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he coordinators break down the X's and O's every Thursday and in this week's Coach's Clipboard, defensive coordinator Jim Johnson braces for Dallas tight end Jason Witten, offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg wants to see continued improvement in the scoring department and special teams coordinator Rory Segrest praises the emergence of Sav Rocca .
Johnson: Gocong vs. Witten?
Chris Gocong was drafted to help the Eagles cover tight ends better, but so far this season, he has spent very little time matched up with one in man coverage.
Philadelphia plays against a great one Sunday night in the Cowboys Jason Witten, and in his Thursday press conference defensive coordinator Jim Johnson shed no light on how much Gocong would cover him.
"(He will) at times," Johnson said. "At times."
The NFC East is choc full of good tight ends, and Witten is having the best season of all of them. So far this year, the Eagles have had trouble containing pass-catching tight ends, and that could spell trouble against Witten who leads the Cowboys in receiving.
"He's a premier tight end," Johnson said. "The thing about him is, he doesn't have great speed like maybe a (Jeremy) Shockey - he can get down field - but he's a big body. He has excellent hands."
Witten has caught 42 balls for 540 yards and two touchdowns, and has become a security blanket for Dallas quarterback Tony Romo. His large frame allows him to work in the middle of the field, and his soft hands make him a valuable weapon for Romo as a check-down option when he feels pressure.
"If you get the ball around him, he is going to make the catch. You see very few drops," Johnson said. "Besides that he's a good blocker, he's a complete tight end."
Mornhinweg: Passing Game Better, Scoring Not
Offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg said that although the Eagles' passing game has improved, the team needs to score more points.
"Our passing game is starting to come," Mornhinweg said. "It's getting better and better every week … but like I said before, more points."
The Eagles offense has struggled to put points on the board this season. They have scored 139, which ranks 15th in the league, but at this time last year, the Eagles had scored 206.
"We're doing some real good things," Mornhinweg said. "We're moving the ball. Typically, we're running and gunning pretty well, we're running the ball pretty well … more points, more points."
Mornhinweg reassured that as quarterback quarterback Donovan McNabb makes strides from his season-ending knee injury, so too, will the Eagles receivers.
It starts up front and Donovan's certainly the key man," Mornhinweg said. "We try to work hard and prepare and get better every day. Typically, that happens."
Wide receiver Reggie Brown had a big day against last Sunday against the Vikings, as he posted a career-high eight receptions for 105 yards. Fellow wideout, Kevin Curtis also pitched in with three receptions for 76 yards, something Mornhinweg accredits to McNabb taking more chances down field.
"When you're one-on-one down the field, that's when you put the ball up," Mornhinweg said. "If your receiver is in a pretty good position, or if you think he's going to get into a pretty good position, you put it up and let your receivers work."
With tight end L.J. Smith seemingly back from his battle with a nagging groin injury, the Eagles hopes of posting points in the red zone have been further enforced as each of Smith's 14 career touchdowns have come within 20 yards of the opponents end zone.
"He's feeling pretty good," Mornhinweg said of Smith, who has recorded five receptions for 34 yards this season. "There was a certain amount of plays we wanted him to play. We'll go from there and hopefully, we'll work him back in to play quite a little bit in the next several weeks."
Segrest: Rocca Gaining Confidence, Consistency
Consistency has been the goal for Sav Rocca all season, and last Sunday, the rookie punter probably had the best American football game of his life.
Rocca averaged 52.8 gross yards on his four punts, tying an Eagles single-game record (Jeff Feagles, 1992 vs. Dallas), and unleashed bombs of 64 and 65 yards on consecutive kicks in the fourth quarter.
"He got better with each punt there and hopefully developed a little bit of confidence going into this game," special teams coordinator Rory Segrest said. "Hopefully he'll continue to improve from this point."
Rocca had been shaky at best through the first six games of the season, often following good punts with poor ones. Segrest said that last Sunday was the most comfortable Rocca had ever looked kicking an American football since he began the transition from Australian Rules.
An Aussie Rules football is more like a rugby ball than an American football and Rocca has said ever since he won the job from Dirk Johnson at the end of the training camp that he needed to continue to work on his mechanics.
"He continues to get better each week," Segrest said. "It's just the base fundamentals there, and the more he reps the better he'll get."
The next test for Rocca is duplicating his great performance outside. Punting in the climate controlled Metrodome is much different than punting outside in the elements at Lincoln Financial Field.
"We practice outside the majority of the time - we can't practice in the indoor building to work on our punts - so he's gotten better outside," Segrest said. "Again, it's just the base fundamentals of things."
http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/news/Story.asp?story_id=14331
Johnson: Gocong vs. Witten?
Chris Gocong was drafted to help the Eagles cover tight ends better, but so far this season, he has spent very little time matched up with one in man coverage.
Philadelphia plays against a great one Sunday night in the Cowboys Jason Witten, and in his Thursday press conference defensive coordinator Jim Johnson shed no light on how much Gocong would cover him.
"(He will) at times," Johnson said. "At times."
The NFC East is choc full of good tight ends, and Witten is having the best season of all of them. So far this year, the Eagles have had trouble containing pass-catching tight ends, and that could spell trouble against Witten who leads the Cowboys in receiving.
"He's a premier tight end," Johnson said. "The thing about him is, he doesn't have great speed like maybe a (Jeremy) Shockey - he can get down field - but he's a big body. He has excellent hands."
Witten has caught 42 balls for 540 yards and two touchdowns, and has become a security blanket for Dallas quarterback Tony Romo. His large frame allows him to work in the middle of the field, and his soft hands make him a valuable weapon for Romo as a check-down option when he feels pressure.
"If you get the ball around him, he is going to make the catch. You see very few drops," Johnson said. "Besides that he's a good blocker, he's a complete tight end."
Mornhinweg: Passing Game Better, Scoring Not
Offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg said that although the Eagles' passing game has improved, the team needs to score more points.
"Our passing game is starting to come," Mornhinweg said. "It's getting better and better every week … but like I said before, more points."
The Eagles offense has struggled to put points on the board this season. They have scored 139, which ranks 15th in the league, but at this time last year, the Eagles had scored 206.
"We're doing some real good things," Mornhinweg said. "We're moving the ball. Typically, we're running and gunning pretty well, we're running the ball pretty well … more points, more points."
Mornhinweg reassured that as quarterback quarterback Donovan McNabb makes strides from his season-ending knee injury, so too, will the Eagles receivers.
It starts up front and Donovan's certainly the key man," Mornhinweg said. "We try to work hard and prepare and get better every day. Typically, that happens."
Wide receiver Reggie Brown had a big day against last Sunday against the Vikings, as he posted a career-high eight receptions for 105 yards. Fellow wideout, Kevin Curtis also pitched in with three receptions for 76 yards, something Mornhinweg accredits to McNabb taking more chances down field.
"When you're one-on-one down the field, that's when you put the ball up," Mornhinweg said. "If your receiver is in a pretty good position, or if you think he's going to get into a pretty good position, you put it up and let your receivers work."
With tight end L.J. Smith seemingly back from his battle with a nagging groin injury, the Eagles hopes of posting points in the red zone have been further enforced as each of Smith's 14 career touchdowns have come within 20 yards of the opponents end zone.
"He's feeling pretty good," Mornhinweg said of Smith, who has recorded five receptions for 34 yards this season. "There was a certain amount of plays we wanted him to play. We'll go from there and hopefully, we'll work him back in to play quite a little bit in the next several weeks."
Segrest: Rocca Gaining Confidence, Consistency
Consistency has been the goal for Sav Rocca all season, and last Sunday, the rookie punter probably had the best American football game of his life.
Rocca averaged 52.8 gross yards on his four punts, tying an Eagles single-game record (Jeff Feagles, 1992 vs. Dallas), and unleashed bombs of 64 and 65 yards on consecutive kicks in the fourth quarter.
"He got better with each punt there and hopefully developed a little bit of confidence going into this game," special teams coordinator Rory Segrest said. "Hopefully he'll continue to improve from this point."
Rocca had been shaky at best through the first six games of the season, often following good punts with poor ones. Segrest said that last Sunday was the most comfortable Rocca had ever looked kicking an American football since he began the transition from Australian Rules.
An Aussie Rules football is more like a rugby ball than an American football and Rocca has said ever since he won the job from Dirk Johnson at the end of the training camp that he needed to continue to work on his mechanics.
"He continues to get better each week," Segrest said. "It's just the base fundamentals there, and the more he reps the better he'll get."
The next test for Rocca is duplicating his great performance outside. Punting in the climate controlled Metrodome is much different than punting outside in the elements at Lincoln Financial Field.
"We practice outside the majority of the time - we can't practice in the indoor building to work on our punts - so he's gotten better outside," Segrest said. "Again, it's just the base fundamentals of things."
http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/news/Story.asp?story_id=14331
