Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 7/16/18.

Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links ...

Aaron Rodgers Isn’t Scared: Of Aging, New Contracts or Sharks (Anymore) - Peter King’s Football Morning In America
“I sort of look at it as this,” Foles said, his car taking him up the West Side Highway in Manhattan to a book-signing in New Jersey. “The good Lord’s equipped me to handle this situation. Are there gonna be moments where it’s tough because I’m a competitor? Yes. But that’s where I have to lean on my faith. There’s a lot of great growth that goes on with it. I’ll be able to show my daughter down the road that with these opportunities that arise, there’s trials, and challenges. I sort of get excited because it’s really gonna test my heart. It’s gonna test who I am.’’ [...] The huge quarterback contracts gnaw at him. “It was hard to watch other players—quarterbacks in particular—sign massive contracts in the weeks following the Super Bowl. On a daily basis, I have to fight the internal battle to keep my priorities straight.” Kirk Cousins: zero playoff wins. Foles: three playoff wins—and a passer rating of more than 100 in all four career playoff games.

I’d Live it Again - BGN
I landed in Philly in 1976. It was an important year for our nation, but I didn’t know it. I was seven years old in a different country, city and home. We moved three times, on a reverse housing (but similar economic) trajectory from the Jeffersons, from a downtown apartment building to a smaller apartment complex and finally a duplex with a front yard and basement. I remember the guy down the street giving away hockey pucks because he ran the Zamboni in the Spectrum. I remember me and my friends sticking an M-80 into a beehive and getting stung by a million pissed-off bees. Forty years later, that’s the way it goes. I can’t picture my every-day life from years ago - just the moments of real happiness and pain. For most of those decades, I’ve had my share of both as an Eagles fan.

Brandon Brooks Vaults To NFL’s Upper Echelon - PE.com
Almost lost in everything that happened in 2017 – and boy, did a lot happen! – was the Pro Bowl season put together by right guard Brandon Brooks. Signed by the Eagles as an unrestricted free agent prior to the 2016 season, Brooks came into his own a season later and was a dominating player, part of the reason the Eagles were so good at the line of scrimmage on offense.

NFC East Q&A: Who will win the division? - ESPN
John Keim, ESPN Washington Redskins reporter: Eagles win, Redskins are a wild card. Nobody has repeated as champion since the Eagles did so in 2004 – their fourth straight title. I believe we have to mention this stat any time we discuss potential winners. That said, I just don’t see how you pick anyone but the Eagles. They won the Super Bowl without their MVP-candidate quarterback Carson Wentz. He’ll be healthy this season, and for as well as Nick Foles did in the postseason (really, it was about the final two games, considering they scored just 15 vs. Atlanta), Wentz can do things he just can’t. It’s hard to win as many games as they did in the regular season last year (13), so they could win a game or two fewer. They’re still on top in the division. Two teams from the NFC East will make the postseason. Both Dallas and Washington are interesting. The Cowboys need Ezekiel Elliott available for 16 games; Washington needs its young defensive players to prove they’re good and for Alex Smith to be a solid quarterback. Perhaps the Giants contend for a spot, but that team had a lot of holes and now has a first-year coach.

Doug Pederson’s life changed after the Super Bowl, but he feels he hasn’t: ‘I know what it took for me to get here’ - Inquirer
“I think the things that can define me is that I’m going to be honest, I’m going to be transparent, I’m going to be as open as I can,” Pederson said. “I’m sort of a father figure to a lot of these players. … There’s no fluff anywhere.” Pederson believes a team takes on the personality of its coach. He has seen that in the first two years, and his easygoing demeanor and allowance of letting personalities show has fostered a harmonious locker room. Pederson went as far as to say his own spirituality is something that has permeated into the locker room, too.

Football Strategies so Zany They Just Might Work in the NFL - B/R
The Eagles drafted 6’8”, 346-pound Australian rugby star Jordan Mailata in April and are teaching him to play offensive tackle this year, even though Mailata never wore a helmet in his life before deciding to give the NFL a go. So why hasn’t any NFL team recruited a sumo wrestling yokozuna yet? Former sumo champion Yamamotoyama Ryuta is 6’3”, weighed 584 pounds at his peak and was a master of using short-burst quickness and leverage to his advantage. Heck, Ryuta is currently retired from sumo and only 34 years old. Bring him to America and give him a Vince Wilfork role on short yardage plays! Even line him up at guard for 4th-and-1 quarterback sneaks!

Richard Sherman and the Cornerback Summit - The MMQB
Preseason Power Rankings: 1. Philadelphia Eagles - There’s no reason to dethrone the champs at this time, especially with a better quarterback replacing the one who gave Philly its first Super Bowl victory.

The New and Familiar Expectations Facing Drew Brees - The Ringer
New Orleans’s star QB heads into this fall on the heels of one of his least impressive statistical seasons. Is it a sign that Brees is declining? Or is it a reflection of his uncommon ability to adapt?

Every NFL team’s most notable ‘Madden 19’ ratings risers and fallers - SB Nation
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles really benefited from winning the Super Bowl as he went from being rated 71 to 80. Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, who regressed in his second season, went from being rated 86 overall to 82.

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