The Eagles have been selling the underdog angle for weeks, but they’re still extremely confident.
And wide receiver Alshon Jeffery went about as far as you can go if you’re looking for a pregame guarantee.
Via Martin Frank of the Wilmington News Journal, Jeffery was in the process of being asked what would have to happen if the Eagles were to win, when he cut the question off.
“Ain’t no ‘if,’ man,” Jeffery said. “When we win on Sunday, ain’t no telling what we’re going to do. But we’re probably going to celebrate, have some fun.”
Asked if he was convinced of that, he replied: “We’re bringing that trophy back to Philly.”
Of course, they are underdogs for a reason, since the Patriots are playing for their sixth Super Bowl title. But Jeffery clearly is not caught up in their mystique.
“Man, I don’t give a damn about all of that,” he said. “That’s in the past. We’re in the present. It’s 2018. It’s a new year. All that stuff in the past, that’s in the past. It’s a new year, man.
“Each and every day, someone is trying to get better, trying to be the champion, . . . It’s a new year. It’s time for new things.”
Confidence is a good thing, and these teams are good enough that cheap motivational ploys like bulletin board material shouldn’t matter. But it will probably come up anyway.