Even though owner Jeffrey Lurie made it clear that the Eagles needed to show improvement from last year if they wanted to avoid major changes, tight end Brent Celek didn’t think that the team would be playing for Andy Reid’s job.
That’s where Celek and his teammates find themselves at this point in the season. At 3-6, it is going to take one massive run to the finish in order for the Eagles to fulfill Lurie’s desire for progress. The chances of that happening are somewhere between slim and none.
There are several reasons why that’s unlikely -- just type Michael Vick or Juan Castillo in that search box for some of them -- but one that’s been an issue of late has been their effort level. Martin Frank of the Wilmington News-Journal reports that some of Celek’s teammates are finding it hard to keep fighting with defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins saying it feels like he’s stuck in the same day. Celek doesn’t think it should be that hard to find motivation at this point in the season.
“I hope it’s personal for guys,” Celek said. “I hope they understand that other guys’ jobs are on the line. Their jobs are on the line. My job’s on the line. Everyone’s is. We’ve got to start playing.”
With change likely coming to Philly, current Eagles will be playing for their current jobs as well as trying to put things on film that will entice future employers. That should be plenty of reason to keep showing up to work in body and mind the rest of the way even if it ultimately doesn’t do anything to change the course of the Eagles season.