To Play or Not to Play

With a chance to make history, the 13-3 Philadelphia Eagles face big questions ahead of their final regular season game.

On the latest episode of “Q&A” on “Inside The Birds,” former Eagles standouts Quintin Mikell and Jason Avant discussed recent developments surrounding the team. 

GETTY IMAGES: Philadelphia Eagles RB Saquon Barkley is just over 100 yards away from the NFL record.

Saquon Barkley

Jason Avant: “There is nothing to play for. The only thing that you can play for is do you want the NFL history in your hands, known as the Eagles’ offensive line, Saquon Barkley, and Jeff Stoutland has become the greatest running attack in the history of the NFL? Do you want that or do you want to try to win the Super Bowl, which is not guaranteed?”

Quintin Mikell: “This is a record that stood for almost 40 years. I trust in the conditioning of Saquon, I trust in this line. I say go for the record. It’s a forever record, they have earned it. This is something the entire offensive line and Coach Stout, this is a record for the entire team. I say do that.”

Avant: “The reason I don’t think they’ll do it is because they have the end goal, which is the championship. You only have this championship window for so long, you don’t know what’s happening with a lot of guys on this team. You don’t want to waste that championship window on a stat rather than the final goal which is winning the Super Bowl, so I get that. But I also get the fact that this has never been done before.”

Jalen Hurts

Mikell: “If you go into a situation where he missed three quarters of the Commanders game and now this game, now you’re looking at three games that he has missed. For Jalen, he needs those reps, that continuous experience. When you get to the playoffs, everything is different. Teams play harder, move faster, the game speeds up tremendously.”

Pass Rush

Mikell: “Their primary focus is being gap sound, especially against the run, and then after they take care of their responsibilities they get to the quarterback. But when this front cuts it loose and stunt and move around, they can generate a lot of pass rush. I’m not too concerned with it.”

Avant: “I think they have all the right ingredients. I don’t see quarterbacks just taking all day to throw, they may have a little bit of time but the pocket is compressing. There’s usually interior pass rush on every passing opportunity with Jalen Carter and Milton Williams.”

Quinyon Mitchell

Avant: “Quinyon has some days ahead of him where he’s going to get challenged. As long as he has the mentality that he has right now: he got beat on a few plays, came back and put himself in position and didn’t get beat for the rest of the game, he has to have that.”

Red Zone Defense

Mikell: “This is something that has to get better, red zone defense in general but especially inside the five. I think it’s the loss of focus and understanding what the offense is trying to do and understanding everything down there, especially five yards and in, is fast. You don’t need to get a lot of depth, just make a decision quickly, understand where the leverage is, and take the air out of all the routes.”

– Benjamin Paul is a staff writer for InsideTheBirds.com.