All that stands in the way of the Eagles and a trip to Minnesota for Super Bowl LII, is Sunday's NFC Championship Game against the Vikings at Lincoln Financial Field, and the team's potential practice plans in the land of 10,000 lakes have been revealed, should they hoist the George Halas Trophy Sunday evening.
According to a report from Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk, the Eagles would spend the week practicing at the University of Minnesota, and would occupy the visitor's locker room at U.S. Bank Stadium, since the NFC is officially the road team for this year's Super Bowl.
NFL has confirmed Vikings will use their home practice facilities and home locker room if they play in the Super Bowl, even though the NFC is the designated road team this year. If it's the Eagles, they'll practice at the University of Minnesota and use the visitors' locker room.
-- Michael David Smith (@MichaelDavSmith) January 15, 2018
As is the case with every Super Bowl, the Eagles' practices would be closed to the public.
How do Eagles match up with Vikings?
The Eagles would benefit from utilizing recently renovated state of the art Big Ten facilities for the week. When the Vikings moved into TCF Bank Stadium in 2014, the facilities received $6.6 million worth of upgrades. Additionally, in an effort to keep pace with the facilities arms race in big-time college athletics, the Gophers have significantly upgraded their indoor practice facilities, locker room, and meeting areas which re-opened in January.
If the Vikings, who are the favorites in early betting lines, beat the Eagles on Sunday, they would become the first team in NFL history to appear in a Super Bowl in their home stadium. As Smith points out, the league would allow the Vikings to practice at their facilities and use the home locker rooms, despite being the road team.
Matt Lombardo may be reached at MLombardo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattLombardoPHL.