This and more from Philadelphia’s defensive coordinator.
The Eagles had another practice on Monday, with just a few days left before their season opener in Brazil, and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio spoke to reporters about how they prepare for Week 1, and gave insights into a bunch of individual players.
He noted that he does still get nervous for games, but not always, and he’s excited to learn how good this team can be after playing in a regular season game. Fangio admitted that in the first game, they have to temper things backs a bit and make sure not to put too much on the players right out of the gate — something they took into account when creating the game plan.
Here’s what else the DC had to say:
On preparing for Week 1
Fangio said that the Packers are pretty much the same team they were last year, at the end of the season, and that’s unfortunate because they were playing good football into the playoffs.
“The biggest problem with defending their offense is they run it just as good as they throw it. So, they have a really good mix on first and second down, running play action, and it makes it hard to defend — and then you through in, what you alluded to, a scrambling, mobile quarterback, it adds another dimension to it.”
He noted that they have predominantly the same staff, same offense, same players with the addition of Josh Jacobs.
“[Jacobs’] a hell of a back. Obviously I knew of him when he was with the Raiders. He’s a hard runner. He’s got good contact balance. He’s a good pass blocker when they need him to be. He can catch the ball. He’s really one of those all-around good backs in the league, but really excels with the ball in his hand.”
The DC then acknowledged that it’s going to be tough for the LB group, explaining that the Packers have a really good play action game which primarily attacks the linebackers. They haven’t seen much of that type of play action in training camp, so it is a challenge.
On individual players
Quinyon Mitchell
Fangio said that he can see rookie CB Quinyon Mitchell being on the field for every defensive play, and thinks he’s ready for that responsibility as early as Week 1.
“He’s just played well. He’s done a good job picking up his responsibilities, done a good job playing, and he will be out there.”
The DC explained that he knew pretty quickly that Mitchell would be able to handle whatever they would throw at him, especially once they had him play nickel early on and he did fine.
“I do think for him personally, it would be good to lock in at one spot, because even though we’ve been very happy with his development and his learning abilities, he still is a rookie, and I do think if he can get comfortable at one spot, it would be to his benefit. But we may not be able to do that.”
Cooper DeJean
“I think he’s as prepared as he can be, but having said that, not where he needs to be.”
Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis’ conditioning
“We’ll see. They haven’t been pushed like they potentially can be pushed in this game as far as the amount of plays they may have to play. So that’s TBD.”
Fangio later said that this game, and the next few, will serve as a better barometer as far as the workload Carter will be able to have this season. He noted that practice is practice, and he won’t have an answer to that until they get some game reps in.
Bryce Huff
“Hopefully he’ll continue to improve, and I think he will with reps. Now each and every week will present new challenges to him because you’re seeing different types of offenses every week. So different style of runs, different style of passes, when, on the rare occasions, he does have to drop [into coverage]. So, every week will be a new challenge for him.”
Other notables
- As far as the position battles, like at linebacker, Fangio said that they will still be ongoing as the season continues, but he does hope that there is continuity at positions or at least normal play-time rotations.
- The DC noted that even though Avonte Maddox has spent more time at safety, he can and will still play nickel.
- Fangio told veteran Brandon Graham to be ready because he’ll likely get used more than last season, and also confirmed that the DE is not on a pitch count to start the season.
- He admitted that there’s never enough practice heading into a season, but they certainly had enough to be ready for Week 1. The DC said it would have been nice to have one or two more joint practices to see different things schematically and to continue to gel as a group with new players and coaches, but overall he thinks the offseason program went well.
