Through four practices this summer, it has become pretty evident the Eagles are placing an added emphasis on conditioning.
It’s something Nick Sirianni really cares about.
And on Monday, the Eagles’ head coach explained why.
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“So obviously, one thing that's really important to us is we play with relentless effort and with great toughness and with great detail,” Sirianni said. “Toughness, detail, those are part of our core values. You can't play with relentless effort without being in great shape. You can't play with great detail without being in great shape. You can't have population to the football on defense where they're constantly running to the football without being in great shape.
“Yeah, we've made a push there as far as doing some extra conditioning. Conditioning doesn't have to look like gassers, right?”
Sometimes it can be gassers, though. We saw the offensive line punish themselves on Day 1 of training camp by running some post-practice on a far field at the NovaCare Complex.
But during practice, one noticeable difference is a wrinkle during some periods where one side of the ball will make hockey-like changes. So, for instance, if the first-team offense is on the field, they’ll take a rep against the first-team defense, then the second-team defense, then the third-team defense in a row. And then the roles will reverse.
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Jordan Mailata said last week that the purpose behind the wrinkle in these practice periods is for added conditioning and Sirianni confirmed as much on Monday. Basically, it forces a more tired unit to face only fresh legs.
It’s a concept that Sirianni said he took from a high school buddy who used to do something similar in wrestling and now does it with his team as a high school football coach. Hey, Andy Reid once took a play from a janitor so the idea doesn’t care where it comes from.
And for the most part, the players seem to be embracing the extra work. After several practice periods, all 22 players on the field will run through the goal line before going back to the sideline.
After a collapse like the one the Eagles had last year, everyone remaining in the building was obviously searching for answers. Was training camp conditioning the reason the Eagles lost six of their last seven games in 2023? Probably not. Or it at least wasn’t close to the biggest reason.
But it probably can’t hurt to emphasize it just a tad more.
Even though Sirianni sought opinions from trainers and others before implementing more this additional work, ultimately the decision was his.
And Sirianni said the team came back in great shape and “killed” the conditioning test before camp. “They crushed it,” he said.
“We felt like we're in a good place right now to be able to push them,” Sirianni said. “It always comes down to how the guys feel and so I have to listen to a lot of different opinions of what everyone's thought is because I'd be foolish not to because it's a collaboration. But at the end of the day I have to say, “Hey, this is what we're going to do today,” and sometimes it's like — you can see it sometimes with players, like, ‘Oh, shoot, we're doing this.’
“But the only thing we're trying to do is help them be in the best shapes of their lives so they can play, again, with that great detail and that great toughness we talk about.”