The locker stall to his left belongs to fellow rookie Markel Bell, now entrenched as a starter at right tackle in the wake of Lane Johnson’s abrupt retirement earlier this week.
The locker mate to his right is Jake Majors, a second-year interior lineman who spent the 2025 season, and first four games of this season, on the Eagles’ practice squad.
Majors, signed to the Eagles’ 53-man roster on Friday to bolster depth, is expected to log his first NFL start Sunday in London in place of an injured Drew Kendall. That, of course, is because Kendall — who started the previous three games there — has been ruled out after missing a full week of practice with a knee injury.
That also means that Morris receives a boost in the pecking order. While the newly configured line is expected to include Willie Lampkin at left guard, Majors at center and Bell at right tackle, as evidenced by the developments this week, Morris is a play away from having his number called.
That’s familiar territory for the rookie from Georgia, however, as he’s wired to always prepare as though he’ll be starting. And as the Eagles make the trip across the pond to take on the Jacksonville Jaguars, Morris no longer becomes a back-of-the-roster developmental lineman.
He’s now a critical piece to the puzzle, at least in the short-term, with the Eagles so light on numbers.
As part of a season-long Inside The Birds “Rookie Diary” series, I’ll be checking in with Morris every week, learning more about the first-year offensive lineman and chronicling his rookie campaign.
On Friday, we chatted for our fifth installment.
Andrew: So, I know last week when we spoke, you mentioned that your goals were focused on keeping your feet in the ground for pass protection, helping you with being grounded and having a strong base. How do you feel you fared with that? 
Micah: “Well, I think I did fairly good with it this week. Definitely as far as taking indy (individuals) to the actual team here, I feel like I did pretty good. It’s part of my improvement for sure.”
Andrew: Big news on Tuesday with Lane retiring. Beyond his on-field impact, what kind of presence did he bring to the room itself?
Micah: “I mean, he was, in my opinion, the definition of consistency here. He was here for so long and so dominant for so long. And then obviously his, I guess, outside of his work ethic, just how he approached everything. He was always on time, he was always on top of everything, and it was never… You knew what you were getting with him every day, and that was the best there is.
Andrew: How about Cam? Being an interior guy, what impact did he have on you as a young player?
Micah: “He had a huge impact on me. Like you were saying, he’s a center, you know? I’ve been practicing mostly at guard. So, just picking up little tips from him, whether it was in indy when I first got up here, and he was telling me that, ‘yeah, the hand placement was good and the strike is good, but my feet gotta be faster.’ Then that transitions to the keeping my feet grounded now. Like, even the little things that he told me initially that I was able to build off of. So, he definitely helped set the foundation for me.
“And then just the times that we’ve had dinner as an O-line, just the conversations I have with him, cracking jokes with him, laughing with him. Outside of the facility, he’s genuinely a great person, and I was honored to be able to suit up with him while he was here. And I’ll be missing him for sure.”
Andrew: How did you find out about the trade?
Micah: “I found out through Kel (Markel Bell), and I thought Kel was joking when he told me. I didn’t really believe it. Obviously, it’s a business and, I mean, anything happens, clearly. It was just shocking to me, just knowing all the hard work that he put in. And just making sure that everything that he gave and poured into me on and off the field — whether it’s about life, about football — just making sure I go out there and apply it and just try to be the best version of myself that I can.”
Andrew: I know some of the guys, like Jalen (Hurts) and Dallas (Goedert), said that they got a chance to actually see him because he was in the building at the time. When it happened, did you get a chance to actually say goodbye?
Micah: “Oh yeah, I got a chance to say goodbye to him and see him in person.”
Andrew: You got your first offensive snap against the Rams. What did it mean for you to kind of see your hard work pay off and get involved on the offensive side of things?
Micah: “It was pretty surreal. I say it was definitely a blessing, and just showing that if you keep stacking days, keep working, things will work out.”
Andrew: Nick Sirianni’s message this week was about locking arms and staying together. He said it, Jaylen mentioned it. How did that particular message resonate with you personally?
Micah: “I mean, with me it… We’ll have to go back to, I guess literally just playing football and understanding the reason I started playing football. It wasn’t just personal; it wasn’t a personal thing, it was for the love of the game. And the game, it’s 11 people out on each side trying to achieve the same goal. And it’s more specifically for offensive linemen; it’s five people moving as one. Especially for offensive linemen, just means continuing to work how we’ve been working. We’re always locked arms together. We might not physically be locked arms, but we’re side by side up front every time.”
Andrew: You played for a major college football program with always this constant spotlight there. How did you personally go about sort of eliminating distractions and focusing on the task at hand?
Micah: “Just staying in film, watching film, knowing your opponent … thing called KYP: know your personnel. So, just focusing on ball and not making it bigger than what it has to be, understanding that they suit up just like you do. Yes, I go to a big school, but the thing about big schools, we play other big schools, so they’re just as good as program as you are. So, you gotta come out there and bring it and don’t let the outside noise impact you.”
Andrew: Did you have family that came to the Rams game?
Micah: “No, I didn’t have family that came to the Rams. I probably won’t have family coming again till… I got my cousins coming to the Panthers game.”
Andrew: That was going be my next question, if they were going go out to London to see you play.
Micah: “No, but one of my high school buddies, he’s over there. He reached out to me, I think, three weeks ago. So, he’ll be there, so it’ll be good to see him. I hadn’t seen him in five or six years. He’s been out the country for a while, so it’ll be good to see him.”
Andrew: No pressure with this question (Micah lockers to the right of Bell), but you and Markel came in at the same time. How special is it for you to get to see him go out there and do his thing at right tackle?
Micah: “It’s amazing, man. I mean, he’s just so awesome. This guy’s awesome, man. But no, for real though, it’s, it’s amazing. Like you said, we came in together. Both came in, drafted rookies just trying to find our way, trying to figure things out. Obviously, he had Lane and I had Cam, Drew (Kendall), Landon (Dickerson) as far as the interior scheme. Like, we both had great, I guess, role models, or vets, to look up to, so to speak. And (Bell) has Jordan (Mailata) as well. We were put in such a great position, I would say. And then obviously, he’s taken advantage of it and he’s gonna go out there and ball out.”
Andrew: How about someone like your other locker mate, Jake Majors, who’s been here for a year. He’s now in year two, and there’s probably a lot of people on the outside who don’t know a lot about him. What can you say about what he’s done?
Micah: “He’s amazing. He shows up to work every day. He comes on board with his hard hat on. He doesn’t complain. He puts his best foot forward every day, and I have the utmost faith and trust in Jake. I mean, I love Jake. Like you said, he’s my locker mate. I talk to Jake every day. He’s a great person off the field, and he’s a great leader. He’s pretty much the quarterback of the line ’cause he’s gotta call all the mikes and everything. And he does his job, so I trust him.”
Andrew: Texas program record for career starts!
Micah: “I don’t really like Texas that much. Shout out to Jake, though. He cool. He cool.”
Andrew: [laughs] What’s that rivalry like, by the way?
Micah: “Oh, I mean, it’s hard to have a rivalry when they never beat us. It’s more like an opponent.”
Andrew: Do you guys go back and forth?
Micah: “I’ll remind him every time. He’s never beat me. I remind him every time.”
Andrew: I wanted to hear your perspective on Dameon Pierce. I assume that you work with him during practice a decent amount. What does he bring to the table in terms of skill set, and what should people know about him?
Micah: “He’s a very, very, very talented back. I remember him since college. But he’s a very talented back. Hard runner. He can make you miss in space. So, he’s a talented back and I’m looking forward to him getting his opportunity. I’m sure he’s gonna take advantage of it.”
Andrew: You kind of touched on this earlier, but with so much going on with the offensive line room earlier in the week, what’s the temperature like? I know Jordan leads the way, but how has he sort of kept everything together and settled things down?
Micah: “I mean, he’s kept us like, I guess — I don’t know if loose is the right word — but like he’s kept us smooth, as smooth as we can be, obviously. I mean, obviously, we lost a great leader to retirement and lost another great leader to trade. But at the same time, it’s a next man up mentality here, and he’s just emphasized that himself. ‘Cause whenever he came in, he wasn’t starting, but then he worked his way up, and then when his time arose, he took advantage of it.
“And he’s just trying to harp on the young guys or the guys who haven’t had that much experience that, ‘Hey, you’ve been practicing, you’ve been repping, you’ve been going against the best, so go out there and do your thing.’ And just instilling the faith that he has in us. And then obviously, we hear somebody like him says he believes in you and has the utmost trust in you, it boosts you even more. So, if you were kind of weary about, ‘I don’t know if I can do it,’ and you hear somebody like that tell you you got it, you got it.”
Andrew: Something I often hear, whether it’s from you — Jake said it yesterday — or anybody who I’ve really talked to is they prepare like a starter. Is that something that’s emphasized from the coaches? Is that something that’s inherent that you just kind of have ingrained in you?
Micah: “Well, I would say it’s definitely from the coaches, but me personally, that started back at Georgia with me, ’cause like I mentioned, I think our first interview we did, I didn’t come out starting initially at Georgia, so I had to trust the process. But at the same time, I saw the people in front of me getting drafted, so I knew if I stayed on track, stayed the course and believed and put in the work, when it was my time, I would go there and execute. And I was able to do that and everything worked out.”
Andrew: That kind of ties into my next question. When you were biding your time at Georgia and you weren’t starting, what were you doing behind the scenes to prepare yourself for that opportunity?
Micah: “Extra film review, watching what the guys who were taking snaps in front of me were doing. Trying to steal little things from them, whether it was certain techniques, certain change-ups as far as strikes, just trying to learn what I can from them and grab what I can from them to apply to my game to hopefully, if I have to step in, be able to sustain their level of play.”
Andrew: And how did you apply that experience here in Philadelphia, where again, kind of a similar situation, there’s a lot of offensive linemen in the room and you have to kind of be patient?
Micah: “Yeah, well, I mean, luckily Georgia prepared me for that, understanding trusting the process. So, not looking too far ahead and not getting down on myself, and knowing that whenever my time comes — and it will come — that I’ll be ready. But the only way I’ll be ready is to take advantage of the reps I’m getting at practice, so just taking everything serious.”
Andrew: Do you remember what it was like for you when you learned that you would be the starter at Georgia, and how that felt to work all those years and have it pay off like that?
Micah: “Well, the first time I realized I was gonna be a starter was, I think, ’cause Tate (Ratledge) got hurt the Tennessee game. So, I came in like after the first quarter, then we played ‘Bama at ‘Bama. That’s the last time we went to ‘Bama. And that whole week, it was pretty intense. I knew how big the rivalry was. But it was like, ‘Okay, it’s time.’ I mean, obviously it was stress. It was stress. I ain’t gonna lie. My chest was tight a little bit, but after that first hit, after that first piece of contact, it’s ball again. So, once the nervous butterflies get out of the way, it’s just ball again. That’s it. Then you just go back to your fundamentals and technique, and all the work that you put in, that’s what you’re gonna be.
“Whenever you’re fatigued, whenever you’re uncertain, you’re gonna go back to what your body knows, what you’ve been training, what you’ve been working for the whole time. So, that’s why individual and practice is so important because whenever you’re tired and you’re not 100%, whatever your default is, whatever you’re used to, that’s what you’re gonna be.”
Andrew: What do you know about London?
Micah: “I know the song by Young Thug and J. Cole. Then I think Central Cee is from London. And I know that nobody has guns over there, so they have a lot of stabbings. Yeah, that’s, that’s about it. I’ve never been out the country before but I’m looking forward to it. That’s all I know. I don’t know too much.”
Andrew: So, this answer might be interesting then. If you had 24 hours to kill in London, what would you do? How would you spend that time?
Micah: “I think I wanna go to the… Big Ben’s there, right?
Andrew: Yes.
Micah: “I would want to go see that. And then probably get, like, some souvenirs. That’s really it. I really don’t know. I think they still wear the uniforms at some of the gates, like the old school armored uniforms. I probably wanna go take a picture with them, but that’s it. I don’t know.”
Andrew: I think that you’ll offer an interesting perspective here. Going on an airplane, we all do it, but for an offensive lineman, how difficult is it? What are some of the challenges or some of the things you have to do? Do you have to get up and walk around or do anything like that?
Micah: “Well, I’ve never been on a flight this long. I remember flying out, we flew to L.A. That was a long flight and I had to stand up during that. So, probably every two or three hours I’ll take a nap. Whenever I wake up, I gotta stretch, walk around a little bit. So just not getting tight, ’cause if you lock up on that plane, you’re cooked. So yeah, I would do it.”
Andrew: What’s the plan? Go to sleep? You gonna watch anything?
Micah: “I’m gonna find some, some stuff to download tonight then I’m gonna watch that. I went to the movies last night, though. I went and saw “The Other Mommy.” It’s like a scary movie that just came out.
Andrew: Well, how would you grade it out?
Micah: “I’d give it like an 8 out of 10. I mean, it was good, but it’s like I’ve seen it before. It kind of puts you in the same sense of the “Smile” movie, how, like, you get possessed, but this time they were just trying to possess a little girl and she kept saying no. Like you can’t say… every time they ask, ‘Can I go in your heart?’ You just gotta say no. But it kinda reminds me of Smile, like the possession stuff. So, I wouldn’t say it’s original, but it was good. It has some good jump scares.”
Andrew: I know we’ve talked a lot about newer movies, but do you like older ones, like ’90s or anything like that?
Micah: Occasionally. I’ll usually watch those with my dad. So, my dad, whatever my dad will put me onto for that — my dad and my older brother — whatever they put me onto in that timeframe, I’ll watch.”
Andrew: I was gonna say, I watched one last night called “The Edge”. There’s this a group of three people who are stuck in, I think, Alaska, and they’re being stalked by a bear.
Micah: “Okay. I’ll have to watch that one.”
Andrew: It was really good.
Andrew: Any new Lego sets come in?
Micah: “Yeah. Which one came in… I know I ordered one. I have the Spider-Man already. I finished the Iron Man one. Hold on. Of course, my phone [static noise]. The Iron Man was the last one that I think I ordered. But then it was the Prime Day deal, so I ordered a Star Wars one, one of the ships. I don’t know which one, but it was on sale, so I ordered that one. That one should be there when I get back today. So yeah, that’s the newest one I got.”
Andrew: That should be interesting.
Micah: “Yeah. But I still have the Dr. Doom and the Spider-Man one to build, but I haven’t. I still haven’t built those.”
Andrew: I know last week you said you finished watching “A Different World”. What’s up next for you in terms of shows?
Micah: “Series? I don’t know right now. I don’t know. I need to find something, honestly. If I could find a show and download it, that would help out a lot actually with certain movies.”
Andrew: I wish I could help you but I am not very up to speed when it comes to shows. Movies? Yes.
Micah: “I think I might watch the new season of Ted Lasso. I think season four of Ted Lasso is out on Apple TV, so I might watch that, ’cause I’m midway through season three, so I can finish season three/start season four. I think I’m gonna do that. I’m gonna check that out.”
Andrew: Believe it or not, I’ve never seen an episode of that.
Micah: “It’s so hilarious. It is so hilarious. That and Tires with Shane Gillis.
Andrew: Tires, I love it.
Micah: “Tires is so [laughs] hilarious, bro. Tires is so funny.”
Andrew: So, get this. Around where I live, maybe 10 minutes from where I live, they actually film there. That’s where the tire place is.
Micah: “Are you serious?”
Andrew: Yeah, in West Chester.
Micah: “Okay. Yeah, that’s fire.”
Andrew: We never talked about this, are you a collector? Is there anything that you collect regularly?
Micah: “When I was growing up I used to collect Hot Wheels, but now I guess my thing is Legos now, I would say. And shoes. Shoes are, shoes are bad. My mom hates my shoes. Like, I have two closets full of shoes back home.”
Andrew: Oh, wow.
Micah: “Started from high school. Like, Jordans, LeBrons, normal Nikes. Any basketball shoe, like from when I was in high school up, I probably have at least one pair. So yeah, like I just love sneakers.”
Andrew: What’s your latest purchase?
Micah: “Well, I bought them all at the same time. I got the, I think, Tropical Pink Travis Scott’s, and then I got the Supreme Air Force Ones, the white ones.
Andrew: Oh, nice!
Micah: “Yeah, yeah. Got to.”
Andrew: Last one for you. What are one or two things that you’re working to achieve this week?
Micah: “This week, I’ll say building up confidence, ’cause I know that I’ve been putting in the work and just having more faith in myself, like I said. So, just building up the confidence. And then, independent hand striking, going back to that. I feel like my footwork and being grounded has been better, but now it’s time to get back on the independent hand strikes and making sure those are where they need to be.”
— Andrew DiCecco (@AndrewDiCecco) is the Eagles beat reporter for InsideTheBirds.com
