He has a five-man group in his room now, so Running Backs/Assistant Head Coach Jemal Singleton has had a lot of one-on-one time with the Eagles' offensive backfield and he has a great sense of the talent at his disposal. All of them are a little different with what they bring to the table, but when you add it all up, Singleton feels the running back picture here is a bright one.
After leading the NFL in rushing last season using a back-by-committee approach that included the running skills of quarterback Jalen Hurts, Singleton likes what he sees so far. Now with the preseason nearly here (Friday, 7:30 PM against the Jets on NBC10 in Philadelphia), Singleton, along with all of us, is excited to see the backs in pads and in a game situation.
Here is Singleton's evaluation of his running backs as the summer takes a new turn ...
Miles Sanders
"I think his offseason training program was great. I think he's shown that already, being explosive, attacking the hole, getting north – some of the things we've been working on to really get his vision going and I like what he's been doing. He's leading the pack right now.
"I always tell the guys, 'Control what you can control.' We can control our attitude, we can control the way we work, we can control our intensity. I enjoy what I do out here and I have fun, and I want that energy as high as it possibly can be and I'm going to try to match them when I need to, but Miles has done a great job of coming out and being real aggressive. He's running hard and he's doing those things you want to see from your back.
"He wants the ball and that's the attitude that I want him to have."
Kenneth Gainwell
"I told him, 'Hey, Year 2 is different from Year 1. Year 1, you're just learning new things. Now we're in the same system. He's got the same coach for consecutive years, and he understands my expectations and it just allows him to grow. I've always felt a player from Year 1 to Year 2, that's when you should see the biggest amount of growth and he's really doing that. I think you're seeing that with his play, his physicalness, picking up pass protection, route running – all the things he had to improve on. He really came back on a mission."
Boston Scott
"Boston is a strong man. He may be small, but now you're looking at that strength and leverage from his legs that enable him to push a pile, to get underneath a tackle, to hit a crease, all that. He's hitting it with speed and power and strength and it's coming in the package he's bringing it in. It's a great example of what you can get done even from a smaller guy."
Jason Huntley
"I like to tell him, 'Fast guys have to play fast,' and he's definitely a fast guy and he's playing that way. I think the biggest thing for Jason and I've told him this as well, he's matured a little bit. He's starting to understand it. Mentally, he's answering questions that just a year ago he had no clue about, so I really think he came in ... I really love the position I'm in in the room. I've got guys that are hungry, guys that want more, guys that are really striving for and I think that Jason Huntley applied that as well that he knows that, hey, he's got to come in here and do something a little different, better than what he's been doing, and he's starting to do that."
Kennedy Brooks
"This is what I was hoping to see with him in pads. I think a lot of guys come out in the offseason and maybe they don't look flashy because we're not playing football. We're just in shorts running around. I want to see him do some of the things he did in college. He was just a steady player that fell forward for extra yards, was physical, could run, and do all of those things that were good. He's kind of shown that he's capable of doing that, but it's way early for a young buck, so we'll see what happens when we get into preseason games and get rolling."
