NFL | Eagles training camp starts and the prevailing vibe is ...

by Jack Kerwin  |  [email protected]

Numb.

No other way to describe it.

Sitting still, moving about, mind racing or somewhat at ease, it doesn’t seem to matter. As thoughts about the upcoming Eagles season start to come into razor-sharp focus with the advent of training camp this morning, the visceral gut feeling attached to them … well, it’s just one of emptiness. Like a bottomless pit of nothingness. As if no feeling exists at all. Or if it does, it is not registering whatsoever.

Not pro. Not con. Not anything.

As someone who lives on emotion, thrives on passion, who gets juiced by the positive or negative, this is not a great place to be.

Full disclosure, my preference would be to so inspired by the team, the coaches, the front office and that they have done up to this point that the words “pumped up” were interminably linked with any description about their 2016 prospects and my take on them.

That just isn’t reality at this point.

Can’t get too up or too down because …

May not be the biggest fan of starting quarterback Sam Bradford, but not able to completely write off his potential, either.

Still fail to grasp the thinking behind taking a total shot in the dark with the No. 2 pick in April’s NFL Draft, but unwilling to totally discard GM Howie Roseman’s judgment skills at this point.

Don’t see the same dominance in defensive tackle Fletcher Cox that others who bleed midnight green do, but do see a quality asset that seems to be gaining value each season.

Am a fan of Jordan Matthews, Ryan Mathews and Connor Barwin, but also am very aware of their weaknesses with dropping passes, getting injured and disappearing for long stretches, respectively.

Am pretty worried about first-year head coach Doug Pederson getting the Eagles’ gig due almost solely to his attached-at-the-hip connection to Andy Reid, but open to that hire possibly leading the team to success similar to what it had under Big Red.

The guy they deemed so incompetent to run the show that a new regime was ruled a necessity just happens to be the same one considered a savior a year ago.

Yes, NFC East rivals Giants, Cowboys and Redskins all have their flaws, issues and question marks, but the Eagles seem to have more, and certainly no less.

Not for nothing, but it’s the unknowns that leave me in the emotional abyss with regard to the Birds these days, feeling much like a patient in the ER with a pain killer such as dilaudid coursing through the veins.

Numb. Just freakin’ numb.

No pro. No con. No anything.

Except for maybe an underlying concern that things will only get worse once that numbness wears off … and Carson Wentz takes the reins.

Ugh.
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Not for nothing, but it’s the unknowns that leave me in the emotional abyss with regard to the Birds these days, feeling much like a patient in the ER with a pain killer such as dilaudid coursing through the veins. Numb. Just freakin’ numb. No pro. No con. No anything. Except for maybe an underlying concern that things will only get worse once that numbness wears off … and Carson Wentz takes the reins. Ugh.