Friday 3 August 2018 16:13, UK
While almost every Philadelphia Eagles player has called training camp a "grind", they all tend to love what they do, writes James Simpson.
We see the feisty side of players on the field. The competitiveness, the fire, the violence - they are all on show on Sundays. But seeing them outside of that, in a more comfortable, relaxed environment, you realise how much fun it is for most of these men.
Multiple players gave their British accents - unprompted. Guard Brandon Brooks said "I know how big soccer is over there - I've seen Green Street Hooligans". Defensive end Michael Bennett chose to begin his training camp explanation with a shout of "Dear Britain".
While almost every player I've spoken to so far has called training camp a "grind", they all tend to love what they do.
Camp is a time to hone your craft. The headline may be "Nelson Agholor burns the defense deep", but think about the goal of practice: it's for players to learn new concepts, coaches to introduce and teach them, and for players to improve their skills.
If cornerback 'X' happens to be working on their backpedalling technique while wide receiver 'Y' is aiming for straight line speed, it's not a fair fight. Something happening over and over is a sign, but be wary of gaining too much from one play.
There is so much to see. Players rotate in and out. But over time, you realise who the 'big boys' are. Zach Ertz's size and strength have been on display, Darren Sproles flies around the place while other running backs look slow in comparison. Malcolm Jenkins covers the whole of the field from the defense.
On the flip side, the difference in size, strength and throwing power accuracy between Nick Foles/Wentz and fourth-stringer Joe Callahan was clear to see. Over the next few weeks, those players who can't live up to the standard will likely be back at home looking for new gigs.
Markus Wheaton explained how much this time means to the players here. "Training camp is where you can actually get better," he said. "There's so much competition. You've got guys trying to make the team, guys that are undrafted, guys that were drafted trying to prove themselves.
"You've got vets. Some are special teamers - you know they will go hard. Some are really established and can chill a little bit - older guys. It's different for everybody, but in my opinion, this is the time you can make huge improvements."
With 90 players fighting to make the cut-downs and ultimately, the 53-man roster, the large majority of players need to prove themselves to stand out.
The big takeaway from the day: Wentz is almost a full-go at this point. He's still wearing the brace, but it didn't seem to stop him sprinting, juking, and competing in the 11-on-11 portion of practice. He's not taking any contact from defensive players, but you wouldn't be able to tell he was returning from a torn ACL if you didn't know.
The coaches and players were loud today. With the pads on for the first time, the defense, in particular, could be heard hooting and hollering. You get the feeling these guys have been waiting too long to hit someone.
As mentioned above, stars stand out. In a running portion of the practice, three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Fletcher Cox throws veteran tight end Richard Rodgers into the backfield. Cox looks like a man among boys at times. Similarly, Wentz drew gasps and cheers from the crowd with some of the throws he makes.
The highlight of the day was conversations with veteran defensive lineman Chris Long and Michael Bennett, who sit side-by-side in the locker room. As I first wandered over and starting speaking with Long, Bennett asked "what do you think about the Commonwealth Games?" before directing a rookie to get Long a slushie because he was "parched and would like one of these. "See if they've got orange and green," he said.
Getting back on point, Long said he'd really like to get to London outside of a game (his Rams were beaten 45-7 by the Patriots in 2012) and "hit the pubs". Like I have every player, I asked him to describe his training camp experience.
"You basically come in at 7.30 and you leave at 9. Usually you have a two-and-a-half-hour practice with full pads on, you have meetings throughout the day, you have a walk-through that lasts about an hour, then you have a lift usually in there somewhere. So you're not only on your feet a lot, you're in meetings too.
"You stay in a hotel or you stay in a dorm somewhere, you're away from your family and really, your down time is just little pieces throughout the day with team-mates, and then you get to sleep."
Bennett, who said he's been to London a lot, said: "I like going to Harrods. They've got all the good food downstairs. I've been to the London Eye. I like the parks, I like London. It's just super expensive though."
He called training camp "obsessive. It's almost like you are living in Groundhog Day. You just keep doing it over and over and over and you wake up and do it over and over again.
"You think you keep daydreaming but then it's really reality. You're hitting somebody over and over and over again. It just becomes boring but it's fun because you get to build camaraderie with your team-mates. It's just a boring process."
I asked Bennett - who is entering his tenth season - how this camp compares to those he's been at previously.
"All boring."
That's it for day three. I'll be back for the fourth day of training camp on Sunday before the players have a day off on Monday.
