While all three of the opposing teams in the NFC East are working to install their respective offenses and defense during the early training camp period, the Philadelphia Eagles are ahead of the competition, preparing for elaborate walkthroughs and situational periods in practice.
The Eagles have continuity on their side from a coaching and personnel standpoint and during his first day back, head coach Doug Pederson gave some insight into just how far along the Birds are.
The Eagles were allowed to begin non-contact practices on Monday and They will put the pads on for live contact beginning next Monday.
Pederson confirmed that the Eagles will have two days of live, scrimmage-like practices during which the players will tackle to the ground, but for the most part, the 11 on 11 periods will be mostly situational.
“We’ve had time with these players, even on the grass,” Pederson said. “We’ve had time with our rookies this past week. So we’re really not playing catch-up. The only thing we’ve missed, really, is probably just the live practices that we would have had under a normal situation. … We’ve got everything that we need if we were to play a game tomorrow.”
During a pandemic filled season in which transactions and player movement could be rapid, the Eagles should benefit from the guiding hand of Peterson and his heavily layered coaching staff that includes, Jim Schartz, Marty Mornhinweg, Rich Scangarello and Carson Wentz’s personal protector, Press Taylor.
