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Lurie likely to break silence on Eagles

PHOENIX - It has been a quiet year for Jeffrey Lurie. The Eagles owner didn't fire a coach, he didn't shake up his front office and he stayed mostly out of the picture. In fact, it has been just a few days more than a year since he last spoke publicly.

PHOENIX - It has been a quiet year for Jeffrey Lurie. The Eagles owner didn't fire a coach, he didn't shake up his front office and he stayed mostly out of the picture. In fact, it has been just a few days more than a year since he last spoke publicly.

But Lurie is expected to break his silence this week during the NFL owners meetings, likely on Tuesday. The relative inactivity on the Eagles' front hasn't exactly necessitated a news conference, but his absence in front of microphones is notable for its length. Lurie is believed to have never stayed away from reporters for as long.

He has increasingly become unseen, although that doesn't mean he isn't as involved in his team. There have been various reports of Lurie taking a more hands-on approach to the Eagles' personnel decisions. For instance, he overruled coach Doug Pederson and blocked quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo from interviewing with the New York Jets in January, league sources told the Inquirer.

Lurie will certainly be asked about his influence on football decisions, but there are also pressing questions about the job Pederson did in his first season and about Carson Wentz, who was drafted after the owner last met with the media. The Eagles seemingly have their franchise quarterback, but will Lurie hype Wentz or will he tone down expectations for the rookie?

The Eagles contingent, which includes Pederson, executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman, and vice president of player personnel Joe Douglas, arrives here with most of its heavy lifting done in free agency.

The team significantly upgraded at wide receiver, signing free agents Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith. While it is unlikely that Lurie specifically pointed to those names, he emphasized to his front office that upgrading at the position and helping Wentz was paramount this offseason, team sources had said.

The draft, of course, remains, but most of new faces on offense have already been added. The Eagles are likely to address the holes on defense next month.

A year ago, Roseman spearheaded the aggressive moves to trade up for Wentz in the draft. He surrendered a fair amount of resources to get the quarterback, and the lack of draft picks may have hindered the team in the short term. But Roseman did recoup a 2017 first-round pick when he dealt Sam Bradford to the Vikings.

The Eagles have a pick in every round this year, including a second pick in the fourth. When Lurie last spoke in Boca Raton, Fla., last March, he gave Roseman, who was recently placed back in charge of personnel after Chip Kelly's ouster, a strong endorsement.

"What Howie has been able to do is pretty outstanding in terms of a league that values salary-cap space and draft choices," Lurie said then. "To be able to make those trades, align our resources the way we preferred . . . he's had a great plan."

Wentz had a promising first season, but his future remains cloudy. There were other highlights in 2016, but the Eagles finished 7-9 and last in the NFC East. Roseman was able to dance around salary-cap restrictions this offseason, but the roster is still full of holes.

But Lurie has some stability - at least on the surface. His previous five years were the most turbulent of his ownership. In 2012, longtime team president Joe Banner stepped down. In 2013, Andy Reid was fired and Kelly was hired. In 2014, a rift between Kelly and Roseman had grown so wide that by 2015, the former was placed atop personnel and the latter was expunged.

By the end of the year, Kelly was axed, Roseman was resurrected, and Pederson was hired. The only significant change since then has been the addition of Douglas, Roseman's lieutenant.

Aside from a vote on the Oakland Raiders' proposed move to Las Vegas, few major decisions are expected during this week's meetings. The Eagles had originally proposed four rules changes, but they withdrew all but one of their offers to the NFL's rule book and bylaws.

The most speculated-upon proposal would have allowed teams to wear alternate helmets, which created a minor local furor over whether the Eagles wanted to bring back their kelly green uniforms as an alternate to the midnight green they have worn since Lurie became owner.

But the only proposal that remains is prohibiting a player from leaping over the line to try and block a field goal or extra point.

jmclane@phillynews.com

@Jeff_McLane