Eagles News: DeVonta Smith loves Wawa

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Eagles star admits: ‘I have a Wawa addiction!’ - NJ.com
For a guy from Louisiana who played at the University of Alabama, it didn’t take Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith long to become a Jersey guy. While admitting that he put on weight after entering the NFL at 170 pounds as a rookie last season, Smith on Thursday revealed the reason for his growing midsection. “I did add a little weight,” Smith said via NFL Network reporter Cameron Wolfe. “Just overall eating more and eating better. I’m not going to say that I still eat the healthiest, but I do eat better than what I was doing.” He added: “You know what’s crazy? I have a Wawa addiction. Wawa sandwiches? I literally eat one every day.” His favorite? “The honey turkey.”

Eagles Training Camp Practice Notes: Not a strong finish for Jalen Hurts - BGN
The final tally is five stock up days, five stock even days, and six stock down days. If you want to include Hurts’ good preseason showing against the New York Jets in there, you can bump him up to six stock up days.

BGN Radio Training Camp Interview Series: Ross Tucker on press box food + his favorite venue for college games - BGN Radio
On the latest episode of the BGN Radio Training Camp Interview Series, Jimmy Kempski and Brandon Lee Gowton spoke with former player and current broadcaster Ross Tucker about NFL press box food, his favorite venue for college games and whether or not he misses playing football.

The Eagles’ 5 biggest training camp surprises - NBCSP
Zach Pascal: When the Eagles signed Pascal I thought, OK, good locker room guy, solid special teamer, outstanding blocker, but with this wide receiver corps, he’s not catching any passes. I was so wrong. Pascal can play. Since the day he came back from his bout with food poisoning, he’s been making plays all over the field. He’s got good size, runs good routes and he catches everything. I’m still not sure exactly what his role will be, but he will have one. Pascal did average 41 catches the last three years with the Colts, and something in that neighborhood wouldn’t surprise me, even in this deep WR group. Pascal is way better than I expected.

Spadaro: Jalen Hurts is hungry to take his game to the next level - PE.com
Hurts has been asked about “which areas do you think you’ve most improved on since camp started” every time he’s sat in front of a microphone this summer and he has answered every time patiently, thoughtfully, and respectfully. Inquiring minds keep asking the same thing. And Hurts keeps answering. “Just an overall understanding of what I’m supposed to do, doing my job and doing my job at a high level,” Hurts said. “Knowing what’s right and knowing what’s wrong. I’ve always had a very high standard for myself, so I’m taking that mentality that I’ve always had and just soaking up everything, growing, chasing growth every day, and I think that’s allowed me to grow as a quarterback.”

NBC Sports Philadelphia expected to add Ron Jaworski to Eagles coverage - Inquirer
NBC Sports Philadelphia is expected to add former Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski to its Birds coverage this season, according to network sources.Jaworski, known to most fans as simply “Jaws,” would join the network’s Eagles pre- and postgame coverage. No contract has been signed, but Jaworski is expected to join NBC Sports Philadelphia ahead of the Eagles Week 1 matchup against the Detroit Lions on Sept. 11, sources not authorized to speak publicly have confirmed.

Steelers claim a safety off waivers, release Donovan Stiner - Behind The Steel Curtain
The Pittsburgh Steelers continued to tweak their 80-man offseason roster. On Wednesday it was reported by Aaron Wilson of the Pro Football Network the Steelers were awarded safety Elijah Riley off of waivers from the New York Jets. Undrafted out of Army in 2020, Riley signed with the Philadelphia Eagles following the NFL Draft. Failing to make the 53-man roster, Riley landed on the practice squad and was elevated for the Eagles matchup against the Steelers. In mid December, Riley was signed to the active roster and finished the season with five games played but with only four snaps on defense and 65 on special teams.

Cowboys rumors: Retired veteran tackle Andrew Whitworth says Cowboys have reached out to him - Blogging The Boys
Near the end of his answer he joked that his wife Melissa and their family is ultimately in charge of making the call on whether or not he will return to professional football. He may be extremely happy in retirement or interested in playing for Dallas, the fact that he noted this publicly is certainly very interesting. There is no question that Whitworth would be among the best possible ways that the Cowboys could navigate a Tyron-less life. Maybe they can convince his family to let it all happen one more time for him.

Giants-Jets practice report: Takeaways, observations, and another injury - Big Blue View
Of course the Giants couldn’t get through practice without an injury. As practice wound down the Giants ran sprints — 10, 20, 30 and 40-yarders. Halfway through the 40-yard sprint Azeez Ojulari, the second-year linebacker who missed the first three weeks of camp with a hamstring injury, pulled up and walked off the field with trainers. Initial reports are that it is a lower leg injury not related to the hamstring injury. Initial reports from the Giants are that the injury does not appear to be serious. The Giants are already dealing with several injuries at the edge defender position. Kayvon Thibodeaux is out for the next few weeks with a sprained MCL, Elerson Smith has missed the past couple of weeks with a foot injury and Jihad Ward has also been out of action for the past two to three weeks.

Washington’s 2020 defense was a mirage - Hogs Haven
In looking back over these 7 games - 43% of the schedule - the team collected 57% of its interceptions (9 of 16), 62% of its sacks (29 of 47), and 100% of its victories against a rogue’s gallery of some of the worst QBs in the league. Even when they faced a QB who approached respectability, like Burrow, he was replaced during the game with one of the worst back-ups in the league. I’ll confess, my own recollection of the 2020 defense was far rosier before looking up the data and writing this piece. Having evaluated the unit with this information, it seems fairly clear that 2021 was probably a much more accurate reflection of this defense’s ability than 2020 was, and that we should probably be bracing ourselves for another bottom third defensive finish, unless something dramatic and unexpected occurs.

Predicting NFL teams most likely to improve in 2022: Numbers, history show Bills, Broncos, Jaguars, Lions, Ravens will win more games - ESPN+
No team has been more frustrating on this side of the column than the Jaguars, who were highlighted in 2017 as the most likely team in the league to improve. They made a stunning trip to the postseason. They were back on that side of the column again in 2018, only to collapse after a blowout victory over the Patriots. Back again in 2021, they only narrowly improved their record in coach Urban Meyer’s lone season at the helm, going from 1-15 to 3-14. I’m willing to get hurt again, and it’s not just because the Jaguars have replaced Meyer with Doug Pederson, the guy who led that Eagles team to that stunning Super Bowl victory I just mentioned. Pederson wasn’t the most exciting hire of the offseason, but it’s easy to make the argument that Jacksonville would realize a massive gain by merely having a competent coach who doesn’t allegedly kick his own players in pregame warm-ups. The Jaguars weren’t particularly bad in close games (2-4) and didn’t really underperform their expected win total (3.4). They did recover a league-low 33.3% of their fumbles, but I wouldn’t use that as my sole reason for putting them on this list. There’s another factor that has a strong track record of regressing toward the mean and driving improvement after a dismal season, and this team fits it better than any other.

2022 Fantasy Football Draft Guide - DraftKings Nation
The 2022 NFL season is just around the corner and we have all the rankings and drafting tier sheets to get your fantasy football team off to a great start. With just a couple clicks, you can check out our PPR, standard, IDP, and dynasty rankings.

Matt Araiza, 2 other San Diego State football players, accused of gang rape in lawsuit - SB Nation
Content warning: this story contains details of graphic sexual violence. Matt Araiza and two other San Diego State football players have been accused of gang rape in a civil lawsuit. The suit was reported by the Los Angeles Times. The alleged gang rape occurred at an off-campus party at Araiza’s home in Oct. 2021. The alleged victim was 17 years old at the time of the incident. Araiza is accused of raping a minor outside the home, and being part of a gang rape that occurred inside the home. San Diego State offensive lineman Zavier Leonard and former defensive lineman Pa’a Ewaliko are also named in the suit. The alleged victim, who is now 18 years old, said Araiza handed her a drink that she believes contained “other intoxicating substances” aside from alcohol. The Los Angeles Times has the gruesome details of the suit. This comes with a trigger warning for sexual violence.

NFL University #54: the News, Teams we’re Buying, & Teams we’re Selling - The SB Nation NFL Show
Welcome back to another edition of NFL University! Stephen Serda, Kyle Posey, and Justis Mosqueda discuss the news and notes from around the league–including Tom Brady almost going to the Raiders. As preseason comes to a close we’re ready to pick the top teams we’re buying and which ones we’re selling. Each show member picks two teams they are willing to ride with this season–and one team they are running away from.

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