Judging by the video clips I saw on Twitter today, the Philadelphia Eagles are going 16-0.
DeSean Jackson looked good without any defensive backs covering him. Nate Sudfeld was excellent in handing the ball off. And Carson Wentz, without his knee brace, was a full participant, with no restrictions, in the OTA session.
“It felt great to get that thing off,” said the Birds quarterback, releasing a pronounced sigh of relief. “I felt good out there.”
So what went into the decision to take off the brace? Did he push for it? Did the medical staff give him the green light?
“Ultimately it was my decision,” Wentz said. “But just talking through it with everybody, we felt it was best going forward. The knee feels good; it feels strong. I feel better without it.”
Wentz says the plan is to go without the brace in games, so it looks like we’re moving forward sans brace for the foreseeable future. I know I joked about the OTA video clips above, which show players doing May repetitions against nobody in particular, but Carson honestly looks like he’s moving well here:
Check out this Carson Wentz footwork. Pay attention to the #LeftKnee. pic.twitter.com/coFhUY1q1A
— Bob Grotz (@BobGrotz) May 21, 2019
Here’s another clip of Wentz’s footwork in the “pocket,” after the jump:
Good for Landry, bummer for Sixers fans who didn’t like the decision to send him to Los Angeles in the Tobias Harris trade.
Shamet was named to the All-Rookie second team, which looks like this:
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, LA Clippers
- Collin Sexton, Cleveland Cavaliers
- Landry Shamet, LA Clippers
- Mitchell Robinson, New York Knicks
- Kevin Huerter, Atlanta Hawks
And the first team was literally the top five picks in the 2018 draft:
- Luka Dončić, Dallas Mavericks
- Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks
- Deandre Ayton, Phoenix Suns
- Jaren Jackson Jr., Memphis Grizzlies
- Marvin Bagley III, Sacramento Kings
Landry started 23 of 25 games for the Clippers, upping his three point percentage to a juicy 45, after the jump:
Sports Betting Updates
One thing people like to complain about in 2019 is that sometimes media headlines don’t match the story. Folks then call your article “fake news” or “click bait” or “sensationalism,” when most of the time you’re just trying to write a catchy headline or, in the case of larger outlets, an editor writes the title and a reporter handles the story itself. There’s usually a disconnect.
But there’s another layer, and it’s when a social media blurb doesn’t match the headline OR the story, as The Wall Street Journal showed us today with this enlightening Twitter post:
Yeah? Really going out on a limb there!
The Warriors would not be a dynasty without their 10-time All Star (Durant), their 3-time All Star (Green), their 5-time All Star (Thompson), their Future Hall of Famer (Curry) and their defensive specialist and elite glue guy (Iguodala).
I’ve always been a big Odubel Herrera guy. Those of you that read the site know that I’m staunch supporter of his and that I like to twist the knife whenever he produces a high-effort play that contrasts with what I feel is an overblown narrative in this city about his lack of hustle. I’ve also long defended his occasional lapses in concentration, quickly pointing out how his production and value are more than enough to offset the occasional blunder. So when stuff like this happens:
Daniel Descalso with the little league home run to put the @Cubs up 4-3 in the bottom of the 8th!
They look to close it out RIGHT NOW: https://t.co/vfVgaYYnon pic.twitter.com/SqYoVr4xnd
— Cubs Talk (@NBCSCubs) May 21, 2019
I typically give him the benefit of the doubt. But I gotta say, as much as it’s a painful blow to my contrarian beliefs, I’m struggling right now. I’m struggling because the production just isn’t there, and, if we’re being honest, it hasn’t been for a year now. I don’t mean that in an exaggerated sense either. It’s been a literal calendar year of underwhelming results.
Let’s rewind it back to May 21, 2018. Herrera collected two hits in a 3-0 win that helped move the Phillies to 27-18. He left the park that day hitting .348 with a .956 OPS and seemed headed for a surefire National League All-Star selection. That didn’t happen. He hit only .216 over his following 209 plate appearances leading up to the break and was rightfully left out.
He briefly regained his footing in July before flaming out in August and September, finishing the year with a disappointing .255 average and .730 OPS. No doubt, Herrera wasn’t the only Phillie to struggle down the stretch, and there had been a multi-season body of quality production to reasonably believe he could bounce back this season, particularly with reduced pressure at the bottom of a much improved lineup. That, too, didn’t happen—or it hasn’t yet.
Stop what you’re doing. Reach up. Feel the air. Do you feel that? That, my friends, is the hype. The hype is real. Nearly sixteen months after the Eagles won Super Bowl LII, EA Sports has finally decided to make the greatest play in Super Bowl history available in their Madden franchise. That’s right, the Philly Special is going to be a potential play-call in Madden 20.
Heard it here first: The Philly Special will be making its debut in @EAMaddenNFL.
Hear more: https://t.co/ixwRkB78os
Subscribe to the Eagle Eye in the Sky podcast: https://t.co/SDe9RQxTcy#FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/OOStZNzHTz
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) May 20, 2019
Anthony White, a game developer for EA Sports, joined the Eagle Eye in the Sky podcast to talk about how all 32 NFL teams’ playbooks are designed, as well as how the company is working to incorporate RPOs into the gameplay.
I've wanted to have @AWhite_73 on the show for a while, and he did not disappoint. Great insight into one of the most fascinating football jobs in America with discussion on playbooks are made for all 32 and the incorporation of RPOs in Madden 20
LISTEN: https://t.co/OvTBJ8Cgiz pic.twitter.com/0NFTsZlDRg
— Fran Duffy (@fduffy3) May 21, 2019
Per White you can find the play:
…under the pistol formation, but the set is called “Philly” and when you look at the play it says, “Philly Special” and then “Fake Philly Special”. A couple of copycats popped up in the league last year, I know Week 17 the Dolphins ran it, I think the Falcons ran it. So I was like, “Hey, well, what do we call it? Do we call it Miami special? I know the Browns ran it, do we call it the Cleveland special in their playbook?” So we’re actually just going to leave it “Philly”, even if we put it in another team’s playbook.
The fact that it took a few copycat efforts to mainstream the play is a bit disappointing, but that’s what happens when you face no competition thanks to an exclusivity deal struck between EA Sports and the NFL way back in 2005.
More after the jump:
OTAs are here.
Malcolm Jenkins is not participating.
Carson Wentz, however, will be fully involved in exercises.
Head ball coach Doug Pederson addressed those issues and more when meeting with the media a short time ago:
- No limitations on Carson Wentz this week, who will not be held back. “Just like any of our players who have gone through an injury, we’re going to continue to monitor them, but as far as he’s concerned, there’s no limitation.”
- On Malcolm Jenkins: “It is a voluntary program and Malcolm’s one of those guys that’s a leader, I’m not concerned with him.”
- Also not concerned about Rodney McLeod and safety depth behind he and Jenkins at this point.
- Zach Brown “fits nice” in the linebacker group. “He’s a veteran guy who can lead by example, played a lot of games… just looking forward to that leadership from him.”
More after the jump:
Question –
Which New York football team is more functional? Is it the Giants or the Jets?
One team jettisoned a bunch of good players and reached for a quarterback in the 2019 draft. The other hired a head coach, then fired their general manager about one week before the start of OTAs.
I’ll go ahead and say neither. Both are wracked with problems and headed for 6-10, or worse.
Landon Collins, the Pro Bowl safety who left for the Redskins in free agency, spoke a bit about the Giants’ dysfunction, which was written up by Jordan Ranaan at ESPN. Collins says he thinks the Giants were axing players who were “too vocal and had expansive non-football platforms.”
“I know with myself, (Damon Harrison), Odell (Beckham Jr), (Olivier Vernon), all we wanted to do was win, and we spoke up because we had to get them to listen to us,” Collins said. “We had to get them to get us winning pieces to help us at least be contenders.
“I think we were too vocal, and that platform was bigger than the Giants, you know, and our words stood out more. And … if it’s not good media, they don’t want that kind of media.”
Collins went on to say that GM Dave Gettleman never talked to him as he entered free agency, after the jump:
Defense wins you games. And it can cost you some as well.
The Phillies edged the Cubs 5-4 in 10 innings in the first of a four-game series with Chicago’s NL team. And JT Realmuto played a huge role in the win.
He started things in the bottom of the fifth by tagging out Anthony Rizzo at home thanks to a dart of a throw by Bryce Harper from right field. In the following half inning, Realmuto scored the Phils’ first two runs on a single to center and then later scored on Cesar Hernandez’s triple to right.
But with a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the eighth, things looked like they would end up going in the Cubs’ favor. Daniel Descalso hit a ball right between Andrew McCutchen and Odubel Herrera in left center, scoring two runs. While Descalso was running toward third, Jean Segura’s throw deflected off of Descalso’s foot and into the crowd, resulting in what was essentially an inside-the-park home run to give the Cubs a one run lead.
But Segura would redeem himself later in the top of the ninth with an RBI single that drove in Maikel Franco to tie the game at 4.
It was then up to Realmuto to play hero once again with a 1-2 count with two outs in the 10th:
He's Real and he's spectacular. #RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/AkQeer5jhr
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) May 21, 2019
And that was the game. Jake Arrieta pitched six strong innings, giving up one run off eight hits with four strikeouts and two walks.
The Phils resume play today at 7:05 PM on NBC Sports Philadelphia and ESPN. Zach Eflin will take the mound against Jose Quintana.
On the injury front, Vince Velasquez and Roman Quinn are close to returning while that can’t be said about Victor Arano.
The Roundup: Continue Reading
