Joint NFL practices aren’t typically on the radar for many fans around the league. However, the practices between the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots this week certainly are.
It’s the first time new Patriots wide receiver A.J. Brown will see a lot of his former Eagles teammates. Furthermore, he will square off against them in a practice setting.
Bad blood could spill over. Actually, it sounds as though players might expect it to.
More than a week before joint practices with the Patriots, Eagles defensive lineman Jalen Carter was already looking ahead at what he will get out of them.
“I come out and play my game and have fun and try to bring that little edge to give a boost to the d-line, the whole defense or the whole team,” said Carter, via ESPN’s Tim McManus.
“If I was to get into any altercations, I don’t try to start them. I just finish them.”
Carter made that statement on August 11. Yet, the quote is still circulating online through both Eagles and Patriots media this week.
The two teams will meet for joint practices on Wednesday and Thursday. They will then square off in Week 2 of the preseason on Saturday night.
Jalen Carter Message to Patriots Turning Heads
GettyPhiladelphia Eagles defensive lineman Jalen Carter delivered a message to the New England Patriots that’s making its way through the media ahead of joint practices.
It’s probably a stretch to say Carter has gone viral based on that comment on not starting altercations but finishing them.
McManus’ video of Carter’s answer from August 11 received a little more than 130,000 views. Another Eagles account sharing the quote received 87,000 views on the X post.
Typically, social media posts or videos need close to 1 million views to be considered “viral.”
But the media has certainly taken notice of Carter’s response. Eagles outlets covered the story on August 11. Patriots media entered the news cycle with the story shortly afterwards.
On Tuesday, NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Reuben Frank highlighted the quote in his preview for the Eagles-Patriots joint practices.
Joint practices around the league have become notorious for fighting. The Eagles and Patriots have each been to the Super Bowl the past two seasons, so the competition between the two squads this week couldn’t be any higher.
Then the Brown storyline just adds to the intrigue.
Eagles-Patriots to Meet in NFL Preseason Week 2
The media appears to be itching to cover some fights in the Eagles-Patriots joint practices. Yet, the ultimate goal of the practices from the Eagles player’s perspectives doesn’t change.
Frank wrote Philadelphia’s starters won’t play in any exhibition games. So practices versus the Patriots is their one opportunity to see another opponent before September.
“Great competition, new competition,” Jalen Hurts said, via Frank. “That’s a really good team. They had a great run last year, so that’ll be good for for us to go out there and compete against them.
“I just think (we need to) carry on the same things that we’ve been able to do to this point (in training camp), continue to exercise what we’ve learned, continue to improve, continue to coach and detail things out, get that alignment that we’ve been talking about all camp.”
With that in mind, too many fights Wednesday and Thursday would be counterintuitive. The Eagles need these practices to work out their issues before the regular season.
Philadelphia’s backups will get game repetitions against the Patriots in the preseason as well. The two teams will kick off at 7 pm at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro on Saturday night.
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