A virtual offseason has become three-dimensional for the Philadelphia Eagles as Phase Two of the offseason started for the team on Tuesday at the NovaCare Complex, and Head Coach Nick Sirianni had a chance to see his veterans in person after weeks of virtual work.
"It was great to get on the field with the rookies last week and now we're excited to have the veterans back in the building," Sirianni said. "As coaches, what we're looking forward to is taking what we've been teaching virtually and bringing it out onto the grass with the players. That's the next step in the process as we build toward Training Camp and the regular season. Really excited for that."
As Sirianni and his staff set out to build the offseason program, they reached out to team leaders for their thoughts. In the end, the team decided a modified schedule over the next three weeks was the best course of action. It's a program that puts a premium on training, teaching, and physical conditioning in order to set the team up for Training Camp this summer.
"We had some really good conversations with our players, some of our team leaders, about the offseason program," Sirianni said. "I've always believed it's important to have that open communication with your team, and it was really helpful for us as a staff as we put together the offseason program. I feel good that our schedule will allow us to get some really good work in before we hit Training Camp. I really appreciated those conversations."
This modified offseason schedule boils down to the following:
1. This week, the team is conducting Phase Two which includes meetings and on-field sessions geared toward fundamentals, schemes, and strength and conditioning.
2. The following two weeks will fall under Phase Three OTA rules designed to provide more time for players and coaches to work together on and off the field. On-field drills will closely mirror that of Phase Two. This year, there will be no 11-on-11 or 7-on-7 work.
3. Following these three weeks of practices, the Eagles' offseason program will conclude. The players will next convene for the start of Training Camp at the NovaCare Complex when permitted under the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
"Our goal is to keep building. So up to this point, we've had a lot of great time with our players virtually teaching them our schemes," Sirianni said. "So now what we're doing is taking that out onto the field, focusing in on the fundamentals, while taking what was learned virtually and getting the reps in person. It's one thing to talk about it and see it virtually, but it's another thing to get out there and go through it physically. So that's what our focus is these next three weeks and then we'll pick back up once we get back for Training Camp in July."
