Eagles book: No party for Brandon Graham

Eagles book: No celebration of Brandon Graham appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Brandon Graham has said many times that this season will be his last in the NFL.

He always wanted to make it to Year 15 and now he has.

But Graham doesn’t collect time off. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio plans to play him a lot.

“Yeah, Brandon’s still a great player and I told him a couple of times, when he was at the banquet last year,” Fangio said. “He’s going to play. He’s playing well.”

In Week 1, the 36-year-old Graham played 32 plays against the Packers. That was the second most money among Eagles rushers behind Josh Sweat. That put him in 48% of the Eagles’ defense in Week 1 after playing just 34% in 2023.

Graham has played more snaps in Week 1 this season than in all but two games last year. But his use was not entirely surprising.

“Vic said so and now I believe him,” Graham said with a laugh.

Growing up, Graham learned to take better care of his body. And now that he knows he’s going to play a lot in 2024, that will continue.

“Making sure I stay in the weight room, stay strong, do my routine,” Graham said. “When you play a lot, you can’t fake it. You have to go out and do your work. ”

Cannot make ‘unwise’ decisions

Nick Sirianni this week pointed out that the Eagles are the only 11 team to lose a turnover battle and win their game in Week 1. He brought that up to the Eagles and told his team that it doesn’t last:

Broncos: -1 (L)
Points: -1 (L)
Jaguars: -1 (L)
Panthers: -2 (L)
Bengals: -2 (L)
Brown: -2 (L)
Throw: -2 (L)
Titans: -2 (L)
Eagles: -2 (W)
Falcons: -3 (L)
Attackers: -3 (L)

Jalen Hurts was responsible for two interceptions in the game. After throwing 15 in 2023, that’s not a good sign. But Hurts didn’t risk the ball much in training camp and showed accountability for his mistakes in the first game.

“I think I just made a couple of bad decisions,” Hurts said Thursday. “Those are the things I have. Those are things I have to get better at and manage those situations. I just take what they give me.”

Slipping and sliding

The Eagles tried not to make excuses after a sloppy Week 1 win and that’s a good thing. You don’t want a team full of guys just complaining about the conditions of the field when both teams have to play on it.

But it is impossible to ignore that the conditions on the opening pitch in Brazil were difficult. Many players were skating around the field. Obviously, the Eagles have to use tape of that game in their testing and it won’t be easy.

“I’ll put it this way, and it’s not an exaggeration, but I remember when we first got to Indy,” Sirianni said. “Indy had a game in Buffalo, and there was four feet of snow. It was crazy. In 2017. Whatever the number was, but we were looking at that game, and we were like, ‘Maybe we should watch another game to check the players, maybe take this one out.’ I see a picture of — I keep looking at one of Shady (McCoy), the game he had here against Detroit. It was unbelievable — unbelievable joy he had on that field covered with snow.

“Also, we are not in the business of accusing anything. We’re about accountability – that’s the only way you can get better. Let’s not talk about being wrong. Are there any mistakes that are wrong? Did some of it happen because the guy slipped up? Yes, the result of the slippery guy, it happened, but there is also a way that you approach to go back. That’s what needs to be fixed, you can’t do anything with the field. It’s the same thing as a wide receiver. When a wide receiver slips on the break, you know the field is messy, so you have to play with better fundamentals that way.

“Yes, you can still test it, and I have given you two sides. I gave you one where we didn’t do it at all, I gave you one where Shady was making these incredible plays. But we have to evaluate how to approach it, like how to approach the ball carrier. That’s why we could have missed the wall or slipped on the road or whatever it might be. We still use that. We are actively monitoring from that tape. ”

Destructive habits

Back in the summer, Eagles coordinator Kellen Moore said something that really describes his thoughts on coaching football. He said it is important to create habits in order to break them at an important time.

It makes sense.

Being unpredictable is important for any offense. And after the Eagles’ offense was so underwhelming at the end of 2023, hearing this comment from the new offensive coordinator was very refreshing. That comment from Moore had been ringing in my head for a few weeks so I finally followed through to the end of his press conference on Thursday.

When you decide to cut those trends, is it data driven or based on emotion?

“No, there’s a big data part of this thing, just to understand who you are,” Moore replied. “We study the film part of it, but there’s a part of it, because the people who call the plays will call things based on the numbers. Those are high indicators that you have to trust the numbers in some situations, so we have to taking into account those numbers.

“If you’re really good at something, there’s going to be trends that happen, so you just have to be aware and understand that at some point you’re going to have to make adjustments accordingly.”

We are only one game into 2024 but the early results on Moore’s offense are very positive.

Lost in the Woods

When the Eagles signed defensive end AJ Woods to their practice squad earlier this week, I had to do a double take. Was she already in the gym?

No.

Of course it’s JT Woods’ defense. So now the Eagles have AJ Woods and JT Woods, both defensive ends, on their 17-man practice squad. Not only that, but the Eagles have their lockers next to each other at the NovaCare Complex.

Confusing, right? But here’s a handy guide to help you (and me) remember who it is:

To run the situation

The Eagles took the field for the first game of their 2024 season at the Corinth Arena in São Paulo last Friday night and … I was surprised!

It was Braden Mann out there kicking in place of Jake Elliott.

With the new kicking rules, the Eagles were trying both during practices in training camp but when the season started, it was Mann.

“Yeah, I think having two guys with kicking ability, it helps, keeps the other team thinking about who they’re going to put there,” said the special teams coordinator. Eagles, Michael Clay. “They both have two unique tools, but I thought Braden did a good job of slowing down big returner Keisean Nixon. We were playing a little bit higher, so the ball was moving. , and things could change, based on what we talked about all week. But, we decided to go with Braden that week, and it could change this week as we move forward and keep an eye on Atlanta.

But, I thought Braden did a really good job of being the guy, turning them around. I thought the kickoff team didn’t take their foot off the gas because you never know when you’re going to get it back, and you see – 27 seconds left, eight deep, you grab it and you want to get it back. , we have to. make sure we provide our defense on that long field, and they did a good job of putting together a very dangerous returner. ”

What did Week 1 tell us about the new kicking game?

While teams had to show their hands a bit in Week 1, Clay thinks most teams are holding their cards close when it comes to strategy. So the Eagles still have to prepare for just about anything in 2024.

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