BLOOMINGTON, Minnesota -- Chris Long's been through this before, but he says that there's really no good way to prepare for Super Bowl week. There's no great way to prepare for the quirks of Super Bowl Sunday, either.
"The weirdest part of Super Bowl Sunday, but it really shouldn't be because it happens every time we play a night game, is I take a nap on Sunday," the Eagles defensive end said. "You're about to close your eyes and take a nap and you're like, 'When I get up, I'm getting my butt on a bus, and I'm going and playing for a world championship.'
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"I think that illustrates how everybody tries to keep everything as normal as possible, even though the game is tremendous magnitude. Everyone tries to keep things as normal as possible. The hardest thing about when you get there is that lengthened pregame and halftime."
And the best way to deal with halftime, the former Patriots defensive end explained, is to just keep moving.
"It all flies by, in reality," Long said. "It is longer, but as long as you stay moving around . . . For some of us older guys that means not stopping moving at all. Some of the younger guys may be able to kick their feet up and lay down at their lockers."
Here are some of the other things Eagles were saying on Thursday . . .
New England Patriots
Eagles running back Jay Ajayi on embracing the underdog mentality: "Obviously being the one seed and being the underdog is interesting to us, but we've embraced it, and me personally I've always had a chip on my shoulder. It's just about going out there, believing in us and believing in what we have in our room."
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Eagles center Jason Kelce on squaring off with Patriots defensive tackle Malcom Brown: "He's athletic. He bends well so he plays with good leverage. You watch him two-gap a center, it's like he mirroring him. He's not behind him like a lot of guys are in some situations. And on double-teams he plays with good technique. He holds the center, prevents him from getting to the second level so linebackers can get free. And it seems like he's a smart player. I don't know. But that's what it looks like on film."