Eagles DC Vic Fangio has not been shy in voicing his displeasure with the lack of live practice reps in Nick Sirianni’s team schedule, something he’s talked about since the spring. But as the defense is now crushing opponents weekly, we learned that Fangio’s input must have been received by Sirianni because they’ve been having more practices — rather than walkthroughs — on Wednesdays this season.
Via the Inquirer’s EJ Smith:
Jordan Davis on the #Eagles defense improving their tackling so much mid-season:
“We’re in full pads in practice and that’s something that we embrace. Because, when you do that in practice, you don’t have any choice in the game, you have to be a physical player.”
Davis noted the team has been holding actual practices instead of walkthroughs more on Wednesdays than they have in years past.
“It takes what it takes. Obviously our physicality is on display and everybody feels it.”
When the Eagles hired Vic Fangio to be the new defensive coordinator, they were bringing in over 40 years of experience and an old-school approach. That approach clashed a bit with the way Nick Sirianni runs things — a young head coach who prioritizes quality over quantity in terms of practice reps on players’ bodies —, but Fangio accepted it.
Still, going all the way back to training camp, Fangio spoke about how it’s tough to install things with such a limited number of reps, and throughout the season he’s continued to bring it up. In response to a question about Cooper DeJean’s mentality and coachability, Fangio was sure to highlight the limited practice reps for these young guys who need experience.
“I think the more he plays and the more experienced he becomes – you try and expose him to as much stuff as you can in practice, but obviously with the low reps of practice, you don’t get that done always.”
In mid-November, the DC again talked about a lighter practice schedule when asked about the rookie wall. Fangio admitted that he doesn’t think a rookie wall really exists anymore. He explained that it used to be a physical thing, but now the players’ bodies aren’t getting as much work before the start of the regular season.
“Back in the day, you’d have two-a-days in training camp, and when you got a rookie you thought would play, you’d practice him a lot. He’d play a lot in preseason games when there were four. Well, that don’t happen anymore. So, I don’t buy the rookie wall anymore. It’s not physical. It might be mental, or emotional, but it’s not physical anymore, in my opinion.”
It’s obvious the Eagles made a lot of changes coming out of the bye week, and perhaps a heavier work load for an extremely young defense was one of those adjustments. The group has been playing fast, physical, and with a ton of energy ever since. And if the change was due to Fangio’s suggestion, hats off to Sirianni who has seemingly embraced any input that will help the team win.
