The Linc

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On November 3, 2024

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Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links …

Lane Johnson explains how push from players helped change Eagles’ offense – NBCSP
The Eagles’ offense has found some more stable footing in the three games since an early bye week. And some veteran players are at least partially responsible. Right tackle Lane Johnson on Friday afternoon explained that during and just after the bye week, he and other veteran members of the Eagles’ offensive line spoke up in offensive meetings to push for more runs and play action passes. “It was really an offensive-led movement,” Johnson said. “We knew we had to make some adjustments. Some of the guys, some of the leaders, veterans, on the O-line, we had our fair share of talks and help in it. We just want the offense to be the best version of itself and win some games and hopefully score some points in the f—ing first quarter.” Johnson, along with Jordan Mailata and Landon Dickerson, were vocal in offensive meetings to find a new formula to get the offense rolling at a better clip.

Eagles-Jaguars Game Preview: 5 questions and answers with the enemy – BGN
3 – The Jags are allowing the highest passer rating in the NFL this season. What’s contributed to their defensive issues? It’s pass rush on one play and pass coverage on the next. The Jaguars have a decent run defense, but anytime the opposing passer drops back, someone is liable to screw up. Jacksonville doesn’t have enough depth in its front or backend to be playing man coverage as often as they do. The safeties have been shoddy and the ‘Arik Armstead at EDGE’ experiment has been miserable. All that said, the Jaguars absolutely do not roster the worst defense in football. Again, the blame falls back to coaching. Defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen needs to do something, anything different this week — they rank 32nd in blitz rate this year (?!) — or Jalen Hurts may have the best game of his career.

5 Questions with BGN: What we learned about the Eagles – Big Cat Country
As the Jacksonville Jaguars prepare to play the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 9, we sat down with Brandon Lee Gowton of Bleeding Green Nation to learn more about the opposing side.

NFL Week 9 predictions, fantasy sleepers, upset picks, buzz – ESPN+
Bowen: Don’t be surprised if … A.J. Brown posts over 100 receiving yards vs. the Jaguars. Brown has topped the 100-yard mark in two of his four games this season, and he’s averaging 19.4 yards per catch. That works against a Jaguars’ defense that’s allowing the second-most passing yards per game (271.1). I see Brown getting going early in this one on a deep ball from Jalen Hurts.

Eagles’ Fred Johnson once hit ‘rock bottom.’ Here’s how self-belief helped him belong – The Athletic
“The mind is your greatest friend or your greatest enemy,” he says.Johnson can talk about it now. He can contemplate the once-weighty topic of old insecurity as casually as tossing the water bottle he just sunk into the trash can in the middle of the locker room. (“I usually just sit here and try to shoot them,” he says.) It was often hard to remember that the job is also a game — especially after it had beaten him down. Gratitude for a practice squad spot? Try disappointment and aimless anger. Johnson was “mad at any and everybody.” That had been “rock bottom.” How did the Eagles have any use for him? Their O-line kept steamrolling defenses along the pathway to Super Bowl LVII. So why was position coach Jeff Stoutland always in Johnson’s face in practice, he wondered, “coaching me like I was a starter”? Johnson “got tired of it.” He spoke out as someone who viewed hard coaching as pointless abuse. Please stop. “I was so hard-headed,” Johnson said earlier this year. “I didn’t want to listen to nobody, especially Stout. And Stout just said, ‘I’m not gonna quit on you. I’m not gonna give up on you.’ And that’s just something that I appreciate him the most for, ’cause I was on my way out the league.”

Eagles: Jalen Hurts contract doesn’t prevent him from golfing – PFT
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts had a chance to golf with Barack Obama earlier this week. Hurts said that, while he was present for the round involving Obama, owner Jeffrey Lurie, and running back Saquon Barkley, Hurts didn’t play — because his contract prevents him from golfing. As it turns out, Hurts’s contract doesn’t contain a no-golf clause. Via Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the team said Hurts is simply honoring a verbal request from Lurie, who didn’t want his team’s franchise quarterback to become obsessed with golf.

Meet Christian Parker, the 32-year-old secondary coach behind the Eagles’ rejuvenated cornerback room – Inquirer
In the fleeting moments between periods of Eagles practice, Quinyon Mitchell has developed a telling ritual. As the team breaks for special-teams drills, the first-round rookie cornerback heads toward an unoccupied field, finds his position coach, and resumes their shared pursuit of speeding along his development as quickly as possible. Lined up across from Mitchell and sometimes impersonating whichever wide receiver he’ll be facing most often that following Sunday is Eagles defensive backs coach/pass-game coordinator Christian Parker. He’s the 32-year-old, Jordans-wearing, watch-collecting assistant coach behind the Eagles’ resurgent secondary and the one who initially caught Mitchell off guard with the insistence that they don’t waste time on the practice field. “I’ve always believed in that,” Parker told The Inquirer. “If we’re out there on the grass, we don’t have that much time, so we might as well maximize it. It’s not full-speed stuff, it’s mainly just the training of the eyes and the feet and the hands and the technical development in all those things. Now, he’s used to the routine. At first, he might have thought it was a one-time thing, but we’re doing that every day.”

From dreams to reality: LeSean McCoy reflects on Eagles Hall of Fame induction – PE.com
The Eagles made that dream a reality with the 53rd overall pick in the second round of the 2009 NFL Draft. McCoy would go on to rush for 637 yards in his rookie season. At the time, it broke the franchise rookie rushing yards record and is now second-most in team history. “I was super excited; I wanted to be an Eagle. The funny thing is my hometown was maybe an hour and 20 minutes from the stadium, thinking about that for a second, to be drafted by that team – I stayed home,” McCoy said in an exclusive interview with Eagles Insider Dave Spadaro. “I remember it like yesterday. We were having a draft party with my family and friends, and I remember seeing Andy Reid (Eagles head coach 1999-2012) and Howie Roseman, Brett Veach (Eagles player personnel and assistant to head coach, 2007-12) and everybody called me and I remember saying, ‘Hey guys we’re going to Philly,’ and everybody erupted with joy.”

5 NFL MVP candidates, ranked by who should win in 2024 – SB Nation
5. Jayden Daniels, QB, Washington Commanders. The last rookie to win MVP was Jim Brown in 1957, but in a year where most of the superstar veterans are having down years, Daniels could seriously get some votes. He’s led the resurgent Washington Commanders to a hot start, while proving electric play with his arm and legs, like the leader on this list. Daniels has only thrown for seven touchdowns this year, but his underlying advanced stats are much more impressive. He’s sixth in Success Rate, and while EPA is a team stat, he’s second in adjusted EPA per play. His electrified the NFL with the Commanders being where they are to start this season, and if he keeps this up we’ll see his name on a few MVP ballots. Honorable mention: Saquon Barkley, RB, Philadelphia Eagles, Patrick Mahomes, QB, Kansas City Chiefs, Penei Sewell, OT, Detroit Lions, Tristan Wirfs, OT, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Commanders vs Giants Friday Injury Report: One offensive lineman ruled out for Sunday’s game – Hogs Haven
The Washington Commanders held the last full practice before their Week 9 matchup against the New York Giants today. Cornelius Lucas suffered an ankle injury vs the Bears and is the only player ruled out for the game. Rookie LT Brandon Coleman has cleared the concussion protocol and will get his first game s the full-time starter, and not rotating drives with the veteran lineman. Washington only has one player listed as questionable. RB Brian Robinson has been limited by a knee injury the last week’s, missing one game. He’s been limited all week with a hamstring injury, and will likely see another limited workload if he plays Sunday. Washington didn’t elevate a running back last week, and Austin Ekeler got most of the snaps.

Cowboys Point/Counterpoint: Cowboys may be nearing point of no return – Blogging The Boys
Things are not great in Dallas, to say the least. Yet another loss to the 49ers have brought the team to arguably its lowest point of the Mike McCarthy era, and their next opportunity to right the ship comes on the road against a Falcons team that’s won four of their last five and seems to be rounding into form. As far as things go in Dallas, the odds of a dramatic turnaround are pretty low. Their next four opponents have a combined record of 24-9, with two of them being divisional foes. The Cowboys are on a path where they may very well be effectively out of the NFC East race by Thanksgiving, and it already feels like morale can’t go any lower. Are they really approaching the point of no return, or are we being a little too dramatic? Our own Tom Ryle and David Howman have some differing views on the doomsday machine that is America’s Team.

Poll results: The Giants should sell at the trade deadline – Big Blue View
We’re at the halfway point of the 2024 season and the New York Giants are currently sitting at 2-6. Barring a remarkable turnaround, it seems very unlikely that the Giants will make the postseason or do much more than tread water for the remainder of the year. With that in mind we asked the Big Blue View community whether the Giants should be sellers, buyers, or stand pat at the upcoming trade deadline. Giants fans voted overwhelmingly in support of selling at the trade deadline in exchange for draft capital.