As Yogi Berra would probably say, it’s getting late early out here.
Because even though the Eagles are just one week into training camp, the beginning of the 2020 season is rapidly approaching. Sunday marks three weeks from the opener on Sept. 13 in Washington.
The Eagles need to crank their sense of urgency into high gear.
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“When you think about 21 days, I think about 10 days of camp left,” head coach Doug Pederson said on Sunday morning. “Then you're into game week and you're making some roster moves within the next ten to 14 days. It feels a little different, obviously. Things have moved along and kind of sped along.
“But this is everything we have anticipated. This has been my messaging to the team the whole time. Again, we continue to work every single day. I am pleased [with] where the team is at right now. But there's still some things that we have to work on this week in practice coming up in order to be fully prepared for that first week.”
That’s a good point from Pederson. Because while we’re three weeks from opening day, final cuts are less than two weeks away, on Sept. 5.
Right now, the Eagles are simultaneously trying to prepare their starters for the season but also evaluate the rest of the team as they start making decisions on their 53-man roster. This is a shortened training camp after the NFL canceled the entire spring because of COVID-19.
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“The reality of the situation is we are just a few weeks out and so the urgency is something, just like coach said, I’ve personally stressed around here and I know coach has as well,” Carson Wentz said. “It’s a fine line. We’re only a handful of practices in so it still feels like it’s early in training camp. But things are obviously different this year.
“But we also recognize that everyone is going through this same kind of situation right now. Again, it’s a fine line of handling that but continuing to emphasize to everybody and especially the young guys that we don’t have a lot of time here, that we gotta really focus and hone in on our craft so that we’re ready come a couple weeks from now.”
With three weeks before the start of the season, the Eagles have plenty of loose ends to tie up. They have several lingering injuries, players switching positions and new players and coaches to get acclimated.
But they also have more stability than the other teams in the division as they return their head coach, defensive coordinator and quarterback. That ought to help, but the opener will be here before you know it.