‘Super Bowl or Die’: Eagles Discuss ‘Weasel’ Cowboys, NFC East Rivalry

Darius Slay has been part of some historic NFL rivalries coming over from Detroit and playing in the old “black-and-blue” division. Eagles versus Cowboys? That is whole another ball of wax, one crawling with weasels and cockroaches. The two teams absolutely hate each other, something instilled in them from Philly’s rabid fan base.

The Eagles’ top cornerback had heard about the intensity of the rivalry but didn’t fully grasp it until he heard the guys in the locker room shouting: “It’s Cowboys Week! It’s Cowboys Week!” He’ll get his first taste of Cowboys-Eagles on Sunday night at Lincoln Financial Field. It won’t be quite the same with only a limited number of the Philly faithful in attendance but Slay gets the gist.

“I understand how big it is,” Slay told reporters. “This week is a whole another feeling. It’s like Super Bowl or die.”

Jalen Mills relayed a story from his rookie year when an Eagles fan came up to him at a cheesesteak shop and made sure he understood how important beating Dallas was. Mills was told that it didn’t matter if the Eagles went 2-14 as long as those two victories came at the expense of those scumbag Cowboys.

It’s a common tale in this town, with each member of the Eagles’ organization having a plate at the table. Head coach Doug Pederson got his first spoonful in 1999.

“Maybe the two teams are struggling or whatever it is … but listen, it’s always the Dallas Cowboys,” Pederson said. “I remember back in ’99 when I played here and I can think of the fans are always like, hey there’s two games every year that you really got to win, and it’s the two Dallas games. That’s a part of the excitement this week.”

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Those ‘Weasel’ Cowboys Fans ‘Boils Your Blood’

Graham appeared on SportsRadio 94WIP earlier in the day and talked about the fan aspect. The Cowboys draw from a national pool of loyal fans, some of them right here in the Philly area. The Eagles’ top pass rusher couldn’t help express frustration about seeing that stupid blue star on shirts, caps and jackets in his adopted hometown. Those Cowboys fans seem to crawl out from under the woodwork and “kind of weasel” around.

“Just hearing Cowboys fans in Philadelphia, it made me want to get at them even more because you know how the fans are, all the trash talk and you know how I am,” Graham told Angelo Cataldi. “All it takes is for you to go back at me and now I’m ready to go!”

Graham continued: “I feel like the passion of how they feel about the team created that. Like you said, they just kind of weasel around and they want to bring their jackets out, their shirts out and all that stuff. Man, it just really do—boils your blood.”

Teammate Jason Kelce has long made his feelings known on his hatred for Dallas. The All-Pro center didn’t want to talk about it on Wednesday, telling reporters: “My feelings have been known on that, it’s a huge in-season opponent.” But look no further than Kelce’s Instagram page to see how he feels. He posted a video of his daughter Wyatt wearing a “Dallas Sucks” shirt back in March.

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Eagles Missing 6 Players at Practice

Let’s get back to football, right? The Eagles were missing six players at Wednesday’s practice including T Jack Driscoll (ankle), LB Nathan Gerry (ankle), CB Craig James (hamstring), WR Alshon Jeffery (calf), T Lane Johnson (knee, ankle), RB Miles Sanders (knee).

Gerry, the struggling linebacker from Nebraska, is a new addition to the walking wounded. Defensive end Genard Avery (elbow) and defensive tackle Malik Jackson (quadricep) were listed as limited participants, while K’Von Wallace (neck) practiced in full. Jason Peters, Jalen Reagor, Dallas Goedert were all on the field.

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