Preparation for Super Bowl LVII against the Kansas City Chiefs began in earnest for the Eagles on Wednesday with a walkthrough practice at the Arizona Cardinals facility.
True to his word Philadelphia coach Nick Sirianni is trying to keep things as normal as possible for his team and is mimicking a typical late-season schedule at the NovaCare Complex.
All 53 available players participated in the session, including cornerback Avonte Maddox, who missed the final two games of the regular season and the divisional round playoff game against the New York Giants with a toe injury, and left guard Landon Dickerson, who suffered a hyperextended elbow in the NFC Championship Game win over San Francisco. Maddox, who returned to play against the 49ers but was back in a walking boot for part of the bye week before the Super Bowl, Johnson (groin/rest), and backup interior offensive lineman Cam Jurgens (hip/rest) were estimated as limited participants. Dickerson and defensive end Robert Quinn (foot), were estimated as full participants.
Punter Arryn Siposs, who suffered a torn ankle ligament in December, was again practicing as well and the Eagles have a decision to make when it comes to who punts on Sunday. Siposs remains on the Eagles’ injured reserve list, but the team cleared him to resume practicing last week. Veteran Brett Kern remains on the roster for now but Siposs was seen holding for kicker Jake Elliott last week, indicating things are trending in his direction.
Wednesday’s walkthrough was heavy on individual and positional drills, according to PFWA pool reporter Lindsay Jones. It also included a brief period of ones vs. ones in a situational period at the end of practice, a Sirianni trademark.
“We’re kind of obsessed with situations; not kind of, we are obsessed with situations,” Sirianni said. “So every day players are in the building we’re working on those, and that can be a lot of things, third downs, things that could pop up on first or second down. We’ve got a whole list of them that we want to rep and go over.”
The Eagles’ most intensive practice of the week will be Thursday but Sirianni will be eschewing pads after his team practiced in pads once during the bye week.
“We want to keep them fresh, that’s really what we want,” Sirianni said.
