Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 12/5/20.

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LeGarrette Blount announces his retirement - PFT
Former NFL running back LeGarrette Blount has announced his retirement. Blount, who last played in 2018, wrote on Instagram that he’s ready to say it’s over. “I just want to inform y’all that I’m officially retiring,” Blount wrote. “I have thought long and hard about this decision, and I’ve talked to my closest family members and friends about this. We collectively agreed on this decision. It is in the best interest of me and my family.” Blount then thanked five of the six NFL teams he played for at some point in his career, starting with the Titans (who signed him as an undrafted free agent but cut him before the start of the regular season) and including the Buccaneers, Patriots, Steelers and Eagles.

Comparing Howie Roseman’s drafting performance to the rest of the NFL - BGN
Again, the purpose of this article isn’t to rehash the mistakes Howie Roseman has made in the draft. The purpose was to instead provide you with some objective evidence to measure Howie Roseman against his peers. Based on these metrics, Howie Roseman ranks in the bottom third of the NFL in some instances, and the bottom five in others. Roseman used to compensate for his suspect track record in the draft by making shrewd free agent signings, winning trades, and deftly managing the Eagles’ salary cap. Since 2018, however, he no longer excels in those areas either. The end result is an old, expensive, injury prone and, quite, frankly, bad, roster that is perfectly reflected by its 3-7-1 record.

Michael Kist & Benjamin Solak discuss the Doug/Press/Scangs Playcalling Triumvirate PLUS give their in-depth preview of the Eagles upcoming showdown with the Packers! Powered by SB Nation and Bleeding Green Nation.

Packers-Eagles Q&A, Part 2: Eagles defense is a bit of a mystery - Acme Packing Company
The Philadelphia Eagles have a bit of a mystery on defense. They’ve kept the Eagles competitive in some games while taking them out of others. What can the Packers expect to see on Sunday? For some answers, we again turn to Brandon Gowton of Bleeding Green Nation. He gave us some insight into the Eagles’ offense yesterday and returns now for some insight on defense.

Eagles mailbag: What is Zach Ertz’s trade value this offseason? - PhillyVoice
You raise a point I debated with some friends recently, and I agree with your concerns. Beyond the fact that the Eagles won’t have leverage, as you point out, I don’t think his value is particularly high right now. He’s 30 years old (and probably in decline), he was having his worst season as a pro before he got hurt, he now has a pretty extensive injury history, and his base salary in 2021 is going to be $8,250,000 in a year in which the salary cap is going to be around $30-$40 million less than was projected, pre-COVID. Maybe someone offers a Day 3 pick. Any hope of getting a Day 2 pick for him, barring some sort of unexpected monster close to this season, is unrealistic. I don’t know that it’s a foregone conclusion that he’s gone, by the way. They should trade him, but it’s possible the front office is delusional about the Eagles’ chances in 2021 and they keep him for one more year before he leaves in free agency.

Eagles’ Carson Wentz on crash course toward troubling sack numbers - ESPN
Meanwhile, Wentz’s average time before a pass is 2.88 seconds, his highest since coming into the league. It’s symptomatic of both Wentz’s indecisiveness this season and the receivers’ failure to separate with regularity. Put that combination together, and you have a quarterback getting clobbered at an alarming clip. Not great for a player who has already had three significant injuries as a pro.

K’Von Wallace says a ‘storm’ is coming, but how much longer before the Eagles play the safety and other youngsters more? - Inquirer
Wallace won’t get the nod ahead of starters Rodney McLeod and Jalen Mills on Sunday. He may not even be the third safety over Marcus Epps. But he could see the field, depending upon the package, in a limited role. He did so in Weeks 4-5, and while he wasn’t perfect, the Eagles have to be willing to accept growing pains. The rookie has. “Everything’s a little different. It’s the next step. This is the highest level of football,” Wallace said. “You got to come in and work every single day. There’s no days off. There’s no lackadaisical. You cannot not be consistent. You have to be consistent every single day.”

5 changes Eagles should make during final 5 games | Why rebuild needs to start now - NJ.com
Give Jalen Hurts at least a couple of series per game. The offense has struggled to start games all season. With Hurts already seeing some very limited action, Pederson should just give him a couple of series each game to keep defenses guessing. Forcing the opposing team to study for both quarterbacks thoroughly would be an advantage for the Eagles. Carson Wentz is struggling mightily and the offense is following suit, so creating the occasional prolonged spark with Hurts makes sense. The Eagles need to know what they have with both quarterbacks before heading into the offseason with a top-10 pick.

Your NFL Week 13 Matchup Guide: Can the Browns—or Any Team, Really—Contain Derrick Henry? - The Ringer
Two years after the Eagles signed Carson Wentz to a deal guaranteeing him more than $100 million, many fans want him benched. Wentz has thrown 15 interceptions in 11 games (no other QB has more than 11) and been sacked 46 times (nobody else has been sacked more than 35 times). He is being sacked on one out of every 10 dropbacks, and is on pace for 67 sacks on the season, which would be the fourth most in NFL history and the most since David Carr was sacked 68 times on the expansion-team Texans (Carr was also sacked 76 times in 2002, his rookie season—poor guy). Much of Wentz’s struggles are due to the ludicrous amount of injuries surrounding him, especially on the offensive line. But when Eagles coach Doug Pederson pulled Wentz off the field to give rookie second-rounder Jalen Hurts a snap, he signaled that Wentz’s status as the Eagles starter is no longer a lock. Meanwhile, the team that set off a much larger uproar by drafting a quarterback in April is having a grand ole time. The Packers’ decision to trade up for quarterback Jordan Love has been mostly forgotten because Aaron Rodgers is having his best stretch in years. If the season ended today, Rodgers would likely come in second in MVP voting behind Patrick Mahomes. Wentz, meanwhile, might get some votes as the LVP.

Eagles-Packers cheat sheet: Predictions, key matchups, lineup news and more - The Athletic
Sheil Kapadia: The Eagles went to Lambeau in Week 4 last year and beat the Packers 34-27 to improve to 2-2. Fourteen months later, their entire operation is a complete disaster. Wentz has been one of the league’s worst quarterbacks, and Pederson and his staff have been unable to come up with any solutions to help him. The Eagles defensive line has been a strength, but Fletcher Cox is dealing with a neck injury and Green Bay’s offensive line ranks first in pass-block win rate. Maybe the Eagles will lean on Miles Sanders and their run game to keep it close. But this one could get ugly. Packers 31, Eagles 16.

2020 My Cause My Cleats - PE.com
Take a look at what Eagles players will be representing in the 2020 edition of My Cause My Cleats.

Washington fan confidence rises sharply as NFL fans project a 2020 division win for the WFT - Hogs Haven
As Thanksgiving fades to a memory, the huge victory over the Cowboys in their home stadium, completing a sweep of the Dallas team, seems to be a long time ago. The Week 12 schedule, after all, extended all the way to Wednesday this week, when the Ravens met the Steelers at the confluence of the rivers, and there hasn’t been an NFL game since. I’ve long since shifted my sights to Washington’s upcoming game against Pittsburgh on Monday, but because of the extended play in Week 12, some of last week’s business still needs to be taken care of. Part of that business is tracking fan confidence via the NFL Reacts poll.

Giants at Seahawks: Daniel Jones listed as doubtful for Sunday - Big Blue View
New York Giants coach Daniel Jones won’t yet rule quarterback Daniel Jones out of Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks. Jones has not practiced this week as he deals with the hamstring he injured last Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Giants are officially listing Jones as “doubtful” for Sunday’s game. By definition, that means a 75 percent chance Jones will not play.

The Ravens game is a huge test for Mike McCarthy and the Cowboys staff - Blogging The Boys
Again, the key here isn’t the win, although that would be huge. It is how the team performs. We just cannot have another collapse like we saw down the stretch on Thanksgiving, when the game was put out of reach with some terrible plays. If the Cowboys come up short but still are in it until the end, then they might just stay in the hunt for the NFC East playoff bid. None of the rest of the division has an exactly easy path forward. And there, if they also fall short, just making a real run at things will be a major statement about the staff. With the massive injuries that the team has suffered, keeping this team playing hard and more effectively would be encouraging for the future. If they don’t, then the doubts about the McCarthy era will just grow.

This Texas high school football player was escorted from field by police after tackling a referee - SB Nation
Edinburg High School defensive end Emmanuel Duran was flagged for roughing the passer, and took issue with the call. After reportedly yelling at officials he was ejected from the game, which is when all hell broke loose. In the video you can see the referee calling the ejection, before Duran returns to the field at almost a full sprint, leveling the referee before team officials and players walked him away.

The exponential rise in Covid-19 hospitalizations, in one chart - Vox
Far more Americans are currently hospitalized with Covid-19 than at any other point in the pandemic, a grim indicator that the third big wave of cases in the US is the worst wave to date by a lot. On December 2, 100,226 people across the United States were in the hospital after testing positive for the novel coronavirus, according to data reported by the Covid Tracking Project. That’s significantly higher than the last two peaks recorded on April 15 and July 23, when the New York City and the Southeast and Southwest, respectively, were epicenters of the US outbreak. (As the Covid Tracking Project notes, the national and state hospital data have been erratic and incomplete, and reported totals may continue to shift.)

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