With their season on life support, the Philadelphia Eagles put on pads.
Coach Doug Pederson conducted Philly's first padded practice in months. Players said the point of going with pads was to make a statement for the final month of the season.
"It kind of set the tone, you know. This isn't a cakewalk, it's not a walk-through," guard Brandon Brooks said, via the Philadelphia Inquirer. "It's not something where you lose a game and it's just back to regularly scheduled programming. There's a sense of urgency that needs to happen. By putting the pads on, I think he set the tone."
Pederson is likely trying to shake the Eagles out of a month-long funk, losing their past three games, including Sunday's dismal failure in Miami.
The Eagles have been uber-banged up this season, which could be one reason Pederson couldn't play the "put them in pads" move earlier in the disappointing 2019 campaign. With four games left, Philly has nothing to lose.
Several veterans responded positively to the move.
"[Heck] yeah, don't be asking me dumb questions, you know I like a physical practice," right tackle Lane Johnson said. "Today was probably one of our best practices. Cold and windy, [shoot], we enjoyed it. It was good."
Pederson also challenged his team leaders in Wednesday's meeting, defensive end Brandon Graham told Jeff McLane of the Inquirer.
The Eagles play their final four games against NFC East opponents, which is to say, winning out is on the table. Pederson put his players in pads on Thursday before watching the Cowboys implode on "Thursday Night Football" in Chicago, further opening the door for the Eagles to swoop in and steal the division.
Given how Philly's season has gone, we shouldn't assume they'll just roll over the Giants on Monday night. If they do come away with a win, however, they'll be tied atop the sad NFC East at 6-7.
