As Training Camp Begins, Eagles’ Goal to Win One Game

Taking questions before the first training camp practice open to media, Eagles Head Coach Nick Sirianni was crystal clear about the goal at this point.

“The goal right now, right this second, right now, is not to get back to the Super Bowl,” he chided reporters.

It was a crazy thing to say. And Sirianni knew it. “Our goal is to get better today,” he explained. “You can’t win two games unless you win one, so our goal is to get better today and to prep to get ready for our first game against New England.”

Quarterback Jalen Hurts knew that the team had work to do to get started on the right foot.

“We come here on the first day and we’re trying to set the foundation of the identity of what this team will be,” he remarked. “That’s the main thing.”

Eagles players reported to Training Camp on Tuesday and immediately did conditioning tests between bouts of rain. Sirianni had instructed his players at the end of OTAs to come back in great shape. He was pleased with the condition they came back in.

“Guys came back in phenomenal shape,” he said, noting that everyone passed the conditioning test. “It was great watching the guys run yesterday and just seeing how much they worked at bringing their bodies back in shape.”

The Eagles were only missing Haason Reddick from the lineup on day one of training camp due to a groin injury, as well as Devon Allen due to a non-football injury. The Eagles told reporters that Reddick would be back from the injury before the weekend. Avonte Maddox and Derek Barnett were limited in practice.

One of Sirianni’s core values is fundamentals, and the team showed that they need to get back into that mode during the day’s practice. An unofficial count by Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer yielded six pre-snap infractions that reportedly caused Sirianni, adhering to another core value of accountability, to scold G Tyler Steen, DE Janarius Robinson, and even new Defensive Coordinator Sean Desai.

The early season jitters can get to everyone, even players like G Lane Johnson who have been around for a decade.

“I have butterflies every time I walk out here,” he told media after the practice. “The difficult thing about football is that the earliest portion of it is usually the hardest.”

The players are getting used to their new coordinators, too. With the departures of both Shane Steichen and Jonathan Gannon during the offseason, new offensive coordinator Brian Johnson and defensive coordinator Sean Desai are making their mark on the players.

Jason Kelce was impressed, particularly, by how on the first day Johnson was in the offensive linemen’s meeting room.

“So often, as a coordinator, you get so enveloped in the passing game,” Kelce noted. “I think, to be a good offensive coordinator and a good play caller, you really have to have the full gambit of why we’re doing things, what we’re doing things, why the run game plays are in this week. Brian’s stepped right in and he’s communicating from the receivers and the tight ends to the O-Line and obviously Jalen [Hurts].”

A single less than an hour practice is not indicative of the team. There were blunders, but there were also impressive performances like a toe-tap touchdown thrown by Marcus Mariota to Tyree Jackson and an interception by Christian Elliss that made three cumulative offseason interceptions (including two during the OTAS). The big takeaway is that the Eagles are building back up to get the baseline for getting better tomorrow.

Sirianni was pleased with how the rookies, especially, adopted that mindset.

“We know they’ve got the right stuff inside of them and that they’re working their butts off to get better every day,” he observed. “They’ve assimilated well with the rest of the team, and we’re excited to go out there and continue to get them better and develop them.”

The Eagles will hold a closed practice on Thursday before reopening to media on Friday.