In recent seasons, the Eagles’ defensive coordinator has called plays from the sideline during games.
That’s going to change this season. Vic Fangio likes it up in the booth.
“No. 1, it's the best view,” Fangio said recently. “I can see what's happening. I don't have to rely on other people telling me what's happening. There’s a reason they film the game from up there in a booth right or to the left of me.
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“There is a reason the owners are at that same level. They can sit anywhere they want in the stadium, and it's the best view is No. 1. Because my most important job on game day is to call the game and I need to have the best view and I don't have to rely on others to give me a bunch of information.”
Fair enough.
The Eagles will have their first preseason game on Friday night but it won’t be their first time going through the play-calling operation. They were able to get some practice last Thursday night at the Linc in front of nearly 50,000 people at the public practice.
When the season starts, just one player will have the green dot on his helmet with the radio communication. But on Thursday, both Devin White and Zack Baun were equipped. Both thought the communication went well.
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For Baun, wearing the green dot was pretty new. He’s done it in practice before but never in a game-like situation.
“We have to be loud and we’ve got to get the whole defense on the same page,” Baun said.
While wearing a green dot might be new for Baun, it’s not for White, who has been a MIKE linebacker in the NFL since he was a first-round pick back in 2019. After holding that role for so long, players develop a system; they know what they like. White likes to hear the play call twice from the coach. He doesn’t need the extra details or tips but if he gets them, he’ll do his best to pass them along.
One underrated part of having a green dot is conditioning. Not only do you have to be in good enough shape to play every snap but you also have to be able to speak loudly when other guys might be out of breath.
“That’s a testament to how good of shape you in,” White said. “Can you play a play and make sure everybody get the next call? I feel good as far as that part.”
Excited for Brazil
There’s at least one Eagles player who is extremely excited the season opener is in São Paulo, Brazil. Tanner McKee can’t wait to get back.
The Eagles’ third-string quarterback served two mission trips in Brazil and actually lived in São Paulo for about a month before spending the rest of his two years in Curitiba.
“I was really excited when I found out the NFL was just having a game in Brazil and then I found out it was going to be the Eagles so I was obviously pretty excited about that,” McKee said this week. “I’ve been doing interviews in Portuguese. Just really excited to go back. I’ve been hitting up a bunch of my friends. I know some people are going to try to come to the game. It means a lot. I’m excited for the guys to kind of be around that culture and just things like that.”
Even though he’s years removed from his time in Brazil, McKee has kept up with his Portuguese and practices as much as he can. I spoke with McKee about that in a Q&A last season.
How does McKee think the people of Brazil will embrace the NFL?
“I think they’ll definitely love it,” he said. “It’s similar to the people of Philadelphia. Anytime you show a little bit of love, they’re going to love you back 10 times more. And so having an NFL team there and present, the fans are going to love it. Just when we announced that we were playing in the game, I’ve had hundreds of Brazilians follow me on social media, hitting me up, asking me questions. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun to be down there.”
Watch out for Ojomo
Through 10 practices this summer, second-year defensive tackle Moro Ojomo has been flashing quite a bit. And his new defensive coordinator has taken notice.
“Yeah, he's getting better,” Fangio said. “He's showing up. He's on the lighter side as D-linemen go, D-tackles, but he's athletic. Plays extremely hard and very coachable. He's had a good camp.”
Ojomo (6-3, 292) was a seventh-round draft pick last season. He had a good rookie training camp and made the Eagles’ 53-man roster but didn’t get to play very much as a rookie. He played a total of 68 defensive snaps and 16 special teams snaps.
But there’s a chance he plays more in 2024. Fletcher Cox retired this offseason, leaving the top three in the rotation as Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis and Milton Williams. Even if the Eagles rotate less this year than they have in the past, there are still snaps up for grabs. Ojomo and Marlon Tuipulotu are the top returning players positioned for more playing time.
Ojomo is ready for more opportunity.
“I think I demand a lot of myself,” he said. “I think I’m humble and hungry. I think I want to show this coaching staff that I can be great and just keep working hard.”
A glimpse into Moore’s mind
Earlier this week, offensive coordinator Kellen Moore was asked about the WR3 position, especially if it’s going to be some sort of rotation. He was specifically asked if he has to guard against tendencies — running a play based on the personnel on the field.
His answer was fascinating and it gave a little insight into his offensive mind.
“Yeah, certainly once you get to game plan football and you get into the regular season, you have to be really conscious of who is on the field and what those tendencies dictate,” Moore said. “Sometimes you want to create tendencies for your own ability to trump them at later points.
“We'll continue to evolve and utilize all those different points, whether it be who is on the field from tight ends, running backs, it’s every single unit. We have to really conscious of that to protect our tendencies. Like I said, sometimes you want to have tendencies to break them in critical moments.”
That’s a fascinating answer because when we talk about tendencies in play calling, it’s usually considered a bad thing. You want to be unpredictable, right? But Moore’s point is that you can use predictability in your favor if you recognize it and are willing to break a tendency at the right moment. This is all about the long game and Moore seems to get that.
What does Nick Sirianni like about Moore as a play caller?
“I just think he has a really good flow of how to do it,” Sirianni said. “He really sees into the quarterback’s vision, him playing quarterback at a very high level, sees into the quarterback's vision and how he sees it. Again, just when to call the big play, when to run the football, when to play action. It's just his feel and flow for the game.
Those are conversations. You could put a game on and see that, but those happen more — you never know exactly what they're thinking unless you go through an interview with them or unless you have these personal conversations with them. That's where you're getting a lot of the information as far as how Kellen calls it and how you feel comfortable about how he calls it.”
A bump for Calcaterra
Jack Stoll left for the Giants this offseason and that created an opportunity for Grant Calcaterra. He’s making the most of it.
Despite the addition of veteran C.J. Uzomah in free agency, Calcaterra has clearly been the Eagles’ No. 2 tight end in training camp. And unless there’s another addition coming, that appears to be his role for the 2024 season.
“It’s a testament to Grant,” tight ends coach Jason Michael said. “One, I think it’s been pretty consistent, what he’s done in the offseason. Where he left the season, what he was able to do in January, February, until we came back for the offseason. He took strides. And he continued to do that throughout the offseason program and he’s done the same thing. He picked up where we left off from the offseason and continues to take advantage of his opportunities.
“It’s early. We’re still trying to figure out how all this is going to play out. But Grant’s done a really good job of building on what he had going into the offseason and working on those things that he felt he needed to and we felt he needed to improve on. He’s done a great job of how he’s attacked it on a personal level and then obviously with the team and how it all plays through.”
While the TE2 job might not seem to be the most important, that guy will play quite a bit in 2024. Last season, Stoll played 45% of the Eagles’ offensive snaps and new offensive coordinator Moore also likes 12 personnel.
How DeVonta gauges success
DeVonta Smith has gone over 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons and he signed a big contract extension in April. So he’s already a really good receiver.
But he has seemingly taken his play to another level this summer.
“Nobody has been able to cover DeVonta all camp,” A.J. Brown said.
But how does Smith gauge his success during training camp practices?
“At the end of the day, it comes down to all 11,” Smith said. “But making sure that I do my job. If I’m open and the ball doesn’t come to me, for me that’s a plus. Because at the end of the day, I still did my job. I was open. So just going out there and making sure I’m putting the right things on tape, making sure I’m doing the things I need to do and being in the places I need to be.”
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