One week into Jalen Carter‘s Philadelphia Eagles career, Nick Sirianni is already coming to his defense. Sirianni had an uncharacteristic approach to the open portion of rookie minicamp Friday, cutting down practice and having some stoppages in the short session.
Why is this unorthodox for the Eagles? Sirianni typically runs a non-stop practice that lasts about an hour and a half where conditioning is tested, especially in training camp. The Eagles head coach has been criticized for short practices, yet there’s no break in the action.
There were some breaks in the practice Friday. Whether it was the first practice of rookie minicamp or not, that’s a head-scratcher for an established coach like Sirianni.
A friendly reminder it’s only May, which Sirianni made sure to point out.
“We didn’t do gassers or anything like that,” Sirianni said on the rookie minicamp practice. “I could tell you that I know exactly how somebody’s conditioning is after that. I know none of them are in good enough shape to go out there and have a full practice.
“That’s why practice was cut down today. That’s why we took time in between a rep. If we would have had a 40 — now, he didn’t do seven-on-seven today, but we did, but I made those guys take a minute in between seven-on-seven reps, if we would have had a 40-second clock out there, we would have had a penalty every single time because I know none of them are ready to practice the exact intensity that we are used to practicing in.”
This was certainly a different approach for Sirianni, which leads to Jalen Carter and his conditioning. Carter was reportedly out of shape at his pro day, which may have helped cause his draft stock to fall (which in turn helped the Eagles get him at No. 9). Carter said he feels like he’s in better shape for Eagles camp and made sure his conditioning levels are higher.
Sirianni said none of his rookies are ready for the rigors of an Eagles practice yet. Hence, the point of Eagles rookie minicamp in the first place.
“I’m generalizing our entire team of saying they are not in good enough shape yet,” Sirianni said. “This is not a fault on him (Carter); this is everybody out there and quite frankly this is everybody out there practicing this weekend in rookie minicamp, none of these guys are ready to go as far as ready to go in practice.”
The Eagles will get Carter in game shape come September. That’s why Sirianni isn’t concerned.
“I sense that he wants to be the best pro he can be,” Sirianni said. “And not every place — again, I don’t know exactly. I have no idea what each program says the person’s supposed to weigh, right, or sometimes, programs, even within the NFL don’t track that or they track it, but they don’t say, you have to weigh this amount; we do.
“So that’s just new to here. We will get him to what he’s supposed to play at, and I have no doubt in my mind he’ll do whatever he needs to do to be the player he needs to be.”
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Author: Jeff Kerr
May 8, 2023 | 11:03 am
