Without Chip Kelly and his many idiosyncrasies, Eagles training camp is expected to be much more traditional under Doug Pederson. There may be the odd surprise or bit of drama, but it’s not going to involve the quarterbacks.
“Going into September 11 [the season opener], Sam [Bradford] is the guy,” Pederson said Monday at the NovaCare Complex after the first day of camp (see observations). “Chase [Daniel] is our number two, and Carson [Wentz] is our number three.”
Only 38 players were present Monday, a combination of rookies, selected veterans and the four quarterbacks on the roster, including the recently signed McLeod Bethel-Thompson.
Out of those 38 guys, Bradford may be the most important piece for the Eagles this season. After a tumultuous offseason in which Bradford requested a trade in reaction to the Eagles picking Wentz No. 2 overall in the draft, he sounded prepared and fully committed on Day 1. Though he hasn’t played a full 16-game season since 2012 with the Rams, Bradford says he’s in prime shape. He even gained a few pounds of muscle, weighing in at 219 pounds compared to 213-214 for most of last season.
“I feel really good,” he said. “Obviously compared to this time last year, it’s night and day. Actually being able to train this summer, to work out without worry … it’s great, it’s actually been a couple years since I’ve been able to do that. So physically right now I feel good.”
Pederson believes Bradford’s healthy offseason gives him a great chance to play at a high level. He says he was encouraged by Bradford’s play during OTAs, and is hopeful he can build on his strong finish last year. In the season’s final seven games, Bradford completed 176 of 258 passes, throwing 10 touchdowns and four interceptions.
“I think [an injury-free offseason] is huge,” Pederson said. “It’s everything … it just gives you a boost of confidence heading into the season.”
Philadelphia Eagles
Complete coverage of the Philadelphia Eagles and their NFL rivals from NBC Sports Philadelphia.
With physical concerns finally out of the picture for Bradford in training camp, he’s able to focus on his play on the field, especially adapting to Pederson’s offense. This will already be the fifth offensive system for the No. 1 pick in the 2010 draft.
“I’ve seen a little bit of everything. So even though there are some new plays in this offense, I would say a lot of the concepts I’ve run before,” Bradford said. “The verbiage is different, the way we call things is different. So kind of re-programming your brain is the tough part, but a lot of the concepts are very similar to concepts I’ve run either last year or in the past.”
On the field, all four quarterbacks looked reasonably comfortable, with the caveat that it’s hard to gauge much from an 80-minute, no-pad session where none of them got many reps against the defense. Still, re-acclimating to the huddle and continuing to learn the new offense will be important parts of training camp for Bradford. One major change from Chip Kelly’s scheme will be the freedom to call audibles.
“This year with the huddle, there’s a lot more on my plate at the line of scrimmage,” Bradford said. “We don’t want to check every play; hopefully we call the right play in the huddle. But if we have the wrong play on, this year I can change and we can eliminate some of the negative plays we had.”
Bradford recognizes that his chemistry with center Jason Kelce will be vital in transitioning smoothly. Kelce had a disappointing 2015-16 season, and Bradford knows that their partnership will anchor the offense.
“I think me and Kelce have a lot to work on this year," Bradford said. "I think the quicker we can get on the same page, the quicker we start speaking the same language out there, the better we’ll be as an offense.”
Kelce and the rest of the roster are scheduled to arrive Wednesday ahead of the team's first full-team session Thursday. Until then, Bradford will keep huddling with and throwing to the rookies. There’s none of the frantic pace of Chip Kelly’s offense to worry about, just another new scheme to grow comfortable with and, if his body can stay healthy, perfect before Week 1 against Cleveland.
