Getty Pro Bowl CB Darius Slay has been voted the funniest guy in the Philadelphia Eagles' locker room.
Joint practices and preseason games might get the competitive juices flowing but there is nothing more important than the conditioning test. Philadelphia Eagles star Darius Slay revealed how he gets ready to ace the hardest part of training camp and make sure he’s green-lighted for Week 1.
If a player doesn’t pass the feared conditioning test, he doesn’t get to practice. Period. Head coach Nick Sirianni instructed his players to report to training camp in tip-top shape after the Eagles broke for the summer on June 8. Slay, a team captain in 2022, fully intends to show up ready to roll on July 25. Not only out of respect for Sirianni but to avoid some harsh financial penalties.
“They’ll fine you if you do not pass this test,” Slay said on the Big Play Slay podcast. “So that’s the main thing, the practice part be all crooked easy, just practicing to get better … but the conditioning test, yeah, you can lose some money with that. That’s the main thing, for sure, making sure I don’t lose any money out of my pocket. You get on the diet, on the protein, make sure you come in at a great weight, make sure you’re in great shape.”
.@BigPlay24Slay has a message for the @NFL‘s defensive backs…
LET’S WORK TOGETHER
In addition to sticking to a strict diet, Slay said he has been running hills and hitting the track this summer with his sister. The five-time Pro Bowler added that he avoids cutting on his ankle or back-pedaling during his offseason training for fear of injury.
“I truly believe you got but so many cuts in your ankle,” Slay said. “I try to save all my cuts as possible in the offseason … so March, April, May, all the way to June, I barely do any back-pedaling because I don’t when my last cut is going to be. So what I do is I get in great shape. I ride the Peloton. I go out there and run a hill or I’ll go run [with my sister].”
Eagles Star Expecting Trade at Training Camp?
Are the Eagles plotting another trade at the end of training camp? General manager Howie Roseman deftly traded for Gardner Minshew in 2021, then made a blockbuster deal for C.J. Gardner-Johnson in 2022. It makes sense for the savvy front-office executive to pull the trigger again in 2023 — a new safety or linebacker are two positions in need of an upgrade — and Slay believes Roseman might be cooking something up.
“It’s tough, it’s tough on your body, and a lot of trades come through, too,” Slay said when describing training camp life. “So that’s when we got one of the best safeties in the game at that time last year, we got Chauncey [Gardner-Johnson] in a trade right before [Week 1] … it’s going to be wild, man, so this is going to be really the most exciting part of the season.”
Y’all know I’m not trash 😎, your entitled to your own opinion though 🙏🏾
Yes, that Chauncey Gardner-Johnson. It was interesting to hear Slay refer to him as “one of the best safeties in the game” considering all his drama in free agency. Whatever the case, Gardner-Johnson is gone. And the Eagles are preparing for two tough joint practices against the Cleveland Browns and Indianapolis Colts.
“That’s when we actually get the real work in,” Slay said of the joint practices. “The starters, everyone, that’s when we get the real work in. We get to compete at a high level. We’re trying our new coverages. They’re trying a new offense.”
Rumors of Kelly Green Uniforms Going Strong
The Eagles are expected to announce the official details on their Kelly green alternate uniforms at some point in the near future. Will they start selling them at training camp? Or wait until the start of the regular season? The timeline is anybody’s guess, although the team seemed to be having some fun with the subject on social media by posting a picture of their Frankford Yellow Jackets throwbacks on July 20.
Throwback Thursday 😈
