sign of the current sports world pecking order that I spent far more time last night watching an NFL preseason game so meaningless the Colts held out 14 mostly uninjured players rather than an important midseason clash between the Phillies and Cardinals.
I caught some of the last couple innnings, but I'm guessing I wasn't the only one with misplaced priorities.
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Stewart Bradley really is the guy. I thought there was at least a decent chance this year that Bradley would go through the season being somewhat protected, much like what the Eagles did with Chris Gocong last year. That really doesn't seem to be the case, though, since we're still learning things like this:
Linebacker Stewart Bradley practiced with the first-team dime defense as the lone linebacker, a role he's adjusting to.
"It's working the communication with the safeties," Bradley said. "It's like your regular defense, but just with a lot of safeties in there. You have to make sure everything's straight."
On my list of things to watch for in preseason, Bradley's coverage skills are right up there.
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Speaking of the preseason... Friday night's game against the Steelers will be shown live on NFL Network (in HD). Other national game times and channels:
Thursday, Aug. 14
Carolina Panthers -- 8:00 PM (FOX)
Saturday, Aug. 23
New England Patriots -- 7 a.m. (NFLN HD)
New England Patriots -- 1 p.m. (NFLN HD)
Wednesday, Aug, 27
New England Patriots -- 8 p.m. (NFLN HD)
Saturday, Aug, 30
New York Jets -- 11 a.m. (NFLN HD)
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And while we're at it, here's my full list:
- McNabb's mobility and command (duh)
- Special teams coverage and return units
- Kolb's progression
- Bradley in coverage
- DeSean Jackson returning punts
- DeSean Jackson playing wide receiver
- Chris Clemons as a pass rusher
- Darren Howard to see if all the hype is for real
- Trevor Laws' and Dan Klecko's ability to get penetration
- Who plays where on the offensive line once the starters go out
And of course my own personal #11: Tony Hunt's overall performance.
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As I've said before, I don't really get the whole 'Bash Spadaro' thing. With that said, he does have a tendency to just assume stuff away:
DeSean Jackson, after seeing him in the spring and now in training camp, appears ready to make an impact.
Jackson is a threat every time he is on the field because of his down-the-field speed and his explosiveness with the ball in his hands...
The size isssue isn't one for Jackson. He has superb hands, great body control and the ability to change direction as well as anyone the Eagles have had in a long, long time at receiver.
Ok, but none of what follows explains why the highlighted sentence is true. All of that may be so, but we still have to worry about the little guy getting his head taken off out there.
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I had no idea Ryan Moats was so interesting. I was searching for more info on the P90X traing regimen that Akers is so fired up about and came across Moats' page on pe.com. Follow that link, then click the "personal" tab.
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Want to know today what everyone will be complaining about tomorrow? Here ya go:
"Lurie is scheduled to give his state of the team address after practice today."
I had not noticed this watching the TC Live footage, but being there in person, I did notice their base nickel package appears to be using 4 DEs. So I'm a excited to see how this translates in real game situations.
Posted by: Eric | August 04, 2008 at 11:57 AM