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NFL

After delay, Eagles unveil championship banner

PHILADELPHIA — It took 51 years, and an extra 45 minutes due to weather, but the Philadelphia Eagles finally have a Super Bowl championship banner hanging in their stadium.

It was unveiled before the home opener against the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night, all lit up and about twice the size of the other 13 banners in the Lincoln Financial Field rafters. A rabid fan base was in full throat with the ceremony about to begin, but a severe weather advisory went into effect, delaying the start of the game from 8:20 p.m. to 9:05 p.m.

The Eagles asked that the open seating areas be cleared because of lightning and high wind gusts in the area, and they mostly were, with the exception of a handful of reveling souls who decided to take their shirts off and dance in the rain instead.

When the skies cleared, the bowl filled back up and a giant Lombardi Trophy replica was wheeled onto the field near a group of kids and members of the armed forces standing behind a platform, where Eagles legend and recent Hall of Fame inductee Brian Dawkins stood to fire the crowd up and welcome owner Jeffrey Lurie, who was holding the real trophy.

Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, right, celebrates alongside Hall of Fame inductee Brian Dawkins on Thursday as the team unveiled its 2017 championship banner prior to facing the Falcons. AP Photo/Michael Perez

Dakwins led a rendition of “Fly, Eagles Fly.” Fireworks were set off as the banner reading “2017 World Champions” was revealed.

The Eagles captured their first Super Bowl title by defeating the New England Patriots 41-33 in the championship game in February.

The party in Philadelphia has been ongoing ever since. Fans were lined up outside the parking area well before the gates opened at 1 p.m. ET in anticipation of the Eagles’ first game as Super Bowl champs.

NFL

Bradford: 'Blessing' to start again with Cardinals

TEMPE, Ariz. — Days from his debut with the Arizona Cardinals, quarterback Sam Bradford said his oft-injured left knee is healthy, which has let him embrace another opportunity to play after missing 15 games last season with the third major knee injury of his career.

“I know that right now, it does feel as good as it has felt in a long time,” Bradford said.

Coach Steve Wilks checks in on Bradford daily to see how he and his knee are holding up. After months of daily chats, Wilks said he feels Bradford is “at a great place right now.”

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“From a physical standpoint, I think he’s great,” Wilks said. “I think the knee is strong. He’s at a good place right now, and he had a good practice today.”

The status of Bradford’s knee has given him a new lease on football yet again. Bradford, who has missed 48 games — the equivalent of three full seasons — has a renewed appreciation for playing football.

“I think at this point, you just realize how special each game is,” Bradford said. “It truly is a blessing to be out there every Sunday, every time you get on the field with your teammates after having gone through some of the injuries that I have.

“Having not been able to be out there, I don’t think you take it for granted at all. You realize how special it is and how unique of a position we’re in to be able to do what we do, and really with the mindset of just trying to make the most of it.”

Bradford, 30, said he is expecting “a lot of excitement” to fill him Sunday as he takes the field at State Farm Field. It has already started to bubble up as Bradford has begun going through a game-week routine. Even his wife noticed, he said.

Bradford said he still gets butterflies in his stomach before every game, a sign to him that he’s still invested in his career.

Bradford is coming off an offseason in which he had just 11 pass attempts. This was similar to how he was handled by the Philadelphia Eagles during the 2015 preseason when he attempted just 15 passes coming off his second ACL injury. But he feels he has done everything in his “power” to get himself ready for Sunday.

“If something happens and I get injured or if something happens and it doesn’t hold up, I’m going to hold my head high knowing that I put my body and myself in the best position to succeed,” Bradford said. “I think that’s all you can do, and that’s really what I’ve told myself throughout this process.”

NFL

Doug Pederson: Carson Wentz 'close' to returning

PHILADELPHIA — Eagles coach Doug Pederson said quarterback Carson Wentz is “close” to a return from ACL and LCL surgery, and apparently, Pederson is so encouraged by Wentz’s progress that he held out on officially naming a starter for Thursday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons until the last possible moment.

Doug Pederson said he was upset because the media scooped him on telling Carson Wentz that he wouldn’t start in the opener, but he said the QB is in a “great spot.” AP Photo/Matt Rourke

Pederson said he had not informed Wentz and Nick Foles that Foles would be the starter until Sunday, the day after reports dropped signaling that Wentz would not play.

“The decision was not made at the time,” Pederson said. “I still wanted to hear from our medical team, I wanted to see exactly where Carson was at, and so if I came off a little abrasive, that was part of the reason.”

After the Falcons game, the Eagles play at the Tampa Bay Bucs on Sept. 16 before returning home to face the Indianapolis Colts on Sept. 23.

Wentz has been pushing hard to return from a multi-ligament knee injury suffered against the Los Angeles Rams in December. He had no setbacks during his rehab, Pederson confirmed, and seemingly hit every benchmark that was in his control. But he has not been cleared for contact.

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“Obviously more rest and more time off heals the wounds, heals the [surgery],” Pederson said of the medical benefit of holding Wentz back. “But listen, you’ve got to understand, too, Carson’s been out there, he’s been in 11-on-11 drills in training camp and this week, and so we’re just waiting to get the clearance.”

Pederson did not offer a timeline to say how close Wentz is to getting back on the field, but he noted, “He’s had some great workouts here over the last few days.”

The fact that Wentz heard the news through the media instead of the organization, assuming Pederson’s account is accurate, couldn’t have sat well with the franchise quarterback, but Pederson said Wentz remains in a “great spot.”

“Nobody wants to hear it from [the media]. They want to hear it from me,” Pederson said. “And that’s why, again, [I had] the reaction because I want to make sure I’m doing the right thing for both guys, number one, and obviously the Philadelphia Eagles. That’s why my communication with them is very critical, and it’s been open, it’s been honest all the way back since the beginning of April.”

NFL

Carr: Raiders players over shock of Mack trade

ALAMEDA, Calif. — While Derek Carr did not expect Khalil Mack to be traded, the Oakland Raiders quarterback said the team is already over the shock of the two-time first-team All-Pro edge rusher and 2016 NFL Defensive Player of the Year being traded to the Chicago Bears.

“It isn’t what anybody wanted — I think that’s clear,” Carr said Monday, two days after the Raiders packaged Mack, who had been holding out all offseason, a second-round draft pick in 2020 and a 2020 conditional fifth-rounder to Chicago for the Bears’ first-round picks in 2019 and 2020, a sixth-rounder in 2019 and a third-rounder in 2020.

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“But it is what it is — it’s part of the business,” Carr added. “It’s one of those sucky things that happen. The hardest part for me is, obviously, you lose a good football player, but he’s my brother, man. He’s one of my best friends. I think the hardest part is, I don’t get to see my friend every day.”

Carr and Mack came to Oakland in the 2014 draft, with general manager Reggie McKenzie using the No. 5 overall pick on Mack and the fourth selection of the second round on Carr.

The two had goals of changing the losing culture in Oakland, which had not had a winning season since 2002, and winning games while making the Raiders a desirable destination for free agents.

“And I feel like we did that,” Carr said.

In 2014, their respective NFL careers got off to an 0-10 start. Two years later, the Raiders went 12-4 with a postseason appearance as Carr, despite missing the season finale and playoff loss at Houston with a broken right leg, finished tied for third in NFL MVP voting and Mack was feted as the league’s best defensive player.

Carr said he and Mack had “planned the next 10, 15 years of our life” going forward.

“We both have kind of the same goals; I just don’t want him to win the Super Bowl,” Carr said with an uneasy laugh.

“I’m still going to dunk on him when he comes to my house in the offseason. He can expect that.”

Carr again laughed nervously.

Derek Carr says he and Khalil Mack had “planned the next 10, 15 years of our life” going forward. Cary Edmondson/USA TODAY Sports

Raiders coach Jon Gruden, whose roster overhaul has 31 players on the 53-man roster who did not appear on Oakland’s active roster last season, acknowledged Sunday that Carr’s massive five-year, $125 million contract extension, signed in June 2017, was a hindrance for Oakland to re-sign Mack. Especially after the defensive player market was reset by Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald getting a six-year, $135 million contract with $87 million guaranteed on Friday.

The Bears then inked Mack to a record six-year, $141 million deal with $90 million guaranteed after acquiring him, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported. Gruden said the Raiders’ offer to Mack, made back at the start of the league year in March, did not come close.

The Raiders, meanwhile, had given extensions to Carr, right guard Gabe Jackson (five years, $56 million) and defensive tackle Justin “Jelly” Ellis (three years, $15 million) in the past year.

“That’s what makes it hard, because we all knew, me, Gabe, Khalil, Jelly, we all saw it coming,” Carr said. “It’s one of those things that you just hope it can work out. We all did our best, I’ll say it that way … it just didn’t work out that way. Honestly, it hurts because we did, we tried, and we were always open.”

Carr added that the shock has worn off “because we’re back to work.”

“I think, obviously, we had the day off that day and so that made it harder because I’m just sitting there thinking about it all day. Whereas now, I’ve got a job to do. Once we showed up and got to work, Coach addressed it with the team, said what he said, invited anyone who needed to talk to him, open door. He understood that a lot of us were close with him,” Carr said.

“It’s one of those situations that sucks — we lost our friend, we lost our brother, but we have games to win, we’ve got a job to do.”

Derek Carr

“It didn’t go away, because he’s your buddy, but at the same time it went away because we have a game to get ready for.”

Still, Carr said he was initially worried about the effect of Mack being traded on the Raiders’ locker room.

But no more. Not with teammates calling to reassure the quarterback.

“It’s one of those situations that sucks — we lost our friend, we lost our brother, but we have games to win, we’ve got a job to do,” Carr said he was told.

“And I think that’s the mark of Mr. McKenzie and Coach Gruden bringing in the right kind of people … handle it like men. You don’t have to like it or agree with it, but we’re paid to win games.”

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