Today, the Eagles held their final practice of the year at Lehigh University and closed their 2010 training camp. Head coach Andy Reid said he thinks the team built a good foundation in their time at Lehigh.
“I think that built a foundation. In particular, a young group, and I think they need to be introduced to what the National Football League is all about. It’s faster, there’s more pressure put on you mentally and physically than what you had at the college level, and there’s no better place to figure all that out than right here. I’d rather have them figure it out here then when they get in the games they’re not worried about their conditioning or the plays that they’ve already studied, that they can go in and play football. It works into our favor when [GM] Howie [Roseman] and I have to sit down and have to make an evaluation on the players. We have a good base from practice and from the games. We can make smart decisions here.”
Reid said he was impressed with the performance of the thirteen rookies at camp this year.
“I told the team. I’ve been impressed with the energy and the work level and the effort that’s been put in. How they’ve handled themselves up here. And then the young guys have been very impressive, the draft picks, and how they’ve picked things up. Now, I give credit to the coaches and I give credit to the players that have been here that open up themselves to the young guys, even though it’s competition there, they’re not afraid to help them out. It’s a smart group that picked things up quickly.”
The team spent longer than usual at camp this year, an extra 200 plays by Reid’s estimation. So far, they seem to have escaped relatively unscathed and avoided any major injuries. Any camp that closes with everyone intact is a good one…
The Eagles play their second preseason game Friday night against the Bengals in Cincinnati.