The Eagles are back to practice today, preparing for their Sunday afternoon game against the Dolphins. As they take the field, they will be without rookie linebacker Jordan Hicks, whose season ended yesterday when he was placed on Injured Reserve with a torn pectoral muscle. Take a look at some of the other views for Tuesday, November 10 ...
The Pieces Coming Together
At the start of the season, the Eagles offense was getting accustomed to many new pieces, including a new quarterback, new running backs, new offensive lineman and a new receiver. Those players are now starting to show they're coming together.
Tim McManus of Birds 24/7 highlighted that aspect and explained why it's not a surprise the offense has needed time, using head coach Chip Kelly's our thoughts from his Monday afternoon press conference.
"We do have some new players here. So to think that on Day 1 they're just going to step in and (snaps fingers) plug-and-play, it doesn't happen," Kelly said. "This is a league where you have to practice, you have to train, you have to get in-sync with the 10 other guys you're working with. So I think all of those guys are just starting to feel more comfortable."
The win on Sunday was a huge one for the Eagles, and moving forward, it will be important for the Eagles' offense to continue to grow together and improve.
*Daily New *Staff Votes Hicks Midseason MVP
The news of Hicks' injury is certain to be a tough one to swallow for the Eagles, especially because of what he has done for the team this season. He stepped in when he was needed most and didn't miss a beat. A majority of the *Daily News *staff even believes the linebacker is the team's midseason MVP.
"There's more to this story than just a one-punch KO of a quarterback," Paul Domowitch wrote of Hicks. "With (DeMeco) Ryans and (Mychal) Kendricks in and out of the lineup and (Kiko) Alonso missing five games, Hicks was a godsend in the middle of the defense.
"Over the last six games, he has played 399 of 439 defensive snaps. I'm not sure where the Eagles would be without Hicks right now, but it definitely wouldn't be 4-4."
With the linebacker out for the remainder of 2015, the team will need Alonso, Kendricks and Ryans to stay healthy even more than they did before.
Kelly Believes Bradford Is Improving
On Monday, Kelly expressed the fact that the team is not focusing too much on one win and also spoke highly of quarterback Sam Bradford's progress. As Les Bowen of the* Daily News* wrote, Kelly explained that Bradford has made improvements during his time in Philadelphia and he is beginning to settle in.
"I think Sam's improved on a weekly basis here," Kelly said. "He's better in Game 8 than he was in Game 1. I think he's more comfortable with what we're doing. In terms of where we are as an offense, for a lot of these guys, it's kind of like there's a movie being shown and he showed up halfway through it. And then he's supposed to figure out what's going on, and what did I miss in the first half of the movie? Because he hasn't been with us for the amount of time that Brent (Celek) has been here, (Jason) Kelce and some of those other guys.
"It's something you have to get through reps; it's not something that you can force. He works extremely hard at it. He's in this building all the time. He's watching film. He's studying. He's working at it. We see constant improvement out of Sam. I hope he continues to play even better as we move forward."
Eagles Tire Out Opposing Defense
The Eagles are known for their fast-paced offense, but it had made very few appearances in the opening
weeks of the season. However, as Jimmy Kempski of *PhillyVoice* wrote, that tempo offense reemerged against Dallas. Ultimately, it may have helped lead to the victory.
"Once we got rolling, then we started hitting with some tempo, and once we hit them with tempo we saw they were getting tired," said Jason Kelce. "It really felt like those old drives. Once we get a big play, we just kept pushing it on them."
