In our Eagles chat this week, there were a lot of questions that we could not get to in time or other questions we did answer but could use more color. And so, let's do a mailbag post to answer some of the overflow.
Question from Hinkie: Jimmy, I’m extremely concerned about the Cowboys. I’m worried they will be so bad this year that they finally fire the clapper, get a high pick, and draft a QB. Can you help alleviate my fears?
That is the exact scenario Cowboys fans should be rooting for, because that team is going nowhere with the head coach / quarterback combo in place.
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And no, I can’t alleviate your fears. I think that’s what is going to happen.
Question from TheGhostofNormVanBrocklin: Which team should I be rooting harder to go 0-2 on Sunday night, the Giants or Cowboys?
I was just thinking about that for my Sunday morning rooting guide. In my view, neither team is a threat to win the division, so ideally you want each team to win some games to avoid having one of them picking in the top 5 again, as noted in Hinkie’s question above. But that concept applies to both the Cowboys and Giants.
The ideal scenario for an Eagles fan would be if Dak Prescott has enough positive moments this season where the Cowboys talk themselves into him as their long-term answer, and sign him to a huge franchise-crippling contract extension. No such thing is going to happen with the Giants and Eli Manning, presumably (though I can’t fathom how they still think he’s an answer in the short-term).
So I think you want the Cowboys to win, with Dak shredding the Giants defense. Cowboys fans will be annoying for a week if that happens, but it’ll be worth it in the long run.
Question from MFlick: How many concussions has DJax had?
According to Sports Injury Predictor, he had two before this latest one. His last one was in 2010.
Question from Fred Sanford: What are the chances of a Foles trade before the deadline after Wentz comes back? That would be like having your cake and eating it too.
Ha, it sure would. I would say that that scenario is highly, highly unlikely because any team trading for Foles would have to get him up to speed on learning the playbook, which can take a long time.
Question from Henry: If Wentz is cleared prior to Week 3 and Foles plays well in a win on Sunday, who should start Week 3?
Wentz.
Question from Paul: How do you think Jared Goff’s career will stack up to Wentz’s? What do you think of Goff overall, and how bad of a choice did Jeff Fisher make on that one?
I liked both Wentz and Goff coming out. I liked Wentz more, because his physical measurables were so much better, and he seemed like a smart, motivated player who could get the most out of his ability.
Goff is already a solid starting quarterback in the NFL, and I think he can be really good. Wentz was much better last season obviously, and I think he also has the higher ceiling. Wentz can be the best player in the league. That’s how good he is. Goff is not on that level. Clearly, the Rams missed between those two quarterbacks, but I think that if Wentz didn’t exist, the Rams made a good pick, if that makes sense.
Question from Reiderson: Jimmy, did you watch the Sam Bradford fail with a bemused smirk on your face for 3 hours like I did?
I did not. I had the Red Zone channel on one TV, and Panthers-Cowboys on the other for the late afternoon games. I would have liked to have seen Sleeves more than I did, but (A) the Cardinals barely had the ball, and (B) when they did, I assume they weren’t in many scoring position opportunities to warrant switching over to that game.
The Red Zone channel is funny like that. It can hide bad performances, unless a guy is throwing picks left and right.
Question from Fez: Who gets extended if you had to make a bet before the season is over? Darby? BG? Jay Train?
My guess would be BG, if any of them. I’m mildly surprised they didn’t get something done there already.
Question from Bock: Do you think the Birds will try the same defensive approach with Mike Evans that they did with Julio? If not, why?
They can’t give him a ton of added attention if DeSean plays, however, I do think they’ll bracket him if he moves into the slot in the red zone, like they did with Julio. If DeSean is out, then clearly the focus of the defense will be to not allow Evans to beat them.
Question from Footba11Joe: Uncle Jimmy, I trusted your NFC Hierarchy and was confident that the Saints would beat the Bucs, and lost in my survivor pool. Can I have a sarcastic apology to make me feel better?
Sorry.
Question from Rich: Hey Jimmy, I’m certainly no Giants fan, but don’t you think you’re being a little too premature about the whole “Eli is done” comment? He looked OK this week, considering the bad play of his OL.
He’s done.
Question from birddrippings: Bigger loss for the Eagles this season – Beau Allen or Vinny Curry? And who will have the better revenge game this weekend?
I don’t think it’s a revenge game for Honey Beau Beau. He was a free agent who got a nice offer, so he took it. It’s maybe a revenge game for Vinny because he got cut, but I doubt he sees it that way.
Anyway, I think as a player, Vinny is probably more valuable just generally speaking, though I think that the way the Eagles’ roster is constructed, they could use Beau more.
As for which guy will play better against the Eagles, my guess is that Vinny will have more opportunities.
Question from Jordan H*icks: Madden 19 sometimes calls Doug, “Doug Patterson,” and it makes me mad.
That would drive me insane. See if you can record that, and then send it to me, and I will gladly give that the negative feedback it deserves.
Question from Hinkie: We live in a world where there are two Nick Foleses. One can make every throw on the field and run a highly efficient offense. The other can barely make a throw five yards downfield. Which one do we get this Sunday?
I think it’s a “good Nick” week. That Tampa defense stinks, and they could be missing both of their starting corners, as well as JPP. Nick is a rhythm quarterback. I think the Eagles will get him some nice easy throws early on, and they’ll go from there.
Question from Eagle McBeagle: Jimmy, be honest. Do you use real leftover questions for the mailbags, or do you just make stuff up that you want to write about?
If I want to write about something, I just write about it.
Question from Kimmy Kempski: How are the waves at the shore with the oncoming hurricane?
So, after the Schwartz and Groh pressers on Tuesday, I drove to LBI to go surfing. It was rough. I paddled out, and the first freaking thing I see when I get out past the breakers this is this fin like 30-40 yards away, heading in the opposite direction. So I’m trying to watch it to see if it’s a school of dolphins, as they usually travel in groups. When it’s dolphins, one will eventually jump out of the water, typically. So that’s what I’m watching for, so I can feel good about staying out there. Meanwhile, the natural swell of the water is bobbing me up and down, which is making it harder for me to see if there are dolphins, or if it’s potentially something I should be worried about.
I lose sight of the fin, and I’m annoyed now because I don’t want to paddle back in. Paddling back in isn’t simple in hurricane surf. The waves are constant, as opposed to coming in in sets, so it’s not like you can just paddle back in, no fuss, no muss. The same waves that just pounded your ass on the way out are going to pound your ass on the way back in. At the same time though, I like my legs and want to keep them, so I bit the bullet and paddled back in.
I was on the shore for about 15 minutes, and I’m like, “Screw this, I’m going back out. A shark isn’t going to eat me.” So I go out, and this time I realize that where the waves are breaking, it’s in like 2.5 feet of water, which is dangerous because you don’t want to get slammed into the floor of the ocean if you wipe out. So now I’m worried about that, in addition to the fact that...
- It’s super foggy.
- I may have just seen a shark.
- There are no other
people out there surfing (so there’s no help if I wipe out and get hurt).
- There
are no lifeguards.
- I haven’t surfed since May, so I might be rusty.
- And, you
know, I’m no spring chicken anymore at 41.
Anyway, I caught two good waves (both lefts), and called it a day. Two things:
- Totally worth it.
- I’m stupid.
(And yes, I swear someone actually asked me this.)
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