Hey, guys, thanks for being here. I want to start off by just thanking Brent Sellick. When we talk about people who have the traits we look for as a players in person, Brent epitomizes what it means to be a Philadelphia Eagle. You know, it's hard when you're with someone for as long as we were with Brent to not have that guy around anymore. But he's always welcome in this organization. Couldn't be happier for him that he
ends up a world champion, just like he belongs. I know him, whatever he does in life, he's gonna have tremendous success, and I know Jeffers said this in his comments as well. He is always welcome back here to help and contribute to the team. So I want to wish him and his family all the best luck as he transitions to his new role, and I know we'll miss him and hopefully get him around as much as
we can steal him from his family. Tough day today and yesterday we went through thirty seven conversations with all of these guys and doesn't get any easier. The worst part of the job that we have some guys who
are part of our world championship team who contributed. You know, it's a day that never gets easier for us, and with the quick turnaround, probably a little bit different tone than normal, And normally you have the opportunity to do it without the other players in the building, but having the other players around, I think makes it even harder because these guys don't get kind of their moment to
kind of absorb what's going on. So you know, now are our scouts are already harder work and they have been throughout the preseason getting a headstart on cuts and seeing if there are ways we can improve our fifty three man roster and our practice squad. They do a great job. Our entire front office and really the collaboration that goes on is fun to see. But it's a quick twenty four hours and again affected by the fact that we play on Thursday, So that's where we are.
Certainly want to be open to any questions that you guys have that I can answer. Nick Foles will start week one. Can you confirm that, no, I'm not going to talk about any playtime decisions, any starter decisions. You know, that's not my dojo, And certainly don't feel like we're in position to give any answers to any tests here about any position on our football team, but appreciate the question came along the way. Did you expect to see him make those kind of leaps in other improvement that
he made? You know, we're very fortunate to have Jeff Stalin as our offensive line coach. And when we were in the draft room and decided to trade two seventh round picks for a rugby player, and he said out loud, it's it's kind of funny. And you saw him in the off season and the strides that he's taken have just been incredible, and he saw it in the Cleveland game, he saw it against the Jets. He just gets better better.
It's so hard to find guys who are sixty eight and three hundred and sixty pounds who can run like that, who have the core strength that he does. And you know, certainly there's no guarantees, but we want to develop players. And when you can find guys at hard to find positions to develop, it gets you excited. How different is it for you guys? Being last in the waiver claim priority makes it kind of tough to claim a bunch
of guys. Yeah, it's a good problem to have, certainly, But I think for us, we've had a lot of conversations with teams and trying to figure out if it makes some sense to make some trades before this moment and get in front. At the same time, being last still gives you the first shot. It's almost like having the last pick in the draft in the seventh round.
It's hard sometimes to get practice wild guys to change teams, and we've been in situations over the last couple of years we're uh, we try to get guys from practice squads and they stayed, so you still have an edge. I mean, there's a ton of guys that will end up being activated from practice squads to active rosters who end up playing, so there are still the opportunity to act for our football team. UM. You have to be
determined what we're going to do there on that. UM. And UM yeah, the report that you guys traded for DeAndre Oh? UM. Can I get to the end of press conference and then I can let you know that I'm I'm I'm I'm waiting to see if I can confirm or deny such reports, so I will have my phone that it was a finalist. Um. Let's go to other questions and hopefully I'll circle back by the time we're done on the what you're going from. You moved on from two draft picks from last year as as
a as a personnel guys. That more difficult for some, but obviously everyone wants their draft picks to succeed out there closes up well, you got to be consistent in what you're looking for. And when we have our first meeting before training camp, we stand in front of the team and say, we're gonna go with the best guys, and it doesn't matter where you're from, what your pedigree is, but we're gonna do what's the best for the team.
And so it's not easy to spend You spend all year for a certain number of picks to take those guys off the board, and you look forward to them and we got to study about why guys don't have success. Now the jury is still out, because there are guys that end up getting cut and coming back and having tremendous success in the National Football League. But that's not easy. But it's not easy to get rid of anyone. You know, every single person that was in this building was here
because we chose them. We chose for them to be here because we saw a trade that we liked. And whether they're a draft pick or an undraft of free agent or a free agent signing or a trade, all those guys are here because we wanted them to be here. You know, beautiful thing about picking a roster. As you get to pick, you know who's here. And at the same time, you know, as as a front office staff, as a scouting staff, those picks, you know they're valuable.
And so we'll go back and try to figure out what we've done wrong on all the draft picks that haven't had as much success as maybe we anticipated. What was it this offseason to keep Nick Foles around without knowing what Carson's status would be. Well, we believe in the quarterback position and investing in the quarterback position and having a great quarterback room, and so we know what we have in Nick Foles and the confidence level we have in him, the confidence level we have in Carson,
and the confidence level we have Innate Sudfeld. And that's something that that is very important to us as we build the team, and we probably put a little bit more resources into it than some other teams, but it's worked for us. It's worked for us, not only last year, but we've had success with having a really good quarterback room, and so I don't think it's really any reflection on
Carson as much as the position. And just like we keep ten offensive linemen, it's just a reflection of where we put our priorities and we like to do with action. But you're not commenting on the quarterback is starter? Is that because you don't know yet where You just don't want, as you mentioned, give the answers to the tests. So we traded for Downdre. I'm sorry I was waiting for it. I was trying to be reflective of the moment we have here and that's why my phone out. So we
traded for DeAndre Hall. Didn't mean to interrupt you, Jeff, but if it was going to be someone I interrupted, at least it was you. And he suspended for the first game. We did our background work on him. Joe Dougas was with Chicago when they drafted him in twenty sixteen.
He's a safety who has a cornerbackground as well, and had a chance to get exposure to him certainly in the preseason and his tape and we'll bring him in here, we'll get him a physical, and then we'll have to send him home for a week and get him back in the building on Friday. Where's Brett? We don't we don't do that. We don't do We'll circle back down this discuss. That's part of the discussion. I wasn't prepared
for this part of the three fifty three. Right now, you're gonna have to at least two more tough decisions. Then after this week, you know, Nigel coming back to I'm sure there'll be more than that. Ums. It's the toughest part of the year, but at the time of the year, but you still have more to go. What's not going to be like too Well, it's all guys
that made the team that really help pick the team. Yeah, I think that that's our job is to continue to try to improve the roster and to year long process and we're constantly looking for ways that we think we can upgrade the roster. You know, through the course of last year, you saw it. You know, the roster changes, you have injuries, you have opportunities to add guys, and we take that part of it very seriously. So we understand that this day doesn't mean the end of the roster.
There are other ways to acquire players, and the talent acquisition period really doesn't stop and continues. We have another one big one coming up, certainly trade deadline, but we'll go through all that and the next week and try to get everyone practice squad guys graded and be in a position to execute as the opportunity rises. Question about
the quarterbacks, you say, you said you do. You guys know who's starting and you just don't want to give it away for competitive reasons or the duck said the decision will be mean by Friday. Yeah, I would defer all lineup related decisions towards the coach. You know, we we've been kind of locked in a room here in the last thirty six hours, so I would just like
talk about the roster. A linebacker, there's not a lot of experience behind Jordan X just yeah, Nigel obviously he comes back on Friday, and for us, we looked at it. Those guys when you think about our young linebackers can move Nate Gary. We picked up Loroi Renalds, who does have some experience. Now, those guys are just done a really good job throughout training camp and they've continued to grow and we feel comfortable and confident in that room.
And the way the league is going, the linebacker position has really changed. I mean, you're really in nickel sixty plus percent of the time, and so it's almost become a sub role, that third linebacker role. So when you look at it and think about some traits that some of those guys have and how they play off each other,
we think that that kind of balances the room. And so it's also a big perpessial team is a big part of that room and what we're looking for on special teams, and it's been a goal of ours in the offseason to improve the competition level on special teams and hopefully we've done that. With the roster, we buy a lot of how realistic did you view it as him actually making the fifty three when you drafted you
know him? When we made this pick, we committed in the draft room that we knew wasn't going to be a short term process and if we were just going to get into camp and say, hey, the guys were all and not really have this developmental mindset that it was going to we had to give him a two year time period to get right, it wouldn't have made
sense for us to trade two picks for him. So we had committed at that moment that hey, if the guy looks like he has the traits we think he has, then we're going to commit to him and we're going to develop him and we're going to have him on our fifty three and he's just going to be the fifty third guy. Now. That was our conversation in the draft room. The strides he's taken have been to us impressive and exciting, and that he's got to continue to
do it, there's no question about it. And the level of competition increases certainly when you get into the regular season. But that was our plan for him when we drafted him, that we were going to make sure that we spent the time developing him and we're going to continue doing That's what's really fun to watch is our players have
taken ownership of it as well. And you see a practice Lane Johnson, Jason Peters, our defensive lineman, you know, Michael Bennett, BG, Chris Long, guys like that who have also taken the time to sit with him and show him some of the things that they do or some of the things he can do against some of the moves they're showing, and I think that's fun to watch. Influential was Stout and convincing you guys to make the trade of two picks to do that. Well, you know
Stout Stout. If you've ever talked to Stout, he's got a passion. And Stout and I my dad was a high school teacher in Staten Island and Stout went to the rival high school. So stud and I used to go to Alabama and see Stout and hear him talking. When you hear Stout talk, he talks with such conviction that it's not hard to get behind him. And he went to work Jordan out and he doesn't wait till
he comes back. He starts shooting your videos on his phone and you just start seeing him on the phone and like, you know, you can't even load him because there's like forty videos of like Jordan, like you know, bending and doing his wall test and then like Ronnie and drills, and so he's only done that a handful of times with guys, So we knew the passion and then we saw the workout and it was incredibly impressive.
And the thing for us was after we took Prior in the sixth round, and we had conversations about taking him in the set in the sixth but we were excited about getting Prior as well. And you know, Prior
obviously has more of a body of work. And the conversation really became with all the time that we'd spent on this and the traits that he has in his body, if we'd rather see him fail in Philadelphia than have success somewhere else, you know, And and for that it we started right away trying to trade and get back in position to get him because of those reasons. Now, again, I think he's come along further at this point than we expect at that point. He still got a long
way to go. But we did it for that reason because it's just so hard to find, you know, build ourselves set at one point. There are not many men on this earth who are sixty eight, three hundred and sixty pounds and can move their feet like that and that or that athletic and that coordinated. So we wanted
to get him in the program. And but Stout does not, you know, give us like the draft trade chart, and he's like, you know what, I'd be really good value like two sevens versus you know, when we asked him that, he's I don't know about all that, that's not my dojo. But went into the decision at running back, you know, keeping window over, you know, and now Pump three and
Josh Adams in particular, like how how tough was that decision? Yeah, again, another tough decision, Another tough call, I think for us, you know, we look at it the roster, the forty six man roster, the fifty three and then the sixty three and as we get going here early on in the season, we want to make sure the coaches have what they need on the forty six man roster for you know, when we look at the totality of the situation and a lot of things come into play for that,
especially in the backup roles. And again, you know, special teams are a part of it. And then a body work too. You know, some of these guys that we talk about that maybe we're perceived to be on the bubble have a body of work with us that we've seen in games in situations where we needed them. But again, tough decisions and tough calls, and these are the things that we've kind of been discussing over the last few
days and a few weeks. You've got an audio of work you brought in week and kamar Akin two veterans at the receiver's button. It was DeAndre Carter, a journeyman. Then I ended up getting this about just talk about the conversation at the receiver. I think this goes to the question that we talked about about you got to go with what you see. And DeAndre came in late. Our scouting department led by Joe, who had him in Baltimore,
recommended to us for a workout. He had a great workout, and every day he came to practice and made a play. And we went through all his team reps since he's been here and all his target since he's been here, and you see the separation. You see the versatility play inside or out. He's strong to the ball, he's got quickness to separate. He's got trade line speed. When you looked at his numbers, I mean he's got one four or five ten, I mean he's got incredible speed. And
the play was really good. He can return punts as well. So we'll see how he does here as we get started. But certainly deserved the roster spot not even so yeah, question it's gonna be d M J. Carter. But but on Stephen means um, you know, I'm sure some decisions aren't tougher than others. And guys in the locker room talk about the effect that he has on the practice field. What about that decision? Yeah, Stephen was the last scot um and I think because of what he means as
a person and a player, really hard, hard one. And again, you know, I think for us as we get going here, you think you have to think about where we are from a roster perspective, and where we are on the forty six and what we need to give our coaches the best chance to win this week and the week's going forward. And so we're deep at some positions that are hard to find and at the same time, it doesn't make it any easier. So incredible person who's meant a lot to us hunting off the field, and um
a tough one. This is right now than it was this time last year. You know, I think that, Um, I was gonna say proof is in the pudding, but I felt like I've used that before. Have I used that before? Jimmy even know I've used it. I've used it. I've used it twice today. Proof twice us that proof is in the pudding. It said dojo, but dojo, but dojo wouldn't a pie of this. I'm just saying you're allowed to repeat yourself. I used jojo twice in this
press confis ones. It was scouted using it. It was you was just talking about the proof is in the pudding. I just buy on the quarterbacks, Is it accurate to say that internal decision has been made, but you just want to like dug handle the announcing of it or whatever announcing there might be. I think it's accurate to say that I'm not going to come on on any roster, starting, starting lineup decision or forty six man decision that we have for Thursday or any game going forward. With DeAndre?
Did you were you able to get his see his reaction when when he made the fifty three man It's obviously it's been a long time coming for him and he's got a story. Pretty let's see. Yeah, he said that that would have actually cheered me up on a day like today. I probably should have done that. Um I did not. I did not. I am familiar with this story I did not Um, I should have done that. I'm regretting that. When the when the team released when
the team released Michael Kendricks a couple of months back. Wait, I just want to Anthony Denham came in and two days obviously made some plays in the game. Obviously he kept Perkings over him. Just talk about that decision and just how difficult what Denham did in those couple of days did Yeah, amazing. And he came in in the
hottest days of the year. And I saw him at one point and he was over at the watercooler and spraying water on his face and he had those ice schoolers on the back of his neck and drinking a Gatorade And I said, you're gonna be ready to go on Thursday, and he goes, hell yeah. But really amazing to think about a guy coming in who hadn't been
in camp and performing that way, you know. For Josh, Josh was a guy that our pro department had targeted as a future signing, and he's got special team's value. We've seen him at camp. He's another one. I think for us, it's not only the games, it's the whole body of work. And we have the ability. You know, Pat Dolan, our very team doing amazing job of doing cut up on every player of every rep they've had,
where you can just pull it down. You know, we have this pro star system that you can pull down buy player of Jersey every rep he's had. So m Our training camps, our practices are hard so that those competitive periods are good for us as well. And it's hard to find tight ends in the National Football League, like it's a hard position to find right now. So that was a tough call, but we obviously we want with Josh