Jason Avant

Birds 24/7

Game Review: Eagles Offense Vs. Broncos’ D

Here’s a position-by-position review of the Eagles’ offensive performance against the Broncos.

Birds 24/7

Game Review: Eagles Offense Vs. Chiefs Defense

Todd Herremans 1Here’s a position-by-position look at what we saw after reviewing Thursday night’s game.

Birds 24/7

Game Review: Eagles Offense Vs. Redskins Defense

Lane JohnsonBelow is a position-by-position breakdown of how the Eagles performed on offense, after having re-watched the game.

Birds 24/7

Player Survey: Which Eagle Will Have a Big Year?

Damaris JohnsonLast week, we walked around the Eagles’ locker room and approached players with the following request:

Give me one teammate who’s impressed you this summer and is primed for a big year.

Several players didn’t want to get specific, but others provided responses. Here is what they said.

Birds 24/7

Eagles-Jaguars Game Review: The Offense

A position-by-position review of how the Eagles’ offense performed against the Jaguars, with extensive notes on Jason Peters and the line.

Birds 24/7

No-22: The Eagles’ New-School Triple Option

avant1a_0821Earlier this week, we looked at how the Eagles packaged the zone read with the bubble screen on several occasions against the Panthers.

The basic premise was simple: If the quarterback saw favorable numbers in the box, he went with the zone read. If he thought he had an advantage on the perimeter, he threw the screen. It was an either/or proposition.

But Chip Kelly and the Eagles ran a different play that actually combines the two. In other words, it’s a zone read and a bubble screen. Or essentially, a new-school triple option.

Birds 24/7

Teammates Endorse Vick: ‘He Can Be So Deadly’

Michael VickThere seems to be no question in the Eagles’ locker room that Chip Kelly made the right decision in naming Michael Vick the starter.

Many of Vick’s teammates saw him go through a magical stretch in 2010, a spell of mediocrity in 2011 and an outright disaster in 2012.

Now he’s in a new offense, playing for a new coach. And even though Vick is 33, his teammates believe Kelly’s scheme is tailor-made for the veteran QB to succeed.

“The biggest thing with Michael Vick is, when you say his name, when you see him in the lineup, when you prepare for him, is the running ability that he has,” said LeSean McCoy. “In this offense, we do tons of running, as far as the quarterback and the running back, so you never know who has the ball. And we’re going at such a high tempo/pace in the offense that Mike can throw it, he can run it.

“This offense, it fits him so well. He can be so deadly. There’s times where we watch tape and he hands the ball off to me and then he’s going around with his fake and he’s taking two guys with him until they realize that he doesn’t have the ball. When that happens, you take less defenders out of the box where you don’t have to block ‘em.”

Birds 24/7

Eagles-Panthers Game Review: The Offense

mccoy1aA position-by-position review of how the Eagles’ offense performed against the Panthers, after having reviewed the game.

Birds 24/7

Instant Observations: Eagles Vs. Panthers

Here are instant observations from tonight’s Eagles-Panthers game.

Birds 24/7

Eagles-Patriots Game Review: The Offense

Notes on Lane Johnson, the quarterbacks, Greg Salas and others in our game review of the Eagles’ offense.

Birds 24/7

Teammates React To Cooper’s Return

DeSean Jackson, DeMeco Ryans, Jason Avant and others react to Riley Cooper’s return to the Eagles.

Birds 24/7

Taking Stock Of the Eagles’ WR Situation

DeSean JacksonWith Jeremy Maclin out for the year and Riley Cooper taking an indefinite leave of absence, the Eagles’ WR group has gone from one of the deeper units on the team to a question mark.

The team could add a player or two in the coming weeks, but given that it’s Aug. 4, there aren’t a lot of attractive options out there. Keeping that in mind, let’s take stock of where the current wide receivers on the roster stand.

Birds 24/7

The Eagles’ Candidates To Replace Maclin

Riley CooperThe Eagles were dealt their first big blow of the summer, losing Jeremy Maclin for the season with a torn ACL injury Saturday.

Entering the final year of his deal, Maclin was committed to proving his worth on the field this offseason.

“I think Jeremy Maclin has emerged as one of the hardest-working guys on our team,” Michael Vick said last month at Maclin’s football camp in West Deptford, N.J. “You watch him in the weight room, he goes in there and he’s just a different person there. So I think that’ll translate over to the field.”

Instead, Maclin faces surgery and a grueling rehab regimen away from his teammates in the months ahead.

In the past three seasons, Maclin has averaged 67 catches, 893 yards and seven touchdowns. So how will the Eagles replace that production in 2013? Here’s a look at their current options on the roster.

Birds 24/7

Will Kelly Run a Physical Training Camp?

Jason Avant’s theory makes sense.

Chip Kelly has preached competition for months now. In late July, when the team returns for training camp, the new head coach will resume the player evaluation process to find the best 53. While he’s certainly conscious of taking care of the players from a health standpoint, Kelly will want to see how they compete with the pads on.

“It has to be in some sorts, especially when you have a new coach,” Avant said, when asked if he’s expecting a physical camp. “I think it’s a tone-setter. I’m pretty sure it’s going to be physical. But at the same time, Coach Kelly is very, very cautious about overdoing things. So we’ll see which angle he’ll take. We don’t know. Hopefully it’s physical because we need that. But yet, at the same time, enough where the guys can recover and recuperate.”

Birds 24/7

Eagles Wake-Up Call: What They’ve Learned About Chip

Jeremy Maclin held his third annual football camp Tuesday in West Deptford, N.J.

He was joined by former Missouri teammates and current NFL players Sean Weatherspoon, Danario Alexander and others.

Maclin also had a couple of his current Eagles teammates Jason Avant and Michael Vick stop by.

I asked all three players one simple question: What do you know about Chip Kelly now that you didn’t know when he was first hired as the Eagles’ head coach?

Here are their answers.