Brian Baldinger

From my earliest Pop Warner football days it was drilled into me that players either get better or they get worse.

They never stay the same.

The same can be said about football teams.

As we head into the dead month of July are the Eagles better or worse than when we last saw them.

I saw them last, live along with thousands of other fans on that chilly Saturday night of January 4th at our home we affectionately call the LINC.

With 4:54 seconds left in the 4th quarter the Birds took the slimmest of leads 24-23 when Foles connected with Ertz on a touchdown pass.

There wasn’t a fan standing that thought that lead would hold with Drew Brees directing the show from the Saints sidelines.

What we didn’t expect was that the Birds would never see the ball again. The winning field goal was a dagger in the Eagles season.

166 days later the Birds concluded their offseason with their final OTA at their Novacare facility. Optimism was dripping off the lips of every coach and executive after the conclusion of Chip Kelly’s second off-season.

General Manager, Howie Roseman, bragged about the nearly perfect attendance from his 90-man roster.

Weights were lifted, sprints were run, rehab was diligently monitored, and practices were rhythmically run to the sounds of eclectic music. And without injury.

I had a chance to chat with defensive coordinator, Billy Davis, after the conclusion of their 166 day off season.

He gushed about the reps that his defensive players had gotten in practice after practice. H said because of the tempo that the offense operates under that his players were getting as much as three times the amount of work that they had gotten when he was the DC of San Francisco and Arizona.

In addition, because of the piped in music and the no huddle tempo that there isn’t time to line players up and teach assignments.

Defensive players were automatically forced to learn multiple positions because a new play was snapped every 14 seconds. Once players know their assignments, and only after they know it without thinking, only then can they play with full confidence and the speed that they were measured at.

Free agent signing, Malcom Jenkins, ironically from the Saints, stood out to Davis. He is a natural free safety with very good coverage skills. What that transfers to is better tackling at the back end of the defense and better decision making when the ball is in the air deep down the field. The quickest way to improve ones defense is by fixing the free safety position. Jenkins is smart and durable and talented.He helps immensely.

At the conclusion of the second to last OTA I took a photo with the defensive line and all of the backups.

Every player is 25 years or younger. No other team has a line that young, yet most of the players they are counting on played a lot of snaps a year ago.

If this group improves as much in year two as they did in year 1 under the tenacious coaching of Jerry Azzinuro then this defense can make significant strides.

I could gush on about Nick Foles in his first full off season as the starter and what type of off season he had in building timing with Maclin and Ertz and Sproles. Or how much thicker and stronger Todd Herremans looks after a subpar season. And how much the entire team buys into what Chip Kelly is demanding. All of this is true.

But will it transfer into wins? That is all that matters in this business. I think it will. If they win the NFC East for a second year in a two as I predict then they will get another playoff game at home. And if they take the lead late in the 4th quarter on a chilly January evening at the LINC I believe this team will be tough enough and talented enough to hold that lead and march onto the next round.

Like everyone else working at Novacare I believe in what the Eagles are building.
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