Pederson Has No Plans To Change Practice: 'Football Is A Contact Sport'
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- For the past three years, many fans questioned the tactics of Chip Kelly's less-physical practices. Now, some are wondering if Doug Pederson's training camp workouts are having an opposite effect on the players.
Pederson made no secret about the tone of his training camp since taking over as head coach. It is a style similar to Andy Reid's, but the physical workouts are causing a rise in the injury list.
On Friday, Linebacker Marcus Smith suffered a concussion. Ryan Mathews and Brandon Brooks were back at practice after missing nearly a week, but Zach Ertz and Jordan Matthews left early with minor injuries. Malcolm Jenkins and Jason Peters went down with injuries on Thursday, but Pederson has no plans to ease up on the players at practice.
"Football is a contact sport," said Pederson. "This is going to happen. Whether it happens today or it happens Thursday night, it's part of the game. I'm a big believer you never shy away from contact. You've got to have contact. It's a contact sport."
The Eagles are already thin at several positions, and cannot afford to lose a host of players before the regular season gets underway. Some veterans also complained on Friday that some of the rookies on the defensive end are tackling low and furthering the risk of injury. Pederson promised to address the tackling issue, and said there are ways players can protect themselves on the field.
"You just keep training the guys," Pederson said. "You keep talking to them about protection. Every drill doesn't have to be live but at the same time, we can still be in position to make tackles. We stay up and we learn to do it that way and it becomes a sign of the football. Again, it's part of the game."
Brooks was happy to be back on the field with his teammates after missing nearly a week of work. The lineman wasn't surprised to see plenty of hitting in this camp, and Brooks talked about a similar situation with his former team in Houston.
"I definitely enjoy the hitting," said Brooks. "It's been like this every where I've been. In Houston, it was with two different coaches. This is exactly what I expected."
Brooks and his teammates can expect more physical practices until training camp comes to an end on August 16th. The team will have a lighter 10/10/10 workout on Saturday, but there will be two more days of workouts which are expected to be high in intensity before the next off-day. It is a far cry from the last three seasons.
"We'll continue to obviously monitor the guys," Pederson said. "At the same time, we won't shy away from the contact."
