Doug Pederson wasted little time bracing Eagles fans for the very real possibility that this year's rookie class might not be making much of a contribution to the team's NFL war effort.
"Personally, I feel we're going to have to lean on our veterans players," he said less than two hours after the Eagles had made the last of the their 10 draft selections late last month.
"We're going to have to lean on DeSean Jackson and Greg Ward, guys like that. And now Marquise Goodwin, a veteran player who understands the game, until we can get these young guys caught up."
Under normal circumstances, this isn't something Pederson ever would have considered saying, particularly right after putting the wraps on the team's largest draft class in nearly a decade.
The league released its schedule two weeks ago, but it's anybody's guess whether the season will start on time or even be played. Training camps may or may not start on time, and could end up being shorter than normal. NFL training facilities still are basically off-limits to most team personnel, and offseason training activities are being conducted on laptops rather than on practice fields.
Pederson said earlier this week that it's very possible teams won't be cleared to return to their facilities until late July.
"I'm preparing as if we're going to be back in our building by training camp," he said. "Nothing is definite. Nothing has been set obviously. But I'm preparing that way to be back in the building by mid-July so we can be on grass.
"That's my preparation. ... That's my mindset right now as I prepare for training camp. When we get back, it's got to be full-steam ahead."
The coronavirus pandemic has caused plenty of uncertainty over whether the NFL schedule will be able to continue on as is. For now, Doug Pederson is preparing with the expectation that the Eagles will be back at the Novacare Complex by July for training camp.
Spring OTAs are crucial to rookies with respect to learning a new offensive or defensive system. They use the spring reps and the extra time with the coaches so that they can hit the ground running in training camp.
None of the rookies will be hitting the ground running this summer.
"We are making do with the virtual set up," Pederson said. "The coaches have done a great job of meeting and preparing and getting the guys as close to ready as possible.
"But we do need the grass time to see what these guys can do and see what they have taken away from the offseason from a mental standpoint."
Three of the Eagles' 10 draft picks were wide receivers _ first-rounder Jalen Reagor, fifth-rounder John Hightower, and sixth-rounder Quez Watkins.
If this were a normal year, they'd get plenty of opportunities during the spring to catch passes from Carson Wentz and establish some sort of chemistry with the Eagles quarterback.
"The second we added those pieces, I was excited to get together with them and the playmakers that we already have," Wentz said last week.
"There's a challenge in developing chemistry, developing timing. But we're not the only team dealing with that. The entire league is trying to find ways to be creative and develop chemistry and team unity and everything.
"We're just taking it one day at a time right now. This situation obviously is unprecedented. There's really no right or wrong way to go about it. We're trying to be creative as we go here. Hopefully, we'll be able to find ways to link up and get some work in here and there. But as of now, we're pretty limited."
