Eagles Enjoying Pro Bowl Experience; Rule Changes Could Make Game Interesting

Here's more on the five players who made it and some rule changes being tested and could carry into the regular season, especially the coin toss "spot and choose"

By all accounts via social media, Darius Slay has had the time of his life in Las Vegas this past week.

No surprise.

If we’ve learned anything about Slay off the field these past two years he’s been in Philadelphia is that he certainly seems to love living life to the fullest on and off the field. He’s in the Pro Bowl for the fourth time but said earlier in the season it’s his goal to make it every year.

"Being recognized as one of the best cornerbacks in the game, yeah, it's special,” he said prior to learning that he would in fact be named to another Pro Bowl. “I don't know who wouldn't want that kind of recognition."

The Pro Bowl will be played at Allegiant Stadium

The game may not mean much, but the honor it brings and the few days leading up to the game, with the fanfare and practices, does to the players.

It’s a chance to be around peers who are considered the best the game has to offer, even though getting a Pro Bowl berth isn’t an exact science, as Eagles offensive tackles Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata know very well.

Both Eagles were worthy of being selected to the game but aren’t in Vegas.

In addition to Slay, the Eagles who earned Pro Bowl spots were Jason Kelce, Javon Hargrave, Josh Sweat, and Jake Elliott.

Darius Slay

2021 stats: 16 games, 52 tackles, 3 interceptions, 3 defensive touchdowns

Jason Kelce

Notes: Has made 122 straight starts, first-team All-Pro for a fourth time

Javon Hargrave

2021 stats: 7.5 sacks, 63 tackles, 9 tackles for loss

Josh Sweat

Ed Kracz/SI.com Eagle Maven

2021 stats: 7.5 sacks, 45 tackles, 7 tackles for loss

Jake Elliott

John McMullen/SI Fan Nation Eagles Today

2021 stats: 30-for-33 on field goals, 3-for-3 from 50-plus yards, 44-for-44 PATs 

Kelce was voted a starter, like Slay, but has chosen not to participate as he allows his mind and body to recover while deciding whether to retire or return for the 2022 season

Hargrave, Sweat, and Elliott were alternates added after players ahead of them either chose not to play or are in next weekend’s Super Bowl.

"It feels great to be around some of the best in the world," said Hargrave on the Eagles’ website. "This is my dream. My dream was to go to the NFL and play and make it to the Pro Bowl, so it's been a great feeling. I'm here to enjoy it. It's a rare experience so I'm out here having fun at practice, fun with the players, and just enjoying this moment because this is a rare moment.

"Every moment for me has been great. I wake up and smile just walking around. I'm happy and grateful for it."

Hargrave and Sweat both recorded career-highs in sacks with 7.5 each this past season.

“I know that I've got a lot more in me,” said Sweat on the team’s website. "I'm making progress, but I'm not there yet. It's gonna happen, so I'm going to keep working hard and good things are going to come from that hard work."

There is never any real defense played in the Pro Bowl, which makes it a difficult watch, but there are some rule changes the game will employ that could carry over into the regular season, and that may make it worth tuning into.

There will be no kickoffs.

When a team scores it will have the option of giving the opponent the ball on their own 25-yard line, or they can attempt a fourth-and-15 from their own 25-yard line in an effort to keep the ball.

It’s a change designed to test the potential alternative to onside kicks.

Then there’s the “spot and choose” rule, something proposed by the Baltimore Ravens in 2021 to change the current overtime rules, which came under fire in this year’s Divisional Round of the playoffs between the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills.

The rule gives a team that wins the opening coin toss – or OT coin toss – the choice of two things. They can choose to play offense or defense or choose where to spot the ball on the field.

If they choose offense, then the team that didn’t win the toss can choose where to make them start, which would likely mean the ball being put at the 1-yard line and forcing a long drive for potential points.

The flip side is if the team that wins the coin toss chooses ball placement, the other team can elect to play offense or defense from that spot.

It brings more strategy into the coin toss.

Other rule changes being given a test run in the Pro Bowl include a play clock that begins at 35 seconds instead of 40 and an incomplete pass would no longer stop the clock automatically until the last two minutes of the first half or the last five minutes of the second half.

These rules are to examine the pace of play.

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.