By Scott Salomon
METAIRIE, La. — Philadelphia Eagles coach Nick Sirianni urged his players to “focus and refocus” during their first practice in advance of Super Bowl LIX.
“It’s not a normal week,” he said. “You want to keep it as normal as possible, but the times are different, the obligations are different. The game’s not normal either. … So, just focus and refocus — it’s a good prep for the game.”
The Eagles practiced for two hours at the New Orleans Saints’ practice facility. Roughly 20 minutes were allocated to stretching and warm-up drills before they got into their 11-on-11 team drills and special teams work.
Sirianni said he tried to maintain some sense of regularity for players, keeping practice similar to what the team would normally have on a Wednesday afternoon during the regular season.
“Our goal for right now is how do we eliminate distractions and continue to get better?” he said. “For a lot of guys, this isn’t their first time here, which I think is really important. I feel like our guys are locked in to what they need to do and are enjoying some time together.”
Four players participated on a limited basis: defensive tackle Jalen Carter (illness), running back Kenneth Gainwell (concussion, knee), wide receiver DeVonta Smith (hamstring) and defensive end Brandon Graham (elbow).
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Left guard Landon Dickerson (knee) and center Cam Jurgens (back) were full participants, along with linebacker Zack Baun (groin), receiver Britain Covey (neck), and tight ends Dallas Goedert (ankle) and C.J. Uzomah (abdomen).
Graham and Uzomah were designated to return from injured reserve last week.
“They’re doing everything they can to get themselves ready to go,” Sirianni said of Graham and others hoping to be healthy enough to play Sunday. “I’ll never put limitations on them. We’ll see where they are as the week progresses.”
Following the afternoon workout and any post-practice work for players, the team returned to their hotel in New Orleans where coaches planned to review the practice tape before meeting with players in breakout sessions.
“We’ll meet with them tonight, review this tape, then sleep, rest, focus and refocus,” Sirianni said. “Again, it’s just constantly coming back to controlling what you can control, which is what we’ve talked about all year.”
