Inside Training Camp: August 4

a quad injury. Now he had a quad injury last year, an injury played last season where he played just over of the snaps in twenty and fifteen. Then Malcolm Jenkins with a hamstring injury. He left practice, neither returned. We'll keep you updated and we hope that they are nothing serious. Still out of practice running back Ryan Matthews and right guard Brandon Brooks. Chris, what do all of these nagging,

minor injuries mean for four veterans. I'm crossing my fingers first and foremost that it's just stuff that you can get out of the way right now and that it's done during training camp and these guys will be fully healthy for the regular season. But for these four veterans, I'm not overly concerned. It's more if you need to develop the depth at these positions. Matt Tobin, he went

in at left tackle when Peters went down. You need to find out who's going to be able to possibly be that third tackle here on the offensive line, who's gonna be the third safety Malcolm Jenkins and Rodney McCloud or you're first and second guys obviously, but Ed Reynolds was a guy who went in there today, and that's a position they need to find out more about. So it's really an opportunity you go back with yesterday and

Kenyon Barner getting the reps are running back. It's a chance for those depth guys to go out there, get them reps with the first team units and prove themselves to show that they deserve more of a chance down the line day. Yeah, and when Dells Smallwood, Eagle's fifth round draft pick, remains out of practice with his injury, now we are going to talk to Jim Schwarzen just

a bit about the defense. And he was a little salty honestly after practice on Thursday, but we'll get him in studio here and see how he feels after the afternoon walk through on the offensive side of the ball. Sam Bradford in his press conference after a good practice. Now, the Eagles offense really dominated in the red zone, and then the Eagles defense came back and took it to him a little later in team drills to end the practice.

But Bradford has been going against the safety tantem of Jenkins and Rodney McCloud since the spring, and among the things he was asked on Thursday his impressions of that duo in the Eagles secondary, and he is certainly very impressed. Yeah, I think those guys are playing really well right now. I think it's you know, one of the better, if not the best, probably safety duo in the league. You know, it just seems like they cover a lot of range

in the back end. You know, whoever's in the middle of the field back there, they're deep, they're range, They're covering a lot of ground, they're taking a lot of things away. But you know, I think the good thing about both those guys is when they come down to play a tight end or a slot receiver, they're tough to be. I mean, it's not like we look out there and think, oh, that's an easy matchup. You know

how you do it with most safeties. I mean, they're really good cover guys, and I think they've showed it. You know. I think you would much rather have things tough in practice than get to a game and realize, well, like practice has been really easy, this is really tough. So you know, I think as many challenging situations as we can put ourselves during practice, I think it makes

you better. Number seven, having a very fine camp and Chris, let's talk a little bit about not the offense here, but about the defense and about the secondary and the Eagles, as we talked about a couple of days ago here, they really have not had an answer at safety since two thousand and Nate when Brian Dawkins left after that season.

So McLeod and Jenkins their ability to cover. As Bradford said, what does that do for the rest of the defense, Well, it was gonna do is it allows the other guys to play to their responsibilities and you strengthen and almost have a safety net, so to speak. I'll use the word. They're knowing that everything will be cleared up on the

back end of defense. You know, the front four is going to attack, led by Fletcher Cox in the rotation at defensive end, the linebackers are going to clean up the mess and be able to apply pressure and coverage when necessary. And those corners look to play in Jim Schwartz's defense, you have to be physical. You'd be willing to hit. That's why you're seeing guys like Eric Row step their game up now that the pads are on and they're taking their game to another level, so to speak.

But last year you ask Malcolm Jenkins to do so many different things where you're not only had to play as a deep safety, but he also had to play as a slot cornerback. And you're working guys like Ed Reynolds and Chris Marriges and adding them to do asking them to do out of responsibilities. It will just make things a lot easier for the guys back and net out that you have someone Jenkins and so in Mcloud's caliber to compliment them. Well, I will ask Jim Schwartz

that very question. What does having these two safeties mean for the rest of the defense in terms of the scheme. So coming up here on Insight Training Camp presented by xfinity. The defensive mastermind of the Philadelphia Eagles, Jim Schwartz in studio. Have you ever pictured yourself with Eagles season teens? Well,

now you can turn that fantasy into reality. Comcast Sportsman and the Eagles are giving away a pair of tickets for the entire two sixteen season every week this summer brings you closer to the dream with a new chance to win these seats. It's easy to enter. Just answer this week's bull question and enter at Philadelphia Eagles dot com slash cs in Philly. The Schwartz is with us in studio. Welcome everyone, Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz and studio.

How are your coach? Thanks for coming in, Thanks good, Thanks for having me. Yeah. Hey, I want to something I noticed at practice Jim that I really enjoy watching. It's the camaraderie of the defense. There is a ton of enthusiasm. Everybody really is rallying around each other. Something that you foster, something your courage or does it just happen organically? No, I mean you have to talk about it.

I mean defense is a team game. It's individual effort within a team's game, and you know everybody has to rely on the next guy next to them, and they got to be happy for the other guy's success and for us to be successful, we got to have a lot of guys play a lot of different roles. So we certainly embrace it and we encourage it. Have you seen the physicalness that you want to see from your defensive that the pads are on and there's been a little bit of hitting. Yeah, I mean, let's not mistake

training camp pads for real pads. I mean, you know, because you're still trying to protect each other. Nobody's chopping anybody, nobody's going low one tackles, somebody's finishing at the quarterback. So even though you know we have live periods, you're not, you know, knocking a guy over a pile or or taking a guy's legs or anything like that. So let's leave that. I mean, it'll it'll be a different tempo in preseason games, and we all know it's a different

tempo once a regular season begins. Also, so what are you evaluating that? I mean, and it just kind of take me through it. If if the tempo isn't quite there, I mean, one of the tempo is there, it's just where you were just not as physical as you would be in a time when it's another opponent. I mean, we as much as we want to compete, we got to remember these are our teammates, you know, and we got to find a way to be physical practice without

crossing over the line. And there's and there's always a line there, you know. I mean, you can finish a rush. And if you had a guy into the quarterback and the quarterback's brains is thumb, nobody's happy, you know. So you know, you gotta you gotta, you gotta govern it a little bit. How do you feel about what you've seen? Um, it's training camp. We got a lot of work to do and that so okay, good, good? You're not satisfied at all? I trust or is there a point? And yeah?

I think if yeah, you you pull thirty two offensive coordinators, thirty two defensive coordinators, thirty two special teams coordinations, you're not gonna find anybody that's satisfied right now. I mean, that's that's the nature of training camp. I mean, if you're satisfied now, you're probably on the wrong path. Are there good things that you're seeing that you'd like to share? No? Okay, but but but there are there are good things, but

you have to temper that. You know, you don't want to get too far ahead, you know, and you know, I think everybody can recognize that. You know, you can you can get a little too pleased with yourself in training camp, read a little bit too much. We have to keep our eyes on improving every day in the grind, in the training camp. We have to embrace that if we do, the end will take care of itself. If we start getting happy about it and start patting ourselves

on the back, we're on the wrong track. Let's let's talk about some of the units up front. Very physical group, you know, deep, looks like it's deep and talented. What are you seeing from the defensive line group as a whole, Well, we're going to need it to be deep and talented because we're gonna wave guys up front. We're gonna bring guys out of the bullpen. And you know, they don't need to be throwing eighty two out of the bullpen.

They need to be throwing ninety nine hundred. And for us to be successful, we're going to have to have contributions from you know, six seven, eight guys up front. That's that's that's you know, lifeblood of what we do. I like where those guys are going. It's it's been a big change for them more than any other position group. They had to change their technique, changed philosophically, what was

expected of them. They were at the line two gap team that wasn't you know, they didn't want penetration and they really weren't asked to pass for us very much to being asked to, you know, attack and penetrate and be the engine that it drives our pass rush. So it's lot has been asked to those guys. And you know, we're still work in progress, but you know, we have some talented guys up there, and I like where we're going.

And Chris Wilson, I mean he's got these guys. They play with a grin ear to year when you tell them to go, I think that's what a defensive line wants to hear, right, go go get the football, not to get well, yeah, to go get the football. You can go get to football two gap too, but you know you want to be the hammer, not to nail. You want to take the fight to them, not sit on the line of scrimmage. I think they all recognize that and they all embrace that, and it makes it

easier to coach them for sure. Interesting group of cornerbacks with some players that you're familiar with in the past, some players who've been here, some young players, some new players. How have you seen that group kind of come along since the spring? You know, we're going to rely a lot on those guys. Also, if you have guys, it's a little bit like I say, if you can rush with four and you can blitz on your own terms rather than having to blitz, it opens up so much

you can do in coverage. And if you have corners that can cover and you can trust them out there on an island, opens up so much that you can do run fit wise and blitz wise and everything else. So, um, you know, we're gonna need to see those guys. Um. You know, not just in training camp, but in the preseason games. There's great competition out there. We got a good mix of veterans and young players there. Um, you know, they're asked to play a little bit different technique than

they played last year. But I think bottom line as we got guys that want to challenge receivers. Yeah, physical and mentally. They seem like they're really into it too, like, you know, don't hang your head if you get just get back up there. And well, we're still work in progress there. I mean, there's I mean, it's it's um. We still have a ways to go there to be in resilient and putting a bad play behind you. The

bad players are going to happen, you know. I mean there's as a little bit like basketball in the NBA. You can cover Lebron all day. You know he's gonna make a couple of shots, and if you hang your head when he makes one, you're not gonna play defense. Well the next time you gotta come back and go. And we got to encourage those guys to you know, play sort of wide open a little bit and not get conservative and not you know, just defense and you know,

deep and give up too much stuff in front. Malcolm and Rodney at safety are getting glowing reports since the time that we acquired them here, and you've spoken highly of them, and I'm wondering, when you have safeties of that caliber, how does that help you just in terms of the other things you can do in coverage. Because Eagles have had a real hard time here with a safety situation since two thousand and eight when Brian Dawkins left.

So does it really make a big difference in terms of the flexibility you have or the versatility or the exs and knows you can throw up? Yeah, I think versatility and flexibility are good words to use when you talk about those guys. Both of them played corner in the past. Both of them are corners in college. So when it comes to match in a third wide receiver, you don't have to match with Nickel and feel like or if you don't match with Nickel, you don't feel

like you're mismatched. One of those guys can go down and cover a third wide receiver, allows you to do a lot more blitz wise that you know, both of those guys are good tacklers. They can play in the box or they can play deep. You know, it's tough to try to hide a one trick tony at safety, and neither of those guys as one trick pony um. And they're they're veterans, young veterans, but they're veterans. They do a great job of communicate, and they hustle. They

set the tempo over practice. Um couldn't be more pleased with those guys at middle linebacker, Jordan Hicks, you're number two in the NFL and with the Eagles, he has to take over the defense as a leader. And also from the mental standpoint. You spoke about the mental standpoint in lining up people on Thursday morning at practice after practice.

How about from the kind of being the leader of the defense has a middle linebacker, we kind of look at him as that kind of guys that kind of go yeah, you know, you get you get a lot of different leaders to the defense. I mean, I think that everybody has played within their own personality, and he does have some responsibilities for making calls, um, you know, being you know, getting the front lined up and things like that. But you know as part of his job.

You know, it's not getting many gold stars for that. I mean, that's what he's That's that's what he has to do. And you know it's really not that tough. Jordan's smart, he um, he gets it and he'll do a fine job in there. What are you seeing from linebacker from those three Nigel, Michael and Jordan and then the rest of the group the linebackers who's some outside have questioned if there's enough depth here. Well, thank you. There's probably thirty one other teams that are questioned in

their depth at just about every position. I mean, that's life in the NFL. But you know, I think it was important to bring Nausey Good back and I think you know, he's a guy that has you know, started at times and again can fill in a lot of different positions. Can play Mike, can play outside, and we're still work in progress. Like a lot of other positions. There's good competition there. Special teams play a big role in backup linebackers, you know, because they're not just sitting

there waiting for their turn and not doing anything. They're out there covering kicks. So you know they're gonna have to prove that they can accomplish that while they're still developing as linebackers. I would love to get the all encompassing Hey, Jim, how's this guy coming on? Who's standing up? But I know that you're not You're not going to talk about that. So I want to ask this, at what point do you feel as a coach that you've we've got a real handle on what you have as

a defense. Is it three games into the regular season, is it we better know before that because those first those first two counts, all right, anybody, isn't it kind of a learning still learning it as you go for that at first, you know, you learn as you go through OTA's and mini camp and training camp. It's part of what we do here is we're trying to find, um, you know, what the player, what fits the players best, what's the best combination of calls. Every team's got a

little different personality. Every defense has a little different personality, different strengths, different weaknesses. It's up to us to identify those, to try to minimize our weaknesses and try to emphasize our strengths. And you know, that's why we're out here every day. They're you know, not just out here, you know, um, you know, just trying to accomplish the scheme. As we watch, we're trying to figure out as coaches, Hey, this is our personality, this is what we're good at. This is

what we can hang our hat on. Um. Yeah, that that open accounts the first two games a count. We're not waiting until the season to find out, you know, try to find out a pre games obviously make a big, big difference between preseason game and a Yeah, you know, I mean, we want to win every game for preseason games, but that is a that is a good time to evaluate, and it's good not You're not just evaluating the players.

You're evaluating the players within the scheme, like I said, and what they're good at and what best fits us. So you know that definitely, that definitely plays a part of it. But obviously you know those games aren't on your resume, so to speak. Well, Jim, thanks so much, Jim, Jim Jim Schwartz in studio here on Philadelphia Eagles dot com. You say crazy, I say crafty. You say savage. I say practice, crazy, crafted, savage, practice. Let's run that whole

day back. You say unbelievable. I say achievable. You say incredible. I say inevitable. Unbelievable, achievable, incredible, inevitable. Let's win that whole day. Bet carps to compete, elector life to replenish. Have you ever pictured yourself with Eagles season tickets? Well now you can turn that fantasy into reality. Comcast Sports Meat and the Eagles are giving away a pair of tickets for the entire two sixteen season every week. This summer brings you closer to the dream with a new

chance to win these seats. It's easy to enter it. Just answer this week's pull question and enter at Philadelphia Eagles dot com, slash CS and Philly Mix and Match any two for just two dollars and fifty cents on mcdonald' mcpick two menu shooes from a mcdoubell, McChicken sandwich, six piece chicken, McNuggets or small fries. I'm loving it. We welcome you back. It's inside training Camp presented by Xfinity Dave Spidero along with Chris McPherson. We heard from Jim Schwartz.

Let's be honest. Is never going to be satisfied with this Eagles defense until we're going down Broad Street or up Broad Street hoisting the Lamarti Trophy, no question, And I like that attitude. Nothing is There's no happy times here. It's a grinding training camp, get better every single day. He represents Philadelphia so well. He has the right mentality.

He said, this is the best place to coach and more importantly win, And he's been on the sideline for some interesting games against the Eagles over the years Snowball two thirteen, so he saw the passion from the fans first hand there and now he gets to have that on his back because everyone knows fans of the defense here in Philadela and east from Baltimore, so he understands that East coasting and it is all about defense with

his football team. A long way to go for the Eagles d And we're getting closer and closer to the weekend, Chris, what do we have on Philadelphia Eagles dot com and or digital network tomorrow? So that phenomenal interview you just did with Jim Schwartz that will be available on demand for everyone out there following Friday's this Doug Peterson, we'll meet the media. We will carry that live on Philadelphia

Eagles dot Com as well as the mobile app. Make sure you download it if you haven't already, so that will be available for fans as well. And Dave, how well do you know your roommate? That's a question we're going to ask two of the Eagles rookies. The rookies there sequesters at the team hotel during training camp, you know, live quality time one another. So two players in rookies,

Jalen Mills and Dylan Gordon. Look, they have an unfair advanced because they played together at LSU, so we'll ask them certain questions and find out just how well they know any And you can find that on our social network right no question about. You can find that right now.

And again we are one week away. You can watch Dave on the sidelines during the broadcast the Eagles Network broadcast of the Eagles and the Buccaneers broadcast on Comcast Sportsnet and Cozy TV next Thursday from Lincoln Financial Field. We thank you for joining us here on Inside Training Camp presented by Vicinity for Chris McPherson. I'm Dave SPINNERO. Thanks for joining us. Everyone, have yourselves are great Eagles Day