Good morning. Um, before we get started with questions, UH, thoughts and prayers go out to the Heckerd family. UM. I knew Tom obviously when he was here, uh as GM of the Eagles for the nine years that he spent here, and obviously had a chance to know his father as well. But UM, thoughts and prayers go out to his family at this time falls out of practice list. Yeah, he's had a little upper body issue that we're just
uh just monitoring day to day, just giving him some rest. Yeah, we're gonna monitor it again today and tomorrow we're gonna see where he's at the game we play. The Steelers kickoff. I believes it's seven o'clock. Um, we're gonna try to get everybody in this football game. You know, it's one of those games where we try to play everybody. Um, we're still evaluating. So it's it's great to get everybody
in this game. And and uh, you know, our starters, um, offensively and defensively, the ones that are healthy and gonna play, you know, are gonna are gonna get some good work. I want to I want to make sure that they get, um, you know, a little bit of work in this game. And Uh, and then want to see all the young guys you know, perform and uh, they'll get some great opportunities related to the elbow injury from legend. Not at all kind of team or the first two weeks of
camp here. Um is this team better than the one last year? It's hard to say. Um, we haven't played any games yet. Um. What I'm seeing out on the practice field though, the effort, the hard work. What I love about this team is is they can you know, we can have a scuffle, we can have a little little little you know, some words back and forth, but they come together at the end and they embrace it and and move on. And that's that's what I like
to see from this team. And two weeks in, it's been hot these last couple of days and they've really embraced it. And um again, until we start playing games, it's hard to say Steelers and success. Well. Number one, no, no major injuries obviously coming out of the game healthy.
Number two. Execution all three phases. Uh. Sometimes when you play a lot of guys, you know, um, things are going to happen in football games like this, but just overall execution, Um, you know, we gotta love the young guys are that are that are fighting for roster spots and and giving us depth and a lot of positions, and it'll be great for them, uh uh to to go out and perform well. And those are things that
that we want to see. I don't know your contract extension, what it means to make then know the team investing you. I really wish nobody would have brought it up, but um, you know, I'm definitely honored, um, you know, to be to be recognized that way. Um, listen, I feel truly bought in my heart. This is this is everything's a
year to year. You know, I'm gonna coach my tail off this season and and I'm just thankful to mister Lurry and the Eagle organization for believing to me and trusting to me and and uh you know, giving me the extension and um you know, um just just excited to to go to work every single day that you and how you both have contracts that are concurrent. Well,
I mean, I think I think it's important. I think what you're seeing around the league is is GM head coach kind of in that same have the same amount of years left, you know, and and uh it really helps in sort of solidifying your your plan, not only not only current plan, but the future plan. And um, when you have the same amount of time remaining, Um, you can you you know, collaborate that way and prepare that way. Joe Douglas, you talked to him a lot too.
Would you like to see him stay part of that whole thing? Yeah, Joe, Yeah, Joe. I mean, Joe has been a big part of of everything we've done these last few years, and you know, he's a big he's a big part of the process. So um yeah, you know, the more people we can keep, love to have everybody and and uh, I know, I know, with another hopefully another good season, and that'll happen. You know, I would expect it to be very similar, um, you know to
this past weekend, uh, Sunday night. I mean it's exciting, it was electric, had a great show of fans out there, and I think it's gonna be that same, but you know, hopefully more people obviously uh for our first game and come out and support the team and and just kind of sort of pick up where we left off with the NFC Championship game, you know last fall on game Day? Is this a test for good change from Frank and
John and as opposed to Mind as the offensive coordinator. Yeah, and that's that's a great question because you know, obviously used to those two guys for the last two seasons and and uh, you know, for them to take bigger roles, you know, a press obviously with the quarterbacks and and and how he's worked with them, and his involvement now on game day and um, you know Mike on the sideline still and and and being more of you know, a voice in my ear that Frank was and and
uh sometimes the voice of reason, and uh, it'll be it'll be great working environment. And these are all reasons for these games obviously now with with a couple of new coaches and positions to work these things out. Get a sense of that, you get getting with the patience that you show some of young guys last year, like Shelton and starting to play off. Yeah, I think, yeah, I do see that. You know, Um, these guys are
working extremely hard. Uh you know, obviously Shelton's coming back and Pump's been working hard this uh this this training camp and you're just seeing the growth and these guys.
You know, of course Shelton played a little bit last fall as a as a special teamer, and I just think that confidence is showing in both those players, and UM, you know, it's what it's about when you when you when you draft young players, investing time, it's gonna take a couple of years, you know, two, three, maybe four years to to really fully see their their talent and their um how they grow with the with the offense, and and um excited for these games and really uh
looking for some big things out of both those players. Contact same as that he's not gonna play this week, you know what assumed means, right, UM, you know he obviously hasn't taken eleven on eleven. We're still made, you know, still watching his progress and monitoring that, and um, you know, if he's not in practice, then you know you can you can figure it out about anything different in your guys playing for him next week. UM, probably not, Probably
keep keep going the way we're going. He's progressing extremely well. He's getting stronger every single day the seven on seven reps and he's getting um o our valuable reps. It's all part of the process. Very highly about the collaborative, about the collaborative nature between you, Howie and other decision makers in the organization. How would you assess your relationship with how we rose over the past couple of years. We've gotten extremely close, um, more so than a business
relationship obviously. UM. You know, if you know a friend of mine, um, you know, and in this business, we spend a lot of time together coaches, players, and and and personnel staff. And so for he and I to be attached like we are, UM, we got to figure out how to get along. And and it's been a real, real, real treat for me obviously to get to know he and his family and Mindy and the kids. And I'm excited to work with him now the next next few years.
And and uh, I know he's excited as well. And listen, as long as we continue to collaborate, um, you know, stay in our lanes and and and keep doing our jobs, you know, I think good things are gonna happen. In the preseason last year, you took a little different approach. The starters didn't play as many reps as that did the year before, and you sat some veteran players. Is that the plan this year as well? When did I
do that? Just in the third game of snaps, probably the third game because we scrimmaged against Miami up here last year, so that took a little bit of the reps away from the starters. You know, if I can, honestly, if I can get a game full of snaps sixty five seventy plays within you know, three games or so, that's good work. You know, that's good, solid work with the starters. And and um, still got to maintain, you know,
an edge obviously. Um it's it's harder though. It's harder in a preseason game because they know they're only gonna play X amount of plays and then it coming out so not a full game yet. But we gotta try to maintain that edge going into the Atlantic games. Yeah, the big emphasis last year was about week one. We're out the preseason. You kept mentioning week one, and you did the same thing to them, Are you are you
doing that this year? Thinks you have to. I think you have to maintain It's part of the edge, you know. And and the thing is our week one roles pretty fast. I mean, we're playing a game on Thursday, preseason and home game opening day seven days later, so um, I gotta keep talking to him as if we're preparing this week for that game, and that's that's all part of
their mindset. Obviously, Nate sun felt a preseason last year and Joe Callahan's pretty new and everything like for those guys on Thursday night, especially like how valuable will be considering I mean, I'm you know, those guys will probably get most have found all those snaps on Thursday. Well, yeah,
it's it's extremely valuable. You know, we saw Nate in the Dallas game at the end of the year and I thought he played well there and those are things that you hope he can carry over into the preseason this year. And you know, I've been in that role before as a backup where this is really you know, our regular season. This is where we get to play
and shine and um and perform. And so you know, I encourage both those guys to embrace the opportunity for however long they're in there, um and and it really uh will go to show exactly where they are with this team. Uh, what they know is with the offense and just the whole the growth process of of just just learning everything that we're about. You didn't hit this week to do? Is that a a change in your schedule,
did you he's awful little bit. Well, I was gonna go pads today, but you know, the weather has been in the nineties and it's been hot, and these guys have been extremely working, extremely hard, and uh, you know, we're a little over forty eight hours obviously, you know the game time. So I just wanted to pull back a little bit. These last couple of days. We had a hard, hard workout in the stadium and then uh, just just good work these last couple of days and
just getting them as fresh as I can. It's pretty alive and accurate, despite the fact that off the field, what haven't you been telling him what he's been doing with him to keep his mind and body fresh. It's
a it's a little bit of a challenge, um. And I say that because you know, he's only he's engaged for about seven, eight, nine, ten plays and then he doesn't hit the eleven on eleven work, you know, So for us, it's about attacking each period that he's in, whether it's the individual work or these seven on sevens, and and um, you know, just detailing the work. He has to approach it like like his game week. And
and I just keep talking to him that way. Uh, you know, Press Taylor keeps talking to him that way, Mike grow keeps talking to him that way. We're we're not gonna let anything slide, you know, from his decision making to accuracy of throws, um, feeling the pocket, even though it's seven on seven, timing rhythm, all of that part of the game. So we just keep talking to him and putting him in those situations. Him sliding his decision making, um none, none, um he uh, he's really
he's a guy that that that really challenges himself. He's hard on himself. UM. You know, seven h seven obviously is not full team REP so it's a little more controlled and and yet at the same time, I want to make sure he's one hundred percent accurate, um, one hundred percent with his decision making, and that's what he showed so far. Used the word hesitant. Listen, I've slept since then. Thanks guys,