Defensive end Trent Cole livened up practice when he welcomed new offensive tackle Joe Toledo to the team in one-on-one drills Saturday morning.
Cole crouched in his stance. He exploded off the snap, bullrushed Toledo and tossed him to the ground. You see players get beat in these drills, but it's rare to see someone toyed with like that.
"I joked with everybody what I was going to do to him. He wasn't expecting it because it was like a mind game," Cole said. "Going out there in one-on-ones, it's a place for us to practice, work on our moves. You have to do what you have to do."
The dominance of the defensive line carried over from Thursday night's performance against Baltimore. The Eagles sacked the Ravens quarterbacks six times and were led by Darryl Tapp who had a pair off the edge. Cole had one of those sacks on a third-down to help the Eagles defense get off the field in the first quarter. It was the first time seeing Jim Washburn's attacking scheme executed in a game situation with the Eagles. Cole said that Thursday night only whetted the appetite of the linemen.
"It's only going to get better from here," Cole said. "That was our first time being together as a team playing a game. It looked great out there. Guys were rotating in. We stayed fresh and just kept sending waves of guys. It looked great out there."
Cole is a two-time Pro Bowl selection who has registered double-digit sack totals in three of the past four seasons. Even with that consistent production, it would not be a surprise to see his sack total increase with Washburn. But for as good as the Eagles were attacking the quarterback on Thursday, the line remained stout against the run. Ravens running back Ray Rice had 7 yards as on one play Tapp and defensive tackle Derek Landri swarmed into the backfield for a loss of 6 yards. While Washburn spells sacks with two dollar signs, the importance of stopping the run is not lost upon his players.
"Washburn teaches us to roll off the ball," Cole said. "Get off and crush. We want to get off the ball and attack. Keep your eye on the ball and get off on time. When you see that ball move, get off and roll over anything that moves in front of you."
Make sure to follow us on Twitter @EaglesInsider
