unCovering the Birds with Jeff McLane
Episodes
Free agency | What’s happened, what could happen next
13 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
NFL free agency is underway, and the first week was kind of...just nuts and bolts for the Eagles. Howie Roseman made sensible, measured decisions, hig...
A salary cap reckoning in free agency?
05 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A year ago, the Eagles’ roster seemed sound and solid. The franchise was coming off its second Super Bowl, buoyed by electric skill position players...
Howie Roseman, Nick Sirianni speak!
24 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
AJ Brown’s future, Sean Mannion’s hiring as offensive coordinator, Jeff Stoutland’s awkward exit, the Eagles’ strategy for free agency and the...
A.J. Brown, Sean Mannion's impact, and contract decisions: what the league will be saying about the Eagles at the combine
19 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The offseason is about to blast into full swing and, unlike this time a year ago, the Eagles are surrounded by question marks. On the heels of the tea...
Stoutland, Fangio, Mannion: What Jeff’s been hearing at the Super Bowl
05 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The Eagles failed to make it back to the Super Bowl this year, but, as The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane can vouch for during his trip to the ...
The Eagles' offensive coordinator search, Jalen Hurts, and more with The Athletic's Michael Silver
28 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Banged up offensive line? Underperforming star skill players? A quarterback who failed to lift his team? The 2025 edition of the Philadelphia Eagles c...
What do Jeffrey Lurie and Howie Roseman really think of Nick Sirianni?
16 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
There was a lot said during the Eagles’ end-of-season news conference, but nothing stood out more to The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane than ...
The Day After: What's next?
12 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The Eagles might have been disappointed, but deep down, they likely weren’t surprised. The team that showed up in a 23-19 Wild Card loss to the San ...
A Super Bowl repeat? Reasons for hope, doubt
09 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A common refrain from the NovaCare Complex during the Eagles’ up-and-down 2025 regular season has been that finding ways to win, regardless of style...
The Day After: An early look at Eagles vs. 49ers in Wild Card round
05 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Should the Eagles have rested most of their starters in Sunday’s regular season finale? After they blew a chance to jump up to the two-seed in the N...
The Day After: Can the Eagles sustain this formula for another deep playoff run?
29 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
With only one game to go in the regular season and the playoffs looming, there’s little reason to think the Eagles’ offense will or is capable of ...
The Day After (the day after): Are the Eagles really playing their best?
22 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Are the Eagles really playing their best football of the season? That was their head coach’s claim following the team’s solid performance against ...
Can the Eagles keep Nakobe Dean? (and other unrestricted free agents)
19 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Nakobe Dean’s value to the Eagles is as clear as the team’s improved defense performance since his return to play. Coming off his best game of the...
The Day After: Stock report after blowing out a bad team
15 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For a game, at least, the Eagles looked like world-beaters, not the hardest thing to do these days when facing the lowly Las Vegas Raiders. The real q...
Bad bunny
12 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
While cute and novel, the Positivity Bunny proved nothing short of an unceremonious bust. As soon as they could following a brutal overtime loss to th...
The Day After: A reckoning for Jalen Hurts
10 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The blame game on offense this season has been a constant back and forth. One week it’s the coordinator. The next, it’s the head coach and his sch...
Other problems, beyond the obvious
05 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Turn on sports talk radio or read coverage of the Philadelphia Eagles, and it's probably be impossible to find any analysis of the team’s recent woe...
The Day After: A loss of belief
29 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Things aren’t getting better; they’re getting worse. The theme doesn’t just apply to the Eagles’ Black Friday loss to the Chicago Bears. It fi...
Bonus: From Super Bowl triumph to personal tragedy, Byron Young keeps father's memory close
26 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Just weeks after a triumphant moment, Byron Young found himself dealing with the greatest tragedy of his life. Back in March, the defensive tackle ret...
The Day After: An indictment of Sirianni's scheme
25 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It looked like Sunday’s game in Dallas was going to be everything the Eagles needed. In the end, they wound up getting exactly what they deserved. L...
Troubles at tight end (and, possibly, behind the scenes)
21 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Between the scheme, the quarterback, the coaches calling plays, and the rest of the players responsible for executing them, the Eagles’ offense has ...
The Day After: The Eagles finally have an identity (sort of...)
17 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A.J. Brown might have been wrong. The Eagles' offense isn't just a "s--- show;" it's looking way worse. But enough about that side of the field, at le...
What's A.J. Brown's problem?
14 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Anytime a player goes public and describes an aspect of his team as a “s--- show,” you’ve got a story. When the person saying it is a star whose...
The Day After: Getting gritty in Green Bay
11 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It wasn’t flashy, but the Eagles certainly made a statement coming back from the bye with a gritty 10-7 win in Green Bay. They beat a good team, in ...
The Day After: How the Eagles reversed course heading into the bye
27 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The turnaround the Eagles orchestrated in less than three weeks was no small feat. The defending Super Bowl champs went from looking listless to inspi...
Explaining Saquon Barkley’s struggles
24 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Can the Eagles finally get Saquon Barkley going? The question feels like it’s the last big one left for the Eagles’ offense to answer this season,...
The Day After: Hurts, receivers lead major step forward
20 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Not only was Jalen Hurts called upon to step up, he got a phone call in the middle of his post-game press conference in Minnesota. “When you win, ev...
"Solutions" for Jalen Hurts
17 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
“Solutions.” This has been the buzzword of choice for Nick Sirianni this week, as he and the Eagles try to turn things around after back-to-back l...
The Day After: Is this (already) the inflection point?
10 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
There’s clearly something wrong with the Eagles. All that “wait-and-see” couching about it being early in the season and the need to be patient,...
The Day After: Why it's not time to panic...yet
06 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Eagles aren’t on the brink - not even close. But with a quick, four-day turnaround looming before their next game, another bad performance could...
What about DeVonta Smith, and the partnership between two "alpha" receivers?
03 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When the Eagles opened their locker room to the media this week for the first time since leaving Tampa with a victory, A.J. Brown’s latest social me...
The Day After: Should the Eagles get the benefit of the doubt, and thoughts on A.J. Brown's frustrations
29 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How can a team so successful continue to be the source of so many questions? This remains the state of the Eagles. They’re 4-0, and have gone 20-1 o...
Heading to Tampa, nightmare city, in hopes of hacking Todd Bowles
26 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Nick Sirianni hasn’t lost much in his four-plus seasons as Eagles head coach, but there’s one team that has his number: Tampa Bay. He’s 1-4 all-...
The Day After: Is it time to take off the kid gloves?
22 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Eagles’ 3-0 start to the 2025 regular season has been full of imperfections, but the NFL is a bottom line business, and the defending Super Bowl...
Jalen Hurts' favorite move: how he turned the "Dead Leg" into a running weapon
19 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jalen Hurts might not be the fastest. He might not be the most agile or smooth either. In spite of all that, Hurts has still established himself as on...
The Day After: Beating the Chiefs was big; are the offensive concerns real?
15 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Eagles’ 20-17 win over the Kansas City Chiefs was a good win. Pretty? Not so much, at least on the offensive side of the ball. The passing attac...
Kevin Patullo's debut: the successes and struggles
12 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What should we make of offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo’s debut? It’s an obvious question, one that calls back directly to one of the most sign...
The Day After: How could (should) the Eagles handle Jalen Carter?
05 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Eagles’ opener was a lot of things - ugly, bad, and, ultimately in terms of the outcome, good. Jalen Hurts? Nice! Jalen Carter? Yikes. Adoree’...
The road to an Eagles repeat: four factors
02 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It was a long preseason and, quite frankly, a pretty dull one, too. In other words, for a team like the Philadelphia Eagles, which kept its core intac...
Joint practices: ups and downs on offense and other observations
15 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The offense hasn't looked great, and the defense is still searching for answers at certain positions. But Jalen Hurts' vibes? They're all good, and no...
Tales from T.O.’s driveway - 20 years later
08 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It was one of the most infamous spectacles in Philadelphia sports history: Terrell Owens working out in his driveway, hours after getting kicked out o...
Training camp clues: is Jalen Hurts not running as much?
01 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
To run or not to run? With Jalen Hurts entering his fifth season as the Philadelphia Eagles’ starting quarterback, the question becomes increasingly...
Turning the page: what did the Eagles accomplish this spring?
12 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How prepared are the Eagles to defend their Super Bowl title? This question likely won’t get answered until the regular season kicks off in a few mo...
Mike Mayock tackles the 2025 NFL Draft
05 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
There are lots of sources you can go to for comprehensive NFL Draft analysis, but there’s only one Mike Mayock. The suburban Philadelphia native and...
Howie Roseman’s ride to the top
23 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Imagine this: you’ve got an exclusive, high-profile, high-pressure gig; only 31 other people on the planet do what you do. You’re on vacation; you...
Jeffrey Lurie’s post-Super Bowl glow
09 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The weather in Palm Beach during the annual NFL owners meetings was touch-and-go by South Florida standards. One attendee, however, was certainly shin...
Howie Roseman's other obsession
27 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We know Howie Roseman is passionate. Obsessive, too. These traits have revealed themselves constantly throughout his 15-year tenure as the Philadelphi...
A live pod with Mike Quick
12 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s been a little more than a month since the Philadelphia Eagles smashed the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 59. While the Eagles’ front office...
Behind the scenes at the NFL Combine
05 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The scouting combine. It’s the NFL’s ultimate mixer. Every year, prospects, powerbrokers, pundits, and aspiring professionals in the football indu...
Inside the Eagles’ championship party
11 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What was the post-game celebration like inside the locker room and beyond? Who kept the festivities going way into the early hours of the morning? In ...
A Super Bowl visit with Carson Wentz
07 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The last time Carson Wentz was in a Super Bowl, he was on the wrong end of a fairy tail script - injured and watching from the sideline as Philadelphi...
Howie and Nick reflect
05 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This time a year ago, Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman and head coach Nick Sirianni sat next to each other awkwardly on the dais at t...
Saquon in the snow: An oral history
31 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It was a dynamic play, a defining moment during the Philadelphia Eagles’ playoff run that helped propel the team closer to its second-ever champions...
Championship Game vs. Commanders: Super vibes
28 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jalen Hurts puffed a big a** cigar. Gillie da kid led a dance party. A pair of team-changing rookies basked in the shine of new hardware. These were j...
Divisional Round vs. Rams: A tale of two Jalens
21 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
With all due respect to the quarterback, maybe we should be spending more time talking about the other “Jalen” on the Philadelphia Eagles’ roste...
Wild Card Round vs. Packers: "IDGAF"
14 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Eagles hear your concerns about the (lack of) offensive style points in their NFC Wild Card win over the Green Bay Packers. They know everyone’s...
Week 18 vs. Giants: Looking back, ahead to Packers
07 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
45 player interviews. An array of perspectives. This was the assignment The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane embarked on over the final two weeks...
Week 16 vs. Commanders: Sorting through the slop
24 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Byproduct of circumstance and the absence of key personnel, or warning signs of reasons for concern? What should be made of the Philadelphia Eagles’...
Week 15 vs. Steelers: Getting 'passed' the Hurts-Brown drama
17 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
First came a bombshell comment. Then, some backtracking and heart-to-hearts, followed by a few tears. In the end, there was reconciliation, capped by ...
Week 14 vs. Panthers: Saquon, the Chosen Savior
10 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
From backwards hurdles to dazzling touchdown runs, whenever Saquon Barkley makes a big play on the field, people notice. Behind the scenes, his gestur...
Week 13 vs. Ravens: Vic Fangio, at last
03 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
He was much-hyped, and has much delivered. With five games to go in the 2024 regular season, Vic Fangio has the Philadelphia Eagles defense on pace to...
Week 12 vs. Rams: How Jalen Carter got on track
27 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It’s a question that’s been dogging the Eagles ever since preparations for the season began in earnest, and has only gotten more prevalent the mor...
Week 11 vs. Commanders: Quinyon & Cooper, the dynamic duo
19 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The last time the Philadelphia Eagles took a cornerback in the first round of the NFL Draft? Before this year, it was 2002. The last time they chose c...
Week 10 vs. Cowboys: Feeding DeVonta Smith
12 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Philadelphia Eagles handled the first team on their schedule this week - beating the Dallas Cowboys on the road. And it wasn’t just a win. It wa...
Week 9 vs. Jaguars: "We got Saquon 'F***ing' Barkley"
05 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Four games into the season, the Eagles’ offense was stuck. With the team on its bye week, key members of the offensive line felt it was time to spea...
Week 8 vs. Bengals: The identity question
29 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Hope can be fickle in football, but right now, following an impressive Week 8 victory vs. the Cincinnati Bengals, the Philadelphia Eagles have built m...
Week 7 vs. Giants: Truths from Hurts' tape
22 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Saquon Barkley was a stud, the defense was dominant, and all seems well in Eagles Land, at least for now, following a blowout win over the New York Gi...
Week 6 vs. Browns: Sirianni's sideshow
15 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The consensus within the Philadelphia Eagles was virtually unanimous: it wasn’t pretty, but they got what they needed against the lowly Cleveland Br...
Week 4 vs. Bucs: Sirianni defends Hurts, to a fault?
01 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
All it took was a confident, affirming answer. But once again, instead of seizing an opportunity to diffuse speculation, Philadelphia Eagles quarterba...
Week 3 vs. Saints: Playing angry
24 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Philadelphia Eagles were angry. And on the heels of a painful loss in their home opener, they played like it. From the dominance of the defensive ...
Week 2 vs. Falcons: Where the D-Line has gone wrong
18 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Eagles’ home opener on Monday Night Football was there for the taking, and the Atlanta Falcons obliged, pulling off a stunning upset in the fina...
Week 1 vs. Packers: Telling first impressions
10 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Eagles went to Brazil and came back with what they were looking for - a win to open the 2024 season. From Saquon Barkley’s breakout debut to a s...
unCovering: A tamer Nick Sirianni?
30 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Nick Sirianni survived the Eagles’ disastrous collapse last season - barely. At the heart of criticism surrounding the fourth-year head coach was a ...
unCovering: Training camp, Week 3
15 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
After beating up on mostly themselves the first two weeks of training camp, the Philadelphia Eagles welcomed a fresh challenge: a trip to New England ...
unCovering: Training camp, Week 2
09 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
C.J. Gardner-Johnson is back with the Philadelphia Eagles, and has brought the big chip on his shoulder with him. That much was clear during his unfil...
unCovering: Training camp, Week 1
01 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The first week of Philadelphia Eagles training camp is in the books. What key storylines are taking shape? The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane h...
Up next...unCovering training camp
24 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Are you ready? It's time for training camp. All the speculation, hypotheticals, and "what if's" from the past six months since the Philadelphia Eagles...
unCovering Minicamp
14 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Evidence of a disconnect, or perhaps a difference in perspective resulting from changing dynamics? For Jalen Hurts and Nick Sirianni, the answer wasn’...
Pain
07 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Todd Herremans and Brent Celek were more than just teammates. They were friends and later business partners. As the two former Philadelphia Eagles get...
The price of protest
24 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Death threats. Job threats. Uncertainty about the future, both short- and long-term. The consequences of taking a stand for racial justice hit Steven ...
Peace of mind
17 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
One former Eagle blacked out. Another had to check himself into a mental health therapy center. Both played in the NFL during the era right before the...
Head games
10 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Stewart Bradley tried to get up. He made it to his feet, took about six steps, wobbled, then crumbled to the turf. The reaction from the sold-out crow...
Needle in the haystack
26 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Reed Blankenship could feel it - the tingling, the puncture. He couldn’t bring himself to look, but he knew it wasn’t good. Immediately, he called...
Kelce's last stand: Part 2
19 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It didn’t seem right. It didn’t feel fair. Jason Kelce’s iconic career as a Philadelphia Eagle came to an end in crash and burn fashion. After a...
Kelce's last stand: Part 1
19 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Jeff McLane had a hunch. He covered every moment of Jason Kelce’s tenure with the Philadelphia Eagles, from the day the team drafted him to Kelce's ...
An impression, a response, and a Season 3 preview
11 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When did a legend realize it was time? What convinced a star’s teammate to join him in taking a bold, yet controversial, stance? Why did a mainstay ...
Beat reporter round table with McLane, Berman, & Kempski
23 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Rare is it that a reporter on the Philadelphia Eagles beat gets an off night, but such was the case February 21st, 2024. So how did unCovering the Bir...
Nick Sirianni stays. What’s next?
27 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It took more than a week after a disastrous end to the season for the Eagles to finally signal their plan, but Nick Sirianni is coming back for a four...
Nick
12 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Welp. This certainly isn’t how the Eagles drew it up. When was the last time you can remember a team that clinched a postseason berth so early headi...
Misery
21 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s 12 hours after the Philadelphia Eagles’ latest loss, their third in a row. A promising start to the season is now a distant honeymoon, a repe...
"Adapt or die"
30 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Throughout Brian Johnson’s formative football life, he’s always been a step ahead of the curve - both as a player and a coach. Now, in his first s...
The social media effect
10 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Kenny Gainwell has a routine. Check the phone at halftime, send a text to his parents or girlfriend, get ready for the second half. But during the Phi...
Kolb, Vick, and the Kelly Green quarterback controversy
19 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It was supposed to be a celebration, the start of a new era. By halftime, it was a complete disaster. Sporting their classic Kelly Green uniforms, the...
Running up that hill
29 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Eagles' defensive tackle rotation is stacked - anchored by blue chip talent. So how did Milton Williams, a former third-round pick, get in the mix...
Raising A.J. Brown
08 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On the field, A.J. Brown is a fierce competitor; brash at times, and clearly one of the best wide receivers in the NFL. Off the field, family, friends...
We're back! Season Two coming soon...
31 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The 2023 NFL season is almost here, and the Eagles have a huge question to answer: Can they not only get back to the Super Bowl, but this time win it?...
Smile! It's Brandon Graham
18 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
You hear him before you see him. That’s the type of person Brandon Graham is, and personality he has. From his signature cackle to his infectious en...
"One of us"
31 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The NFL is known for a lot, but international diversity is low on the list. So how did an Indian-American land one of the most prominent gigs on the P...
Face of the franchise
19 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
There’s nothing harder to find in professional sports than a franchise quarterback. It’s a pursuit that all 32 NFL teams obsess over. The Eagles, ...
Truth to power
12 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Remember Cary Williams? The former Philadelphia Eagles cornerback who one time missed voluntary team workouts to pick out sconces for his home? He was...