Eagles Not Complacent on First Day Back Since Super Bowl

This was a little different than last time the Eagles were on the football field together.

There were about 50 people watching instead of 100 million. They were in an indoor practice facility in South Philly instead of U.S. Bank Stadium. And there was a little bit less at stake in Tuesday's OTA practice than in Super Bowl LII.

The Eagles figuratively turned the page on 2017 Tuesday morning when the 2018 Eagles practiced together as a team for the first time.

"We haven't all been together on the field since the Super Bowl, so just having everybody back was really nice," Nigel Bradham said.

"The energy was great. You could feel it. We look good. Got some great additions and guys are picking up where we left off and everybody wants to get better. 

"It's definitely a mindset of we've got to defend ours. Going into it, we know we've got to stay hungry and we know what it takes now."

This is uncharted territory for the Eagles, who won their first NFL championship in 57 years on Feb. 4 in Minneapolis.

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The offseason was short. It's been about three months since the parade. Opening day is just 3½ months away.

"It's obviously been a whirlwind since the season ended," Zach Ertz said. "It feels like [the Super Bowl] was yesterday. 

"But it's time to go. Guys are dealing with some injuries, but nobody's going to feel bad for us some Sept. 6 against the Falcons, that we played five extra weeks of the season. It's time to flip the switch and move on. Obviously, we're extremely proud of everything we accomplished last year, but it's time to move forward."

This is going to be the Eagles' mantra all year. 

The Super Bowl was great. But it's ancient history now. 

"I felt good for about the first month after the Super Bowl and then I realized that time moves on," Lane Johnson said. "Now it's really about erasing it, like it never happened. 

"I know I've got the [Super Bowl LII] shirt on, but it's the only shirt I have. You look at what we achieved last year, we were a team that was hungry, a team that was desperate to win. We've got to have that same mindset. Let's go attack people and do the same thing we did last year."

That means working hard every day. Without exception. Even at a mid-May minicamp practice.

"I know for me, I was very, very antsy," Jalen Mills said. "I know I caught myself a couple times getting away from my technique because I was just so excited to be back out there. Just so excited to be able to compete again and make plays. Our energy is very, very high."

The Eagles will finish up their offseason workouts in mid-June and then have six more weeks off before training camp begins in late July.

Ertz said he can't imagine anybody on this team growing complacent simply because the goal was never just to win a Super Bowl.

"If your ultimate goal is to win a Super Bowl, you'd have no motivation left," he said. "So your motivation has to be more than that. My motivation and I think the motivation of a lot of the guys in here is that I'm trying to be one of the best I can possibly be and be one of the best to ever play. So the motivational factor depends on the perspective that you're looking at it."

Nobody has won back-to-back Super Bowls since the Patriots in 2003 and 2004, the second one over the Eagles.

No NFC team has won two straight since the Cowboys in 1992 and 1993.

"There's always going to be one-hit wonders in this league," Ertz said. "Teams that won one Super Bowl or players that made one Pro Bowl and then you didn't hear from them again. But it's the great players and the great teams that are able to have that sustained success.

"I think guys that are in this locker room have a very similar outlook on a lot of things. They strive to be the best and if they're not they're not going to last here very long. Just the demands of this city and the demands of the leaders on this team are very high, so if you don't have that same outlook, you're not going to last very long here."

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