The surprise report that the Philadelphia Eagles were a team to watch in pursuit of Odell Beckham Jr. reached the ears of Nick Sirianni. When asked about it, the savvy head coach answered the question in full without ever uttering the name Odell Beckham Jr. Instead Sirianni used the opportunity to hype up his current wide receivers room.
He called it the best room he’s ever coached in the NFL. Then he went on to praise A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Quez Watkins, and Zach Pascal. He sounded sincere. He sounded genuine. He sounded like he wanted no parts of Odell Beckham Jr.
“Really happy with the room that we have. One of the best wideout rooms, yeah, the best wideout room I’ve ever been a part of in the NFL. We’ve had some good ones. This is the best one we’ve had,” Sirianni told reporters. “I love what obviously A.J. [Brown], everybody knows what A.J. and DeVonta are doing, right? Then you have Quez who is continuing to come on and continuing to make plays, continuing to be that big speed receiver that we need.
“Then you have Zach Pascal, who is very critical to a team, the type of play he brings. Your fourth has to be a special teams contributor, which Zach is. He has to be willing to do the dirty work and be able to back up every single position, which he does. And have a specialty role, which he does, too, have that.”
Last year, when the OBJ free-agency sputtered, we said, “Watch the Rams.” As this year’s OBJ free-agency sputters, I’ll say this: Watch the Eagles.
Sirianni didn’t forget undrafted rookie Britain Covey, although his name never left his lips. Covey had 6 punt returns for 105 yards last week.
“Your fifth guy better play special teams,” Sirianni said of Covey. “Our fifth guy is our returner who had his best game as a professional last week. So, yeah, I’m really excited about that room. I’ll leave it at that.”
Quez Watkins, Kyzir White Limited at Practice
Watkins was limited at the first practice (actually a walk-through) of the week with a shoulder injury. He suffered an AC joint sprain and underwent an MRI. The fact that he was limited and not out speaks optimistic volumes.
Eagles WR Quez Watkins said “I should be fine” when asked about his shoulder injury.
Meanwhile, linebacker Kyzir White was limited with the ankle injury that forced him out of Sunday’s game. Rookie Nakobe Dean filled and flashed immediately. Special-teams ace Shaun Bradley rounded out the early injury estimation as a non-participant. Defensive tackle Jordan Davis wasn’t listed despite re-aggravating his ankle against Tennesse.
Sirianni wouldn’t give any further updates on any of his guys. And whether they would be ready for the New York Giants.
“Still working through it. You know you don’t get much injury information from me,” Sirianni said. “We’ll see. They’re progressing well. We’ll see what happens.”
Wednesday injury report
Eagles Open 21-Day Window on Avonte Maddox
Slot cornerback Avonte Maddox wasn’t listed on the injury report. The Eagles opened the 21-day practice window for him on Wednesday, but that doesn’t guarantee he plays on Sunday. Sirianni was excited to have Maddox back but seized the moment to shower backup Josiah Scott with love for his job filling the role.
“Obviously he’s a big-time slot in this league. When he’s ready to go, we’re going to be excited to get him back out there,” Sirianni said. “Josiah has done a nice job filling in for him, made some nice plays. We’re hopeful for Avonte this week. But we’ll see how it goes. Today is a walk-through. Tomorrow will be a big test.”
Caught up with Avonte Maddox, who will be on the practice field tomorrow and Friday. As long as he can cover WRs without issue and makes it through those without hamstring biting, he’ll be in line to play on Sunday.
Comments
Nick Sirianni Responds to Eagles Reported Interest in Odell Beckham Jr.