Brandon Graham has a message for Eagles players as they get the final word before Super Bowl LVII
The Super Bowl champion will have a chance to address the team along with other players as Nick Sirianni plans to have them say what's on their hearts ahead of the big game.
PHOENIX — Nick Sirianni envisioned addressing the Eagles players for the final team leading into the Super Bowl well before there was a concrete reason to do so.
The Eagles coach can be obsessive about preparation, even for moments that aren’t guaranteed or speeches that may never come. But as the final team meeting quickly approaches ahead of the Eagles facing the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII on Sunday, Sirianni’s previous preparation will be for naught.
The coach revealed his plans for the final meeting during a Thursday news conference. There won’t be a traditional message delivered from him or any one player. Instead, he will open the floor up to whoever feels compelled to speak. The idea stems from Sirianni’s days playing college football at Mount Union, when players would take turns addressing the team before the Division III championship.
“I always thought it was really powerful,” Sirianni said. “When all the guys could get up and say whatever was on their heart to say. So we’ll treat it that way. I had a plan ... but we’re going away from that plan.”
The Eagles held their last media availability of the week Thursday evening. Veteran right tackle Lane Johnson said he broke the team down following their practice session earlier that day. Brandon Graham said he plans to be one of the players to speak in the final meeting and expects other veterans like Fletcher Cox, Jason Kelce, and other players who were on the 2017 Super Bowl team to follow suit.
» READ MORE: Brandon Graham and Fletcher Cox enjoying each other going into possibly their last game as Eagles
“Of course I’m going to speak,” Graham said. “Me and Fletch, the guys that have been there before. I don’t think we’re going to be too long, though, because everybody is tired of talking.”
“What I always try to do is just remind people of who they are. I always say, like, ‘Jalen [Hurts], remember what they said about you and the all the stuff that you did to this point got you to this moment.’ And keep that edge, that’s what I would say to my teammates. Keep that edge, because we ain’t done nothing yet till we finish the job.”
Chiefs cornerback pops up on injury report
Chiefs starting cornerback L’Jarius Sneed was a limited participant in practice Thursday with a knee injury, according to Kansas City’s injury report.
Sneed practiced fully on Wednesday, but popped up on the report Thursday, suggesting he may have tweaked something during practice. According to an NFL Network report, Sneed “should be OK,” which is good news for the Chiefs. Sneed started all 17 games for Kansas City but suffered a concussion early in the AFC championship game against the Bengals. He cleared concussion protocol last week.
Kansas City receiver Kadarius Toney is on track to play after returning to practice fully Thursday. The explosive wide receiver was limited earlier in the week with ankle and hamstring injuries.
» READ MORE: Eagles on track to have all their starters available for the Super Bowl
Covey limited with hamstring injury
The Eagles gave a handful of players part of practice off for rest purposes, but return specialist Britain Covey was added to the injury report with a hamstring injury. The undrafted rookie who has handled punt-return duties all season was limited in practice after practicing fully on Wednesday.
Cox, Graham, Kelce, James Bradberry, A.J. Brown, Isaac Seumalo, Darius Slay, and Josh Sweat were all limited participants in practice because of rest. Landon Dickerson (elbow), Avonte Maddox (toe), Johnson (groin), and Cam Jurgens (hip) were limited for precautionary reasons because of lingering injuries.