With the first full practice of training camp also came the first chance for the players and coaches to run a new system at a faster speed than the drills of rookie camp and minicamp.
Sam Bradford, the Eagles proclaimed starting quarterback by head coach Doug Pederson, is no stranger to having to adjust to new systems. Bradford spoke to the media on Thursday and talked about the constant adjustment process.
"It seems like about every year I'm learning a new system," Bradford said. "I think the positive with that is after you've done it a few times, I've seen a lot of football, I've seen a lot of different systems. Obviously, this one's new, this one's different, but I think there's some carryover from some past systems that I've been in. It's nice to know that everything isn't brand new and there's some things that are familiar."
Offensive coordinator Frank Reich is also bringing pieces of a new system over as well. Reich, who served as offensive coordinator in San Diego for the past three seasons, got used to seeing the Eagles new offensive system Pederson and Andy Reid utilized in Kansas City and enjoys being on the offensive side of it, rather than having to gameplan against it.
"Obviously this West Coast hybrid system has a very long winning track record," Reich said, "but how it's adapted in the running game now with some of the zone-read stuff and all the different ways you can scheme wide receiver throws when you get a heavy box, I think that's what Doug did really well in Kansas City. Of course, I went up against it six times in three years playing against that team, so I saw first-hand and it's fun now to be on the other side of that."
Reich is helping to run an offense that has undergone a series of changes over the offseason and similar to the defense, it is a relatively new group and new beginning for many of the Eagles players. Reich said that after the front office personnel set their sights on acquiring many of their targets, it's now up to the coaches and players themselves to answer the challenge.
"This offseason, it seems like every right move that we could have made, to me as a coach it felt like every time we had a chance to get something done from a personnel standpoint, we got it done," Reich said. "So that fires you up as a coach. It's never a perfect world, but as far as the realistic world, I thought it was a home run. It's up to us as coaches to coach these guys up and for them as players to get ready to go and make the most of the opportunity."
Bradford, one of the carryovers from 2015, gets to lead that offense as the starting quarterback. After "shaking off the rust," as he called it, in minicamp, Bradford was excited to step things up and see play go to another level.
"It's an exciting time," Bradford said. "It's a time for us to get a lot of work done against each other. It's just good to see everyone again."
One of the more noticeable adjustments for the Eagles offense is the speed at which they will operate. Under Chip Kelly, speed was the name of the game. With the huddle taking on a greater role in Pederson's offense, Bradford feels that the few extra seconds could lead to better communication and more effective plays.
"For the guys that were here last year, it's different than what we're used to doing," Bradford said. "I think the advantage of being in the huddle, you can communicate more, especially me as the quarterback. When I get the play call, I can emphasize things, give guys a heads up on what to look for. You hope to get into the right play more, so we don't have as many wasted plays and try to eliminate some of the negative plays we had last year maybe due to going fast."
Kevin Durso is an editor for Sports Talk Philly. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
