Philly.com : Barbery Roast

[Number5]

Shawn Barber really put his foot in his mouth, now the Eagles plan on putting there feet in the rest of the leagues arses!

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/football/12839809.htm

KC player's out-of-shape jab irks Birds

By DANA PENNETT O'NEIL

oneild@phillynews.com

SITTING AROUND the training room before practice yesterday, N.D. Kalu, Sheldon Brown and a host of other Eagles were casually watching a replay of this week's "Inside the NFL" on HBO when they saw a miked Shawn Barber parading up and down the Kansas City Chiefs' sideline, exhorting his teammates in Sunday's game.

They laughed as they watched their former teammate - Barber played for the Eagles in 2002 - but stopped laughing when they heard what he was saying about them.

Barber was challenging his team to keep going, to keep pushing through the first half because, he said, the Eagles only practice 90 minutes a day and they were basically too soft to survive the game. They would get tired, he promised, and victory would be a slam dunk.

The lazy training room went wild, guys screaming and hollering while Kalu picked up his cell phone and dialed Barber's number.

"We cursed him out," Kalu said. "We were half-joking, but it bothered us."

In a league where bulletin-board material is usually reduced to which cleats to wear, this was epic and hardly manufactured.

Eagles defensive end Jevon Kearse caught the show at home Wednesday night and was still steaming yesterday afternoon.

"I was offended," he said. "He hasn't been here in [3] years, so he has no idea what we're doing, what we're going through. You know what? If we're out of shape, what does that make them? If I remember correctly, we came back and won that game [37-31, with a 24-7 second half]."

Good thing the Chiefs aren't in the NFC East, because there's more.

"If we're not in shape, it seems to me we played in the Super Bowl last year," Brown said. "We've played in four NFC championships. Maybe more teams ought to be doing what we're doing."

The Daily News attempted to contact Barber yesterday, but he was unavailable.

It wasn't just what he said, but his implication that the Eagles aren't doing the same amount of work as other NFL teams.

The Eagles do practice for only about 90 minutes each day, an idea that flies in the face of the standard sports logic that excellence can only be achieved after merciless hours of repetition and practice.

Yes, Allen, we're talkin' about practice.

"What do you want, to go back to high school where we're doing gassers after practice?" Brown said. "We're grown men."

Athletes long have buttered their bread on the ability to brag about their insane dedication to their craft, the agonizing, solitary hours upon hours when they became something special by working longer and harder than the Average Joe.

The idea that more (not less) is more is what trots high school and college athletes in every sport onto the field in the grueling heat of August for manly double sessions, what pushes tennis players to whack balls across the net until their elbows ache and golfers to hit at the driving range until their backs break.

It's also typically how life goes in the NFL.

Kalu said that in Washington, he could count on 3 hours on the field each day.

Kearse said Tennessee Titans practices ran "much longer... There was a lot of repetition."

And yet here come the Eagles from their practice fields at around 3 p.m. each day, their physical work over faster than most feature-length films.

But the players said that more is not always more.

Sometimes less is more.

"Truthfully, we're like big kids," Brown said. "You know how little kids have no attention spans? Well, ours aren't much better. You leave us out there for hours and hours, you're going to lose us."

More important, just because the Eagles don't practice a long time, that doesn't necessarily mean they don't practice hard, which is exactly why Barber's comments hit such a nerve.

"With coach Reid, it's, 'OK, we're going to do this and this and this today,' " Kearse said. "And that's what we do. He wants us out there working hard, doing the little things, hustling. Practice is crisp. There's none of that standing around. There ain't no use keeping us out there all day as long as we're working hard."

That, of course, is the catch.

Reid certainly has endeared himself to the fellas in the locker room by not just shortening up practice but also by rewarding them with an extra day off (Monday) after wins.

The unsaid threat, though, is that will all disappear should practice turn into recess or victories turn into losses.

"I don't know why Shawn said that," tackle Jon Runyan said. "Maybe he was just mad because he had to practice for 2 hours."

[TheREALJBird]

Shawn Barber really put his foot in his mouth, now the Eagles plan on putting there feet in the rest of the leagues arses!

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/football/12839809.htm

KC player's out-of-shape jab irks Birds

By DANA PENNETT O'NEIL

oneild@phillynews.com

SITTING AROUND the training room before practice yesterday, N.D. Kalu, Sheldon Brown and a host of other Eagles were casually watching a replay of this week's "Inside the NFL" on HBO when they saw a miked Shawn Barber parading up and down the Kansas City Chiefs' sideline, exhorting his teammates in Sunday's game.

They laughed as they watched their former teammate - Barber played for the Eagles in 2002 - but stopped laughing when they heard what he was saying about them.

Barber was challenging his team to keep going, to keep pushing through the first half because, he said, the Eagles only practice 90 minutes a day and they were basically too soft to survive the game. They would get tired, he promised, and victory would be a slam dunk.

The lazy training room went wild, guys screaming and hollering while Kalu picked up his cell phone and dialed Barber's number.

"We cursed him out," Kalu said. "We were half-joking, but it bothered us."

In a league where bulletin-board material is usually reduced to which cleats to wear, this was epic and hardly manufactured.

Eagles defensive end Jevon Kearse caught the show at home Wednesday night and was still steaming yesterday afternoon.

"I was offended," he said. "He hasn't been here in [3] years, so he has no idea what we're doing, what we're going through. You know what? If we're out of shape, what does that make them? If I remember correctly, we came back and won that game [37-31, with a 24-7 second half]."

Good thing the Chiefs aren't in the NFC East, because there's more.

"If we're not in shape, it seems to me we played in the Super Bowl last year," Brown said. "We've played in four NFC championships. Maybe more teams ought to be doing what we're doing."

The Daily News attempted to contact Barber yesterday, but he was unavailable.

It wasn't just what he said, but his implication that the Eagles aren't doing the same amount of work as other NFL teams.

The Eagles do practice for only about 90 minutes each day, an idea that flies in the face of the standard sports logic that excellence can only be achieved after merciless hours of repetition and practice.

Yes, Allen, we're talkin' about practice.

"What do you want, to go back to high school where we're doing gassers after practice?" Brown said. "We're grown men."

Athletes long have buttered their bread on the ability to brag about their insane dedication to their craft, the agonizing, solitary hours upon hours when they became something special by working longer and harder than the Average Joe.

The idea that more (not less) is more is what trots high school and college athletes in every sport onto the field in the grueling heat of August for manly double sessions, what pushes tennis players to whack balls across the net until their elbows ache and golfers to hit at the driving range until their backs break.

It's also typically how life goes in the NFL.

Kalu said that in Washington, he could count on 3 hours on the field each day.

Kearse said Tennessee Titans practices ran "much longer... There was a lot of repetition."

And yet here come the Eagles from their practice fields at around 3 p.m. each day, their physical work over faster than most feature-length films.

But the players said that more is not always more.

Sometimes less is more.

"Truthfully, we're like big kids," Brown said. "You know how little kids have no attention spans? Well, ours aren't much better. You leave us out there for hours and hours, you're going to lose us."

More important, just because the Eagles don't practice a long time, that doesn't necessarily mean they don't practice hard, which is exactly why Barber's comments hit such a nerve.

"With coach Reid, it's, 'OK, we're going to do this and this and this today,' " Kearse said. "And that's what we do. He wants us out there working hard, doing the little things, hustling. Practice is crisp. There's none of that standing around. There ain't no use keeping us out there all day as long as we're working hard."

That, of course, is the catch.

Reid certainly has endeared himself to the fellas in the locker room by not just shortening up practice but also by rewarding them with an extra day off (Monday) after wins.

The unsaid threat, though, is that will all disappear should practice turn into recess or victories turn into losses.

"I don't know why Shawn said that," tackle Jon Runyan said. "Maybe he was just mad because he had to practice for 2 hours."

Leave it to the Eagles to call up someone and cuss them out like a bunch of hooligans...oh well, I hope skins players talk mad trash so when we beat them there's nothing but silence

[Number5]

Leave it to the Eagles to call up someone and cuss them out like a bunch of hooligans...oh well, I hope skins players talk mad trash so when we beat them there's nothing but silence

If you remember, Barber was a former Eagle. The article states that while they were half-joking, some of them were upset. Most of the guys who played with him on the team are still friends with him. :doh:

[tr1]

I didn't know the Eagles practiced only 90 minutes a day. Is that why McNabb was tired at the end of the SB?

[Number5]

I didn't know the Eagles practiced only 90 minutes a day. Is that why McNabb was tired at the end of the SB?

"If we're not in shape, it seems to me we played in the Super Bowl last year," Brown said. "We've played in four NFC championships. Maybe more teams ought to be doing what we're doing."

:doh:

[TheREALJBird]

If you remember, Barber was a former Eagle. The article states that while they were half-joking, some of them were upset. Most of the guys who played with him on the team are still friends with him. :doh:

Yes of course I remember he was a former Eagle, he was a former Redskin as well, so if he was a former Eagle and friends with the current players why would they call him up and cuss him out?

[Number5]

"We cursed him out," Kalu said. "We were half-joking, but it bothered us."

That answers your own question.

[Westbrook36]

I didn't know the Eagles practiced only 90 minutes a day. Is that why McNabb was tired at the end of the SB?

McNabb received a concussion during the game. For the life of me, I don't know why the Eagles and McNabb are keeping this a secret. I don't know if they think more teams will go after his head or if the Eagles think their management will be criticized for allowing him to play after knowing he had a concussion.

[tr1]

McNabb received a concussion during the game. For the life of me, I don't know why the Eagles and McNabb are keeping this a secret. I don't know if they think more teams will go after his head or if the Eagles think their management will be criticized for allowing him to play after knowing he had a concussion.

I don't recall TO mentioning a concussion...he did mention something about conditioning...

[Westbrook36]

I don't recall TO mentioning a concussion...he did mention something about conditioning...

TO is wrong about a lot of things.....well, most things. Doesn't make him a poor WR....just a poor teammate at times.

Listen, tr1, he was concussed by Richard Seymour early in the game. What is a symptom of a concussion? Yep, throwing up and dizzyness.

The Eagles refuse to talk about it as if we are discussing who shot JFK.

[Number5]

I don't recall TO mentioning a concussion...he did mention something about conditioning...

Mr. Bayless, your car is parked in a handycap space. Please remove it or it will be towed! :laugh:

[tr1]

TO is wrong about a lot of things.....well, most things. Doesn't make him a poor WR....just a poor teammate at times.

Listen, tr1, he was concussed by Richard Seymour early in the game. What is a symptom of a concussion? Yep, throwing up and dizzyness.

The Eagles refuse to talk about it as if we are discussing who shot JFK.

You know, I tend to believe you, but I can't find anything about a concussion on the web. Urban legend? I'd really like to read about it.

[Westbrook36]

Do a google search for "mcnabb concussion superbowl" and a bunch of articles will come up. But, like I said, nothing from the Eagles or McNabb. At this point, it is just speculation.

[WeaponXDawkins]

Do a google search for "mcnabb concussion superbowl" and a bunch of articles will come up. But, like I said, nothing from the Eagles or McNabb. At this point, it is just speculation.

Come on TR1 google some articles, you know that's what you are good at. No original thought just spout out some Stephen A. Smith or Skip Bayless rhetoric.

[Parlett316]

Reminds me of Keyshawn, during the Monday night game against the Colts, ragging on Marvin Harrison.

"Is that how he get's all his catches!? Screens?"

[Walking Deadman]

What was the point of the article?

Eagles beat the Chiefs w/o hearing Barber's comments.....

The Eagles don't need to practice alot or very hard?

That's asinine, maybe they are conditioning more and in the film room more.

As we Redskins fans know (via the Spurrier years), practice is important.

Any idea why this article was written?

[Leonard Washington]

i think there's something to short practices during the regular season. conditioning and strength are made during the offseason, you can't expect to get faster and stronger while playing games. its not going to happen. at this point they should be trying to maintain and work on execution.

[Y100Rocks]

Reid does tend do things that aren't by the book. They also don't practice with loud noises to simulate crowd noise for away games during practice. Reid said the distraction of the noise keeps them from teaching what they need to do in the first place. I believe the eagles are #1 in the league in road games since 2000.

As long as it works, nobody will complain.

[tr1]

Reid does tend do things that aren't by the book. They also don't practice with loud noises to simulate crowd noise for away games during practice. Reid said the distraction of the noise keeps them from teaching what they need to do in the first place. I believe the eagles are #1 in the league in road games since 2000.

As long as it works, nobody will complain.

Wrong...about the simulated crowd noise...you really should try to keep up on your team... :doh:

http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/includes/display/printArticle.jsp?id=36307

Some Odds And Ends And This And That

September 29, 2005

Some random thoughts ...

# Because the players have maintained a vow of silence toward the media, perhaps, the offensive line's performance in last week's 23-20 win over Oakland was not as acclaimed as it should have been.

But here is the number that, more than anything else in that game, stands out: Donovan McNabb passed 52 times and was sacked only once, hit just a handful of times and given tremendous protection when the Eagles really needed it on that final two-minute drive.

The task for the line is again large on Sunday in raucous Arrowhead Stadium against an aggressive Chiefs front seven.

Jon Runyan and the Eagles O line eye up a tough meeting

How has the line come together this season after welcoming Shawn Andrews back to the starting lineup, losing Tra Thomas for most of the spring and summer and searching for depth among a gaggle of young players?

Pretty darn well, actually.

The first game in Atlanta was a difficult one for the entire offense and the perspective here is that the line was unfairly singled out. In the end, though, the pressure on Donovan McNabb drew the ire of the head coach -- who blamed himself for the problems -- and made a lot of people stand up and take ask the question: Can the Eagles stop the blitz?

They did that and more very well by manhandling the 49ers and then whipping the Raiders last week.

So we're faced with another show-me game on Sunday. The Eagles know Kansas City is going to come after a banged-up McNabb and the responsibility the offensive line faces is even more critical now because we don't know how well McNabb can escape pressure and keep a play alive.

The line holds the fortunes of the offense in its hands once again. This is the same story every week. But with all the crowd noise -- and the simulated crowd noise piped in to the Eagles' practice on Thursday was sinus-splitting -- and the hype of a jacked-up Chiefs defense, hey, it's another great test.

The Chiefs don't have a lot of big names or reps up front, but they have speed along the front four and throughout their linebacker corps. The Eagles' offensive machine will need to be precise, varied and extremely aggressive.

And the game will be won at the line of scrimmage, both offensively and defensively. It's a great test for the offensive line, of course, and for a defensive line that must find a way to contain Priest Holmes and Larry Johnson, pressure Trent Green, limit the damage done by Tony Gonzalez and play with boundless emotion and energy.

# Jeremiah Trotter was chatting at his locker the other day about his expanded role, which in case you haven't noticed, includes him playing as a nickel linebacker. That's something he didn't do last year, but when the Patriots forced the Eagles' defense into its nickel package in the Super Bowl and then ran the ball effectively as a smallish Ike Reese played the "Mike" position in the nickel, the Eagles knew they needed to make a change.

So Trotter, all 260 pounds of him, is a three-down linebacker. And he is loving it.

"I never leave the field now," he said. "When teams are in the nickel and try to run the ball, you need the 'Mike' linebacker in there. That's one of the things the Patriots did in the Super Bowl. They did it well. Running the ball, running screens, running traps in the middle.

"It helps to have the middle linebacker in there. A lot of teams are doing that now."

# I don't quite know why, and I don't quite know the exact percentages, but the Eagles sure are using the shotgun more now than at any time in the Andy Reid era. Hank Fraley and McNabb are clearly comfortable in the formation and, with McNabb's injury, it would seem to give him an extra split second to set up and throw. Keep an eye on that.

# If left tackle Willie Roaf does not play Sunday, and he hasn't practiced all week, the Chiefs will miss him. He's a standout tackle and a fantastic run blocker.

# If L.J. Smith has another big game catching the football on Sunday, will he start to get some notice as one of the top young tight ends in football? Playing on the opposite sideline of Gonzalez is exciting for Smith, who has become a viable option very quickly in his starting role with the Eagles.

# Speaking of Gonzalez, the Eagles are going to pay him a ton of attention. They have to. The guy is a standout player. This game begins a three-game stretch of tough tight ends the Eagles face: Gonzalez, Dallas' Jason Witten and San Diego's Antonio Gates. It's not going to be on Dhani Jones to cover these players alone. I think you'll see Jim Johnson throw the kitchen sink at Gonzalez.

# I spoke to rookie running back Ryan Moats for a few moments on Thursday. He understands why he is not playing. He is making the best of the situation.

"I'm learning every time I watch Brian Westbrook," he said. "I'm not sulking, I'm learning. I see how he handles a situation and I think, 'OK, I'm going to be in that same picture some day and that's what I'll do.

"I've gone through this before. I didn't play in my first two years at (Louisiana) Tech and then when I got in, I took advantage of the situation. That's the way it's going to be here.

"I'm starting to really get the concept of this offense. I'm learning. I'm getting it. I work with one of our coaches, Bill Shuey, and he gives me plays and he has me spit out my responsibility quickly. It's helping me a lot. I'm not frustrated. It's hard, I'm not going to say otherwise, But I know I have a lot to learn and I'm doing that."

# How many rookies out there are making the kind of impact defensively that Mike Patterson is making? Jim Johnson again raved about the kid on Thursday, with good reason. Patterson is mature, he's playing fast and he's been very productive. Great start for him.

[Westbrook36]

The master of google strikes again!!! :laugh:

[Parlett316]

The master of google strikes again!!! :laugh:

Yes it does

http://www.chaosbydesign.com/stores/CP_art/Whatever-blue.gif

[Y100Rocks]

I remember reading that artical. Reid does not typically use simulated crowd noise. That was very unusual. I haven't heard anything mentioned of it since.

[Destino]

When you win a superbowl then everyone in the league will try to be just like you. Really guys, does anyone think "wow those Buffalo Bills sure were great"....no they don't.

[Y100Rocks]

Yes I hope I win a superbowl one day. Could you at least show me your ring so I know what one looks like?