Ron Jaworski supported Donovan McNabb like few others during the career of “five” in Philadelphia. Now that McNabb is gone, however, Jaworski sees some positives in the move.
“I’ve spoken to a number of players, a number of the coaches, and the one thing I sense that was probably missing over the last couple years is energy,” Jaworski said this week to Mike Missanelli on 97.5, via Sheil Kapadia of Philly.com. “There’s almost that little-kid enthusiasm right now within the organization because of the changes they’ve made.”
McNabb’s departure highlighted an offseason full of Eagles veterans leaving town. Also gone: Brian Westbrook, Reggie Brown, Chris Clemons, Chris Gocong, Sean Jones, Jason Babin, and Sheldon Brown.
In their place, a young crop of skill position players now define the team.
“When you get those young, enthusiastic players in the locker room, it’s amazing how they raise the spirit, even of Andy Reid and the coaching staff,” Jaws said.
The Eagles fans we know have expressed pessimism that youthful energy will translate to wins, but we think the Eagles will be in the playoff mix late in the season, just like they are most years.
Of course they’ll be in it. Who is gonna challenge them?
The ‘Skins? HAHAHAHAHA
The ‘Boys? Two words: WADE PHILLIPS.
The G-men? Hard to imagine.
This is an attempt by Reid to buy himself 2-3 more years by cutting loyal veterans and firing members of his staff. He’s rearranging the deck chairs as the titanic sinks. It’s a desperation move by a coach trying to milk more time and money out of Jeffrey Lurie DESPITE NO CHAMPIONSHIPS! Reid must go to truly rebuild.
Jaworski sees some positives with the Eagles?
You don’t say.
Wilbert Montgomery and Randall Cunningham sense more energy, too.
Please.
And isn’t the web site that predicted the Redskins as NFC Champions?
gotta love how the eagles and panthers are in the exact same position except its great for the eagles and they have good things ahead of them and it’s terrible for the panthers and they’re bound for doom.
Kolb needs to focus on his efficiency first, quick passes to the speedsters with a nice YAC attack, and set up the opposing defense for a big shot down the field. Maclin and Jackson can hit a home run on any route, no matter how simple or short, and the sure-handed recievers in the middle of the field (Avant and Celek) will keep those chains moving. He may not emerge as a winning QB his 1st year but from a fantasy standpoint…Kolb is shaping up to be quite impressive.
Jaws is a polak! Who cares what he thinks.
It all rests on Reid, not Kolb. If starting Kolb means a balanced pass-run ratio, then the Eagles will have success. If he has Kolb attempting 50 passes and calls runs less than 10 times (for example, what happened with McNabb in the Raiders loss), Kolb will flop. He’s not some super accurate QB. Balance is the key. The Eagles have a very talented team but often times the playcalling is too predictable. They also need to start using players in personnel groups that highlight their strengths. Gocong was a DE in college yet they made him cover TEs. Same with rookie Ricky Sapp. He has been very good at DE in OTAs but they put him at 4-3 OLB. If the Kolb era means more balance on offense, the Eagles will be in contention
And don’t forget, Joe Banner has promised to take them out for pizza and ice cream after every game….Win or lose.
the only thing eagles fans are pessimistic about is one of the starting cornerback positions. otherwise we couldnt be happier. groundhog day is over.
Gregg, by “we think the Eagles will be in the playoff mix,” I think you mean “I think the Eagles will be in the playoff mix.” Take a look at Six Teams That Won’t Make it Back to the Playoffs, posted by your own Mike Florio.
Who is we?
“but we think the Eagles will be in the playoff mix late in the season, just like they are most years. ”
Yet they’re listed as one of the 6 teams not likely to make it back to the playoffs?
http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/article/2010-06-18/six-teams-wont-return-nfl-playoffs-10
Why couldn’t this douche have gotten fired a long with Kornheiser?
“little-kid enthusiasm”=Rebuilding
The Eagles will always be in the playoffs.
The Eagles fans we know have expressed pessimism that youthful energy will translate to wins, but we think the Eagles will be in the playoff mix late in the season, just like they are most years.
Really? Because I could have sworn I just read a PFT article by The Florio himself that states the Eagle will NOT make it to the playoffs this year…
Jaws please….when the Eagles end up with 5 wins, tell us again about the enthusiasm!
Always glad to see Jaws opinions, he is one of those that actually knows what he is talking about.
I think that even with all of the changes the Eagles have made that they will be one of the surprises of the NFL this year, along with the Falcons. I know “da’boys” are favored to win the SB (World Series, World Cup and everything else) but we have heard that preseason prediction before and when the chips are down we all know what da’ boys do. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Eagles win their division this year. I think the NFL and fans are going to see a “different style” of Eagles team this year. NFC division champs will be 49′ers, Eagles, Vikings and Falcons AFC will be Chargers, Falcons, Colts and Pats.
Being “in the mix” and being “in the playoffs” are two different things. For example, Dallas was in the mix going into week 17 in 2008 and a 44-6 beat down kept them out. Get it?
Hey Mike, have u looked at the QB’s Kolb will be battling on a week to week basis this year?? U ACTUALLY think Kolb will win a majority of those battles?? with that Defense??
20-16
24-0
34-14
JOJO your a moron and should be sent to utah to be set up in front of the firing squad……i doubt that we need to get rid of andy reid…..we just need to get rid of fans that have no clue about what there talkin about….if you new anything about eagles football you would know banner needs to go before anyone else
What you have to love and respect about Jaws is how “impartial” he is. Please! You can see Jeff Laurie and Andy Reid mouths move when Jaws talks about “his Eagles”. I give Jaws credit for being able to talk after all the hits he took, but he really has no place on television. The Eagles are the world’s greatest organization (despite having never won the Super Bowl) and all current QBs hold onto the ball too long to avoid being sacked (coming from a guy that was sacked over 350 times). He is an upgrade compared to Emmitt, but that’s not a really high bar to clear.
jojo says “This is an attempt by Reid to buy himself 2-3 more years by cutting loyal veterans and firing members of his staff. He’s rearranging the deck chairs as the titanic sinks. It’s a desperation move by a coach trying to milk more time and money out of Jeffrey Lurie DESPITE NO CHAMPIONSHIPS! Reid must go to truly rebuild.”……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Do you mean 2 or 3 years more than the 3 year extension AR just signed this past season? Whether or not he remains the HC of the Eagles he’s getting paid through the 2013 season…………………………………………………………………When you have a chance so sign Bobby April as your STs coach, you sign him.
In unrelated news, Disney and Pixar are excited about the release of Toy Story 3.
“Some of the best work we’ve done” say animators.
So who on this board believes the Eagles played with energy and enthusiasm against the Cowgirls at the end of last season? As always Reid had the guts to make the hard decisions and replace worn out unmotivated vets. Dan Snyder, on the other hand, traded for an over-the-hill QB. D-Mac was great. I doubt he’ll finish the season for the Skins.
This cracks me up. After a constant stream of “florio is an idiot” comments every time he has something bad to say about a team or player some of these people like, they now use his negative preseason predictions about a team they don’t like to argue that another author’s positive preseason predictions about that team are wrong. Way to be consistent people. Oh, and jojo, calm down. Reid is easily the best coach in the history of the Eagles, with the exception of Dick Vermiel. Don’t be so blinded by the Lombardi trophy that you fail to recognize that Reid has constantly had the Eagles in the hunt, even when they didn’t have the talent on the roster to justify it. A coach can only do so much, after that the sill of the players (and yes luck) has to take over. As for his penchant for passing the ball, there are two points that need to be made. One, in this version of the West Coast offense, short passes are essentially a part of the running game, designed to get athletes the ball in space. Two, I don’t see people complaining about the pass to run ratio when the Eagles have a solid victory.
Memo to all the morons claiming that the Eagles “won’t make the playoffs without McNabb”: They already have! In 2006 when McNabb went down with yet another injury, Garcia led a 5-6 team to 6 straight wins!
PREDICTION: The Eagles will be even better without McNabb. 13-3 biotches!!!!
So the Falcons are making the playoffs over the Saints, and they will also win the AFC North too? Dang MrHumble, they must be some beat team. Honest mistake, I guess you meant the Ravens. But I do disagree that the Falcons will beat the Saints. In my own mediocre opinion, I do believe it will be Saints and Vikes again in the NFC Championship. Assuming that Farve can play that same amazing football he did last year. I do believe once postseason rolls around, I’ll be so far off.
I’m hearing a whole lotta support for the Vikings going DEEP into the postseason but I’m just not buying it..not one bit. They have alot of talent on both sides of the ball, and if all of their prime pieces stay in place from start to finish than they will have a small chance in my eyes. This team doesn’t have 1% chance of winning the superbowl without a healthy Favre, and now that he’s approaching senior citizen status I truly wouldn’t be feeling so comfortable as a Vikes fan right now. Puttin’ all your eggs into that old guy’s basket…thats like building a treehouse in the oldest tree in the forest…yeah it’s the biggest tree around but soon enough it’s comin down…
Energy and happy thoughts are nice. And you can watch the Shrek movies all year long. The Eagles will be killed on the field this season. McNabb is so much better and important than anyone imagined, in the locker room and on the field. Andy Reid was a product of McNabb, not vice versa.
RyanT,
Let’s think this through rationally. The Eagles don’t have Garcia anymore. He’s gone. He’s married to his Playboy Playmate. He isn’t gonna save your Phily ass no more. He just won’t. Nobody will do that. Do you understand? No more Garcia? No more McNabb? Are you Eagles fans so idiotic as to not understand that without the great Garcia or the great McNabb you folks are doomed? Did you really believe Garcia was a generic replacement for McNabb? OK, I hear you, RyanT, you hated McNabb so much you didn’t understand Garcia was a gift from the gods.. heh heh. Win 13 games? Kolb? Hiliarious.
“The ‘Boys? Two words: WADE PHILLIPS.”
He’s 5-2 against Andy Reid. Including:
20-16
24-0
34-14
“I don’t see people complaining about the pass to run ratio when the Eagles have a solid victory.”
They haven’t had one of those in quite a while. Sure, they can paintbrush the dregs of the league but when push comes to shove against better teams, the 0-3gles usually end up flat on the ground.
3-34*
Drat, say what you want but it was time for McNabb to go. If you don’t believe me, ask Ray Didinger.
DRAT, the Eagles also made the playoffs with AJ Feeley as well. In ’02 Feeley came in and led Philly to something like 5 straight wins and helped lead the Eagles to the #1 seed in the NFC before McNabb came back during the playoffs.
If 8 playoff seasons in 11 years is the Titanic, then perhaps you don’t understand what the Titanic is or was. The eagles are on a three year up trend, the Titanic meant down. 8-8, 9-6-1, 11-5.
The Eagles won 4 of 5 in 2002 under AJ Feeley to make the playoffs w/o McNabb as well.
Having energy now is to be expected as they have no losses
Add in a few L’s and this energy will disappear