BLOOMINGTON, MINN. >> Doug Pederson was breezing through his Thursday morning Super Bowl presser, blowing off the eye-opening change he made to his practice schedule when he inadvertently drifted into a place he rarely goes.
That would be fantasy land.
A Boston radio guy asked Pederson if he could envision the same kind of future with Carson Wentz that Bill Belichick has culled over 18 years with Tom Brady. And Pederson, apparently in a weak moment, answered.
“Gosh, I’d love to,” Pederson said. “Even in some of the quiet moments I try to envision that. In this league, if you have a quarterback and you do things right and you surround him with talented players and coaches, yeah, you can have a long career in this business and have the success that those two gentlemen have had. A lot of respect for those two and what they’ve meant for this league. And obviously that’s something that I think that with myself and Carson, and the guys we have around him could possibly happen in Philadelphia, yes.”
That answer was stunning, for Pederson typically shoots down hypotheticals.
Earlier Pederson tip-toed around the change in his practice routine, one in which the Eagles abandoned the rugged weekly session in shoulder pads that had been their rallying point through the playoffs.
If the Eagles sputter in Super Bowl LII, Pederson will be second-guessed for it.
With players bonding in shoulder pads, the Eagles outscored the Atlanta Falcons and Minnesota Vikings by a collective, 52-17, for the right to take on the Patriots in the title game this Sunday.
The Patriots practiced in pads Wednesday.
“We had a great week last week, honestly, back in Philly,” Pederson said. “We really had all our prep back then. And this is about just fine tuning and keeping the guys fresh for Sunday. We had a great practice yesterday obviously from a tempo standpoint. Guys were flying around and doing what I’ve asked them to do. So, I just decided to back off this week and keep them fresh for Sunday.”
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Eagles cornerback Ronald Darby joined defensive tackle Tim Jernigan in the sick bay with the flu that’s been going around.
Neither were at media day.
But Darby practiced, per the Eagles’ injury report, while Jernigan missed his second straight day of work.
he Eagles can ill afford – no pun intended – to play without Jernigan. No disrespect to Beau Allen, but there’s only so many snaps Vinny Curry can play inside at tackle before the entire D-line rotation is weakened.
Curry shook off an injury to his finger, per the pool report.
Additionally, Mike Holmgren dropped in on Eagles practice. Holmgren coached Pederson at Green Bay.
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Rob Gronkowski cleared concussion protocol and practiced fully for the Patriots, none of which missed practiced Thursday per the injury report.
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The Eagles’ experimental Wednesday practice closed to the media was anything but a home run.
Pederson described the second half of it “sloppy,” through a pool reporter. The Eagles took a 30-minute pit stop to acclimate to the anticipated lengthy halftime delay this Sunday, when entertainer, dancer Justin Timberlake takes the stage.
“It’s been a couple days since we’ve been on the practice field,” Pederson said. “So, it’s typical that you’re going to have not quite as crisp of a practice. But for me it was just about talking to the leadership of the guys. It wasn’t a hey, get the team together, get the coaches together and then start brow-beating everybody. We’re so late in the season now that we understand how to practice.”
Said quarterback Nick Foles, “When we came out in the second part of practice it wasn’t as clean as we wanted.
“We still got a lot of great work in,” Foles said. “So, I just think addressing it early in the week before a game is huge. And the guys are aware of it. I’m glad it happened now rather than in the game.”
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Eagles defensive end Chris Long was voted the 2018 NFLPA Byron “Whizzer” White Community MVP.
Long donated his $1 million base salary to educational charities. The other finalists were Andy Dalton (Bengals), Colin Kaepernick, Von Miller (Broncos) and J.J. Watt (Texans).
Watt is expected to claim the Walter Payton man of the year award. The other finalists are Benjamin Watson and Greg Olsen.
Eagles nominee Malcolm Jenkins didn’t make the finals.
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NOTES >> The Patriots are appearing in their third Super Bowl in four seasons, for the second time. They defeated the Eagles, 24-21, to complete their first such run in the SB … The Eagles are appearing in their third Super Bowl in, uh, 52 years … The Patriots are 3-0 wearing the white jerseys they chose – as the home team - in this Super Bowl. Teams in white jerseys have won 12 of the last 13 Super Bowls. The uh, Patriots won in white last year. “I mean, if color dictates the outcome of the game, we’re in trouble,” Pederson said. “It doesn’t matter what color we’re wearing. We just have to execute the game plan.”