Philadelphia Eagles’ new practice regime is more physical than ever

With the arrival of a new coaching regime came new practices and a new philosophy with the Philadelphia Eagles now doing extensive practices in full pads and live hitting.

When head coach Doug Pederson took over the Philadelphia Eagles, he brought back something from the Andy Reid era: tackling, and the Eagles are doing a lot of it. Pederson told the media that he planned on tackling in practice, but no one knew how much to expect.

Three days are being spent in full pads and one day is being spent without the pads. Then, it’s back to pads for another three days. The Eagles also practicing for a full three hours. Why? Because NFL games are three hours long.

Eagles

During the Chip Kelly era, the Eagles didn’t practice tackling until pre-season. This year is very different. Not only are players in full pads, but they’re actually hitting each other. The coaches want to see who can take a hit and who can lay the wood.

The Eagles ran goal line and short yardage drills on Thursday, and, by many accounts, it got chippy as players on both sides of the ball talked trash with one another. At one point, a small scuffle even broke out involving several starters on the defensive line.

This is what Pederson and defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz wanted to see. The Eagles need to be a tough, hard hitting team. The Eagles, at times, barely made tackles last year, and now, we know why. They didn’t practice it enough. Kelly was more focused on his up-tempo offense than the defense’s ability to tackle.

When players don’t practice tackling and getting hit, they aren’t ready for live games. Yes, all of these players tackled in college, but NFL players are a lot bigger and faster than college players. Players need to be ready and know what to expect at this level. With so many rules for defensive players, it is imperative that they also know how to tackle without drawing a penalty.

The only concern with excessive tackling and live hitting in practice has been that players are more prone to injury. Small dings and bruises won’t hurt anyone, but JaCorey Shepherd tore his ACL last year trying to tackle Darren Sproles in a rare live practice. Thursday, Malcolm Jenkins and Jason Peters walked off of the field with minor injuries. Is all of this worth losing an important player due to injury? In the opinion of many, the answer is yes. Injuries are a part of the game, but players have to be prepared for what they’re supposed to be doing for the next four months. Coaches will then take that into account when making roster cuts.

Some players are just injury prone, and coaches must also take that into consideration when making roster cuts.

There’s really no substitution for getting hit, and there’s no better preparation for the upcoming season than live tackling. Some teams have even opted to use remote control tackling dummies. The device can even be programmed to run routes as well to assist defensive backs in practice.

I can appreciate Pederson’s philosophy. After all, the Eagles used the same ideas from 1999-2012 under Andy Reid, a period where they went on to play in five NFC title games and appeared in a Super Bowl.