PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — They knew it was coming.
As the calendar turned to August, the Eagles prepared for one of their longest practices of the summer. Coach Doug Pederson planned an intense workout on Thursday morning with a workout of over 2 1/2 hours in pads.
Such was the case on the first day of the new month as the Eagles hit the field under the hot South Philadelphia sun. It gave the top players on each unit the chance to do battle as they continue to prepare for the 2019 season.
Tight end Zach Ertz said the competition heats up as the workouts at training camp intensify.
"We've been banging against the same guys for a long time," said Ertz. "The pads come on. The guys are tired and the body hurts. Every muscle hurts and you're fatigued and so it gets edgy out here."
The trash talking was on the rise on Thursday morning with the long workout as Pederson put his team through the grind with an off-day on the horizon.
The first team units were matched up against each other throughout a host of drills and both sides came up with impressive performances during the workout session.
Ertz said going against the likes of Brandon Graham, Malcolm Jenkins and Vinny Curry will help both himself and his offensive teammates as they prepare for the season.
"I don't like blocking Vinny and B.G. every day," Ertz said. "I don't like going against Malcolm every day, but I'm becoming a better football player because of it. Everyone feels the same way. You have kind of a short fuse out here after these practices because it's hot but at the end of the day, everyone's got the same goal. We understand that we're teammates, but we're trying to protect each other and get better at the same time."
Some coaches resist the temptation to put their top units against each other at practice, but Pederson agrees with Ertz when it comes to making his team better.
The head coach likes to see the competition between his two top units during the hot training camp workouts and will likely continue with the same schedule going forward. "They really know how to practice against each other," said Pederson. "They can still go hard and get good work in. We can still tackle to the ground because they're playing against other teams' starters, right? So it's a great way to get some great work in."
The intense workouts have put the Eagles' sense of urgency on display.
Expectations are high for the upcoming season and the players are eager to get back to the Super Bowl after falling short last year.
Center Jason Kelce knows there is still more work to be done, but is excited about the potential of what these long workouts will produce once the season gets underway.
"We're very fortunate across the board," Kelce said. "We have pieces to be successful. Now, it's just putting it all together and coming together so that everybody's on the same page and we can figure out how to win games."
