Eagles Close Practices
The Philadelphia Daily News - Eagletarian
Eagles Close Practices
Les Bowen, Daily News Staff Writer
Eagles coach Andy Reid made a rare trip to the media work room today to announce that Eagles practices no longer will be open to reporters.
Previously, reporters were allowed to watch the full Thursday and Friday practices, and the first 10 minutes on Wednesday. The first 10 minutes -- mainly an opportunity for TV and still photography -- will still be open all three days, Reid said, but because reporters are able to "put things together," he will not keep the remainder of those workouts open, as was the custom his first 13 seasons.
Reid said that 27 of the other 31 NFL teams do not allow reporters at practice, and he has come to feel it is an issue of competitive advantage, especially now that information spreads so quickly, through social media.
The Eagles have always restricted what can be reported from practice. Matters of strategy and personnel were taboo, but there was a gray area with personnel; if, say, Jamar Chaney was taking first-team nickel reps, you couldn't say that, but you could ask Chaney about it in the locker room afterward, and use what he said. But there has been friction over the years over exactly how gray the gray area was -- things have been reported that the team felt should not have been; reporters, after all, are in the business of reporting, not of helping teams keep secrets. Some of us have been uncomfortable agreeing to not report what we see.
Now, reporters -- and fans -- won't know when lineup changes are being made, or if someone gets injured during practice, until the injury report is released. It will be harder for practice-day stories to reflect any feel of how the day went.
Despite Reid's reputation for not wanting to say much, the Eagles have offered a lot of access by the standards of the incredibly paranoid NFL.
Reid said no specific incident triggered his decision. Last week, reporters noticed Chaney taking reps instead of DeMeco Ryans, and Bryce Brown getting more running back reps than Dion Lewis. Both of these observations eventually were reported, though in fact, Chaney did not get any of Ryans' reps in the Cleveland game, so it would be hard to argue the Eagles were harmed.
"My No. 1 priority here is to win football games and to put the best product on the field," Reid said. "Just to minimize any of the competitiove advantages that take place, I want to do this. I think it's best for the fans, it's best for our football team ... you guys are the best in the business at what you do, and you can put things together. I just want to minimize anything, any competitive advantage that another team might possibly have."
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Reid also announced that DeSean Jackson has a hamstring issue and won't practice today. Ditto Jeremy Maclin (hip).
Good. Do we really need to have dozens of reporters covering practice? I mean, we're talking bout PRACTICE! Not a game, not a game. PRACTICE.
Hopefully this decision will lead to cutbacks in the Philly sports journalism department because there are too many hacks covering this team.- Agreed. Les, nice job as well for being understanding and objective about this.— Earl J
- If the Eagles keep playing the way they did last week, they might want to look into keeping the media from covering the games, too.— Zeus2754
Comment removed.- DeSean pulled a hammie today in practice....I knew that wiesel would take his money and limp away.— mainstreet
- WHO CARES....LAZY WRITERS HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO.....and AR can pretend his schemes are super secret.....so secret in fact that they have produced numerous SB Tophies and the league is concerned he is smarter than evryone else.....oh, you mean he hasn't won any....my bad...guess this is jsut his way of shutting down his lousey game preparations....— nuggett
- The bottom line is wins and losses. I suppose some fans feel they have the right to know every detail of the week leading up, but 99% of reports from practice will put you to sleep and if something big enough goes down, believe me, it'll get reported. To sum it up, who cares? Well, except the reporters but like I said, who cares?— joeydub
- when are we goning to get rid of this jerk?— bobmc
- I agree with Coach Reid. The reporters don't need to know whats going on at practices. This is strategy and game planning. They want to know too much.— knmcmahon
- I agree with Coach Reid. The reporters don't need to know whats going on at practices. This is strategy and game planning. They want to know too much.— knmcmahon
- I agree with Coach Reid. The reporters don't need to know whats going on at practices. This is strategy and game planning. They want to know too much.— knmcmahon
- Great move, it's about time. Too many snakes in the grass, now go beat the Ravens on Sunday. Go Eagles.— richrose97
- sorry eagles fans its to early in the season to start with this negative remarks so bobmc we are going to get rid of Coach Reid when your mom stop selling herself on race street she just nasty o so u take after her.— nico1221
