Five things to watch for Friday
After two weeks trying to glean insights from controlled practices, we get a chance Friday to measure the new-look Eagles against real opposition. Here are five things we'll be watching for.
Five things to watch for Friday
Jonathan Tamari
It’s just about here. After weeks trying to glean insights from controlled practices, we get a chance Friday to measure the new-look Eagles against real opposition.
No, it won’t have the same feel of the regular season, and if you care about the final score for more than a few minutes you might need to relax a bit on the whole football thing. But the pre-season opener against Jacksonville will provide another way to test the young Eagles, with new, unfamiliar opponents, real game situations and an atmosphere closer to the one they will experience on Sundays.
Here are five things we’ll be watching for Friday night (along with links to recent related stories and columns):
1. Kevin Kolb: Duh. He’s going to be the person to watch every pre-season game, and pretty much throughout the season. He had interception problems through one stretch of camp – how does he fare against another defense? Does he read new blitzes? Does his accuracy actually lead to more runs after the catch? How does he handle his successes and mistakes? This season, and probably the next few as well, ride on his arm and mind.
2. The offensive line. With the cornerback situation seeming more solid than many first anticipated, the offensive line is the number one concern on the team. They looked bad in pass protection early in camp, dragging down the entire offense, though seem to have leveled off recently. It’s possible that the rough early going is because of a defense that is better than expected. Though if the opposite is true – that a weak offensive line is making the defense look great – watch out. Friday we’ll get a better idea which is assessment is more accurate.
3. New and improved faces on defense. Ernie Sims has looked like a killer through camp, flying to the ball and making big hits whenever he can get them. Can he make a similar impact in a game? And can he do it with enough discipline to avoid penalties? Trevor Laws seems rejuvenated this year and coaches are raving about his off-season work. But is he benefiting from going up against reserve centers and guards on an already weakened line? Or has he really turned the page?
4. The rookies. This will be their first look at competition other than fellow Eagles. How do they react to formations, play calls and individual tendencies they have not seen before? Nate Allen carries the most responsibility – he is being counted on to start from day one. Brandon Graham has received the most attention. He has been impressive. Does his strong camp play translate against new competition? Others who might make an early impact: Clay Harbor, pushing for the second tight end role, has shown quickness and nice hands in camp and Riley Cooper, a fan favorite who has also surprised with his speed and shined early.
5. Who surprises? Does someone who had previously gone unnoticed make a mark? Could it be Daniel Te’o-Nesheim, who coaches love but who has made little noise at camp? The speedy seventh-round linebacker Jamar Chaney? Some in the organization see big possibilities for running back Martell Mallett, who has so far garnered little attention. Of course, by the very definition of surprise, it’s impossible to predict, and could easily be someone we never saw coming.
The biggest qmark is the Oline.. Im really worried about these guys.. Allthough the expectations are not that high on the defense.. specially in the backfield.. I think we really are going to be pleasently surprised by the Ddefense this year... Barring any major injuries if they play to thier potential.. They could be carrying the Eagles team on a regular basis— nixman101- Who cares it's preseason--I'm looking for no injuries out of this game and the 3 that follow— Jakerock5
Glad Kevin Kolb and the starters will play for a full quater. They will score alot of points.— briandawkins20- Morondopenitwit, I agree completely.— blueballs
I agree Jakerock. If they get out with no significant injuries I'll be ok. There'll be mistakes, sloppy play, stupid penalties, etc. as well as some bright spots. They'll take from this some more things to work on over the next few weeks. Invariably though, come Saturday there'll be the usual suspects posting on here that the sky is falling. Every mistake will be blown out of proportion and doom & gloom will be predicted.— Mabus- I see Kolb getting sacked 8 times before the 1st quarter is over.— hititwheretheyaint
I am feeling sketchy about the offense. I will give it a full year to assess what it is we actually have on the field. Maybe Kolb comes out and tears it up for the first 7 weeks and then falls apart for the last half of the season. There are too many scenarios that still need to be played out for me to come to a conclusion. Defense, same thing. For those who jump on the back of reporters, about what a lousy job they do.....well, I remember when you had to wait a whole day for a newspaper to hit the doorstep to get any news about your favorite sports team. It was a time when the small stories got cut and only the BIG news was printed. Now we get reports 24/7 (thanks to the internet) and lambaste the men and women who report whatever they can, when they can. Think about it, do you come home from work everyday with some HUGE story to tell? Doubt it. Some days (news articles)are just boring as hell. But it still beats waiting a whole day or two for the next article pertaining to my favorite team.- Jakerock5 got the main point; the writer missed it. No injuries is the key. We can stink. The rookies can be terrible. The line can be more porous than ever. Sometimes lots of mistakes in week one means lots of improvement in week two. Kolb can stink tomorrow. Only the fans without a clue will change their tune about him based on one game. He can have four awful games this year. If we go 12-4, then he's probably a pretty good QB. At 8-8, he still may be the answer. Oh, and I don't care what Ernie Sims looks like, even in September. The scoreboard doesn't chalk up style points. We should care about how many yards and points are scored in his direction, not how fast he flies to the ball or how great he looks on late hits.— tacklinjoe
- cross your fingers. no major injuries to key players. work out the kinks and get off the field healthy.— esesjay
- You forgot "Will this team really use a nickel D with Laws and Teo at DT, or was that just comic relief?"— jimmyj
- Blueballs, I feel your pain. Note the game plan of these two "reporters": Get the last three weeks comments, put numbers in front of them, and submit as yours. What do you two do all day up there?— mccloudmj
- I wanna see Kendra, will she be @ the game?— Adamtherose
- The Jaguars D is terrible, they can't sack potatoes...— eaglesfan81
- I still think the O-Line will be our downfall until Andy can devote their first draft-pick towards some fresh help NEXT off-season....and will need another reliable back-up then also.— TBear
- I want to see how long the starters actually play. Normally, you'd let Kolb and the others just do the first quarter, but if they play longer it might indicate they are not fully in sync as a unit. That will be interesting. The next question is how do the second and third-stringers stack up against the Jaguars' subs (if that's who they end up facing). Big thing for Kolb is not so much can he produce immediate results, but can he manage the offense?
- These two guys (McLane & Tamari) are idiots. Why report on football when you don't know the stats? Runs after the catch? Don't you mean Y.A.C.? Yards after catch?— 46 and 2
Peters ia an All-Pro calber tackle. Heremanns is a solid veteran guard. Center is a question since the starter is still hurt, so that position merits watching. If Andrews doesn't play better than last season, when he was coming off knee surgery, Cole can fill in this spot just fine, as he demonstrated last season. Justice played surprisingly well in his first season as a starter and there is no reason to doubt he will be even better since he now has some game experience. If this is the weak spot of the team, this team is going to win a whole lot of football games this season.- It's silly of the posters to claim that the game means nothing especially because the starting QB has played in a whopping two games. He is not a vet easing his way into the season. He is an interception throwing machine, with gigantic ??????????? all over him. If you have watched camp at all then you would be seriously worried because what seem to be his obvious weakness'(arm strength, decision making) that were exposed in the limited time he played are still there. 4 and 12 is the most likely scenario. Look for a succession of sub-.500 years going forward.— ccheung
- "6 and 10", say it again...— former Mt.Airy Kid
- Step "one" of a new era. It's going to be fun.— craig123
- over/under on how many times AR dials up a pass play? I say 45-50 passes called tonight.— Jacinto
- Gee. I wonder why Riley Cooper is a "fan favorite" before even taking the field. Hmmmmmmm.— JLH
5 things to watch? The Phils, the news, any Law and Order rerun, Family Guy and the inside of my eyelids. It's a practice game. Who cares as long as no one gets hurt? Oh, and interception problems? In CAMP? Oh, Lord...— tpizza
