Super Bowl LII: Eagles started off the week with a sloppy first practice

The Philadelphia Eagles are getting out their Super Bowl jitters early on in the week.

Super Bowl week could be very overwhelming for first-time visitors in the NFL. For the New England Patriots, it almost feels like an annual trip. For the Philadelphia Eagles, it almost feels like a once in a lifetime opportunity. Obviously, we hope that this is the beginning of the Eagles dynasty, but nobody in the Philadelphia locker room can assume that they will definitely be back on the big stage anytime soon.

So with the opportunity at hand, the Eagles need to remain one-hundred percent focused in order to be the first Eagles team to lock in a Super Bowl victory. The mindset in the Eagles locker room is that this is just another game. Unfortunately, the media circus surrounding the players every single day take away that simple mindset of “just another game”.

When the Eagles are in their temporary practice bubble though, they act as if they are right back at home at the Nova Care Complex. The only difference this time around is their simulated breaks that they took.

A different approach…

The Super Bowl has transformed into more than just a football game. Additional events leading up to the kickoff of the first and second halves make the time of the game move slower. For that, the Eagles have been preparing for a much longer halftime than they would originally encounter. The normal 15-minute pep talk with adjustments has now turned into a 30-minute intermission due to a Justin Timberlake concert at the 50-yard line.

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While a longer break sounds like a great opportunity for players to rest. It could also be an opportunity for players to get rusty and lose their focus. So as preparation for the big game on Sunday night, head coach Doug Pederson gave the players a 30-minute intermission break during practice. Just as expected, things were quite sloppy when they returned from their intermission.

After practice, Pederson spoke to reporters. Here’s what Pederson had to say according to a report from the Washington Post.

Pederson’s presser:

"“I think it’s important that the guys get it in their minds how much time that is,”“We’re normally working on 13-, 14-minute halftime and now it’s twice as long and guys’ bodies cool down. So I want to make sure they understand that we have to go in, we’ve got to stay focused, but at the same time we can refuel and kind of recharge. Coaches can coach and then get our guys warmed back up to come back out. So on Sunday they know exactly what they can do.”“I thought it was a little sloppy, which is good, because this is something that I can address in our meetings tonight,” Pederson said. “Again, it’s another teachable moment so we’re not doing it on Sunday.”"

Shaking the rust:

The Eagles stuck to their regularly scheduled programming when they returned to practice on Wednesday. The only difference is that they haven’t played in a full game since the NFC Championship two weeks back. It’s good that they are shaking off the rust now and not on Sunday night.

The one thing the Eagles need to avoid is getting off to a slow start at the beginning of the first and third quarters. We’ve seen the Atlanta Falcons give the world the best example of slowing down in the second half when the Patriots came back to win after trailing 28-3 late in the third.

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So to say that the Eagles need to remain aggressive in the second half is an understatement. They did a great a job of keeping their foot on the gas against the Minnesota Vikings two weeks ago. Now they need to keep that same aggressiveness this week against the Patriots. But don’t worry, we can expect that. Pederson already made it clear that he will not shy away from staying aggressive no matter who he is playing or what he is playing for.

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