Jason Kelce Believes in This Week's Advantage of 'Self-Assessment'
PHILADELPHIA - Nick Sirianni was true to his word Thursday when it came to the first of two bye-week practices for the top-seeded Eagles.
"One thing I can say, that I will say, is that fundamentals are going to be a big part of winning in the playoffs," the Philadelphia coach said earlier in the week. "Just like we believe it really is in the regular season, as well, right?
"Fundamentals."
In the playoffs that only ramps up when it's usually a good team vs. a good team.
"This player is a good player, that player is a good player, this coach is going to call a good play, that coach is going to call a good play. What it comes down to is your fundamentals," said Sirianni.
Some members of the Eagles coaching staff will be doing advanced work on all four potential divisional-round opponents but without an actual, something that could come as early as Saturday or as late as next Monday night, focused game planning will have to wait.
So Sirianni hit the rewind button.
"We'll have a little bit more time for individual [work] this week to get back to some of the fundamentals that you might not have enough time to do in the year, kind of more so like a training camp practice or an OTA practice where you have more time," he said. "That doesn't mean we're not going to be in pads or anything like that.
"All that means is there's going to be a little bit more time devoted to that individual like there was in OTAs and training camp."
Sure enough, the Eagles were in pads on Thursday and the focus was more on individual technique and fundamentals in the portion of practice open to the media.
Pro Bowl center Jason Kelce believes that respite is the biggest advantage the bye affords a team.
"All in-season you are doing a lot of outward focus, focusing on the game plan, focusing on the plays that are going to allow you to be successful in a certain situation," the always-thoughtful Jason Kelce said.
"Whereas now this week we get to really hone in on what allows me to be successful, what allows our line to be successful intrinsically, from our own technique to communication to all those things that you can't practice over the course of the season.
"You get to refocus on them and rehone them. That's one of the biggest things about this week."
Former Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz said the offseason is for teaching, training camp is for evaluation, and the season is about the next opponent and nothing else.
Getting to press the pause button is invaluable, according to Kelce.
"Obviously rest is great but you are not going to gain that much physicality with a week off at this point of the season," he admitted. "It's been a long season. Everyone is still going to be sore next week."
The edge is in the margins if you can harness it and use it, according to the center
While the six other teams alive in the NFC are focusing on their upcoming opponents, the Eagles are working on getting themselves better.
"I really do think the biggest advantage is that little shift from assessment of somebody else to self-assessment because we fully believe that success on game day at the end of the day is gonna come down to us," Kelce said. "When we make mistakes, when we turn the ball over, all these things are very controllable from our point of view.
"That's gonna determine whether we win or lose."
-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Football 24/7 and a daily contributor to ESPN South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen