Many things get said in the dawn of a season that can have different fates. Chances are we’ll forget about Cary Williams comments on the Patriots after Week 2. But say something like Vince Young did – dream team, anyone? – and it lives in infamy.
Throughout the first week of Eagles camp, several players, coaches and organization figures speak about where the team is, what the team wants to do in the upcoming season and how they plan to get it done. Jeffrey Lurie and LeSean McCoy may have had the best lines.
Lurie spoke on Wednesday about the state of the team and focused on the ultimate goal of the franchise.
It’s no secret the Eagles misfortunes when the playoffs roll around every year. It’s another team hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. That Super Bowl title eludes the Eagles. Lurie’s primary goal is getting that obviously. But how he said it adds a little flare to the struggle.
“I’m obsessed with it,” Lurie said. “I think if you love the sport as much as I do and love this team and the city as much as I do, that’s the ultimate goal, so until that happens, it’s a hunger. And even if it does happen, it’ll be a hunger, because you don’t want to just be satisfied because you have it won, so it’s my obsession and try hard to make it happen and so does everyone around me.”
The chances the Eagles compete for a Super Bowl in 2014 are to be determined as the team comes together. But for a while, the Eagles were the hottest team in football in 2013.
With another year beginning and that first year of Chip Kelly, Nick Foles and company in the past, Lurie thinks the youth of the team in general is what makes them different and could make them very successful.
“I’m really excited about the season and I’m just excited about what we can become,” Lurie said. “This is a great group of guys, and if you’ve been around as long as I have, just an outstanding group of young men, with a coaching staff and head coach and GM that are obsessed. It’s a good situation.
“I feel very lucky to have a coach and a coaching staff that are really dynamic, a young general manager who I think is outstanding and a young president who is terrific and brings everybody together. It’s lucky for me as an owner.”
Of course, before thinking of the ultimate goal, you have to make the playoffs. That runs through a defense of the NFC East title that the Eagles won last season.
The Redskins and Giants added pieces and have renewed health to bring them back into the race on paper at least. The Cowboys continue to be the rival of rivals for the Eagles. McCoy had some words for Dallas.
In preparing to do an interview with Michael Irvin on Thursday, McCoy turned to fans watching practice and yelled “I own Dallas.”
That spread like wildfire in Dallas and obviously will be talked about for some time, especially when the Eagles prepare to face the Cowboys in Weeks 13 and 15.
The focus is important though. McCoy has a target on his back as the NFL’s rushing title winner in 2013. The six divisional games are the most crucial in a season.
Perhaps what’s being discussed more, in regards to McCoy, is how good he looks entering camp. Coaches and teammates alike have spoken about a leaner build. McCoy said that would make him even more effective – if you can get more effective than the season he had in 2013.
It’s going to be a wild ride that all kicks off with the first preseason game on Aug. 8. That puts us just one step closer to the start of the season.
Kevin Durso is a contributor for Eagledelphia. Follow him on Twitter @KDursoPhilsNet.
