Hobbs: "Riley gets riled up"
BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- The first fight of Eagles training camp broke out today and it was a doozy.
Hobbs: "Riley gets riled up"
Jeff McLane, Inquirer Staff Writer
BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- The first fight of Eagles training camp broke out today and it was a doozy.
Under beautiful skies, in cool temperatures and in front of 8,328 fans, Riley Cooper and Ellis Hobbs mixed it up to the delight of practically everyone.
It was wide receiver vs. cornerback, rookie vs. veteran, big guy vs. small, second-team offense vs. first-team defense.
"It was just man-to-man bump-and-run," the 6-foot-3, 222-pound Cooper said. "He was on the line doing his job and I gave him a shove and he didn't like it. So we had a little talk about it."
They did more than just talk.
"I don't know what he's used to," Hobbs said. "I don't know if he knows it or not, but I watched his Florida film. And he's a guy that likes to pull and tug. Against LSU, he pulled a guy and [Tim] Tebow hit him on a 'go' route. So I knew that about him. He likes to put his hand on people and when you got a guy like that, they don't like to be touched. As you see, when he gets touched he gets riled up a little bit. Riley gets riled up. It is what it is. I'd rather see him do that than cower down. He did his job and I did my job and at the end of the day you squash it out on the field. It's over."
After they mixed it up, Hobbs turned and Cooper threw the 5-foot-9, 195-pound corner to the ground. And then ...
"I took his helmet off and thought about doing something," Hobbs said. "I tried to snap mine off to make it fair. But I'm not all about that. I'm about tough football. And I'm about playing football the right way if you're about to take cheap shots [and] wait until I turn around and knock me down. He had been doing that stuff in the previous practice. You guys hadn't been here yet. Just setting the tone. This is the defense. I don't know how everybody else feels, but I speak for myself, I'm not going to just sit here and take crap. We going to play hard, we're going to play hard the right way."
After Hobbs was tossed to the ground, linebacker Stewart Bradley came out of nowhere and knocked Cooper down.
"Ellis is like 110 pounds," Bradley said. "You got to stick up for him."
Hobbs appreciated the support.
"I love that," Hobbs said. "That's the thing -- we're not going to sit here and play dirty ball, but if you want to go low and you want to take it that way, we can go that route."
This is one matchup to follow for the rest of camp.
"It's going to happen," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "It's going to be competitive. I understand that. We got some new people out here trying to prove themselves. With competition comes fighting. Now, listen, I told the players, 'These things do happen, but don't make it a habit. We're not ultimate fighters, we're football players.'"
Ding, ding, ding.
Love me some Cooper! What a bunch of nads on that dude! When's the last time we had a wideout with that kind of attitude? Love it.
I can dig it. But Stew needs to take it easy!— kgochenour- I don't mind the attitude, but if you want to throw somebody to the ground, do it when he's looking at you and it actually means something, not when his back is turned. Like the fact that Stew showed up, but if Hobbs wants that job, stopped getting toseed around like a rag doll.— Bleue
Comment removed.- Hobbs stick up for yourself!— slade1955
- I think we got a 'good' in that Cooper.— bossrjc
Hobbs is a wuss...I'm not looking forward to seeing him get beat all year long.- Your little hobbit d-backs can't cut it, AR. Now what do you do?— mccloudmj
- Slade: That's "Hobbits" stick up for yourselves.— mccloudmj
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- Proud of all three of them. This team has fight and moxie. Somewhere Shawn "Big Lazy" Andrews is polishing off another rib and getting a mani-pedi. He never got angry in practice.— dragoon6
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- intensity!— wavydavy2000
- Andy got in a fight at camp too, in line at the cafeteria. He threw down the lunch lady after she announced "We're out of spare ribs."— Will T.
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- Will T. has no brains.— dctwmt
- Glad Stewart knocked him down... "After they mixed it up, Hobbs turned and Cooper threw the 5-foot-9, 195-pound corner to the ground." Cheap shot... I think Cooper might be good but you can't have someone taking cheap shots against your own guys.— robthea
- Glad Stewart knocked him down... "After they mixed it up, Hobbs turned and Cooper threw the 5-foot-9, 195-pound corner to the ground." Cheap shot... I think Cooper might be good but you can't have someone taking cheap shots against your own guys.— robthea
- Glad Stewart knocked him down... "After they mixed it up, Hobbs turned and Cooper threw the 5-foot-9, 195-pound corner to the ground." Cheap shot... I think Cooper might be good but you can't have someone taking cheap shots against your own guys.— robthea
- All that I learned from this article is that wide receivers will be able to out-physical Hobbs all year long.— fmMD
- Will T. What is the point of that? Yeah, Andy is fat we all know that. This is football, and it is exciting. Calling a fat guy fat over and over again is not funny.
- who cares what these steroid babies do? isn't there a cat up a tree somewhere?— mijou6
- Hobbs, is a wuss....if you are going to whine then get a knitting job.......stick up for yourself and play, if not then shut up and get ut of the game....this is war on the field...and bradley, stick up for your defenders when you are going against other teams, no need to hit your own guy.....hobbs is a grown man, he can take care of himself and if not then is should get off the field.— eagles13
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- Yawn...this stuff happens from Pop Warner all the way up to the pros @ this time of year. Is it really newsworthy? I guess in some ways it shows that the defense may be getting tired of getting their roosters knocked in the dirt. I'm still amazed @ the report yesterday that KK threw a pass 40yds in the air for a TD...ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzz.— somertonspartan
- It'd be nice to see Hobbs shut a lot of people down this season. All I've heard from him for two years is talk. He can return some kicks, for sure, but at cornerback he's a talker. We need receivers like Cooper who'll get off the line of scrimmage. If Hobbs is going to fight every time he gets tugged, he's in for a long season. Wait 'til Colston or Austin get him.— tacklinjoe
- Yo ladies...have any of you ever been to even a Junior High summer training camp? You put pads on muscular young men and tell them to hit each other and there will be disagreements. Put large sums of money on the table and the disagreements will become heated. Cooper is trying to make the team...Hobbs is trying to prove that last year's injury is not career-ending...Bradley is trying to establish himself as a team leader. Fights are stupid but bleep happens.— JoeyMax
- to the football genius above who wrote "if a low round draft pick is man handling Hobbs at the line of scrimmage wait until he faces Miles Austin." I thought you'd like to know that Austin wasn't even drafted and is slightly smaller than Cooper. For all we know, Cooper could be our version of Austin. I agree with people above. Please keep WR's with potential and cut Baskett. We know what he's made of already and it's not enough.— djack10
- Love it all the way around, I think Coop is going to make it over Basket any way. Love the fact that Stewart the leader of the D makes a statement. I am not a Mcnabb hater, but it means more when your leader is one of the guys and shows emotion. McNabb always thought just leading by example was enough, its not when you play football. Now if Kolb cuts back on INT's and he already shows more emotion than 5 this team will be special in the next 2-3 years. One big key is to sign number 10, from what i hear he is better than last year. Scary!!!!— ddstman
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- let's see if Bradley isn't the most overrated LB in Eagles history.— MichaelZoe
He can mix it up all he wants, but the only way Cooper makes this team is on special teams.— ej610- Comment removed.
- seriously? hey ellis, why dont u watch the film of plaxico owning u for the winning touchdown in the bowl. hobbs is gonna be cut, bottom line. Im sorry, i have a problem with what bradley did.— Onlineps2beast
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McNabbtoMoss - your mom wants you upstairs for dinner in 10 minutes. Aren't you about due to elect another crackhead to be your mayor?— Doctor D- Comment removed.
- Whatever...— MJPD345
- This won't be the first time we see Hobbs get thrown to the ground. Our D.B.'s will get pushed around all season. We may have the least physical starting Defensive backfield in the league
- McnabbtoMoss-When was YOUR last winning season? I'll put Reid up against anyone of your coaches in the past 5 years.— alsdad41
- That's what the Eagles needed in the playoff lose to Carolina back in the day. Bring it boys!!— jdincincy
