Mike Groh's transition from wide receivers coach to offensive

Philadelphia Eagles has been bumpy.His familiarity with Vic Fangio's defense could give the team a slight edge against the Chicago Bears.Groh was the wide receivers coach on John Fox's staff in Chicago in 2015 when Fangio was defensive coordinator. He spent two seasons with the Bears Philadelphia Eagles Jerseys 2019 , joined Jeff Fisher's staff on the Los Angeles Rams in 2016 and came to Philly in 2017. Fangio kept his job in Chicago after Fox was fired and replaced by Matt Nagy. The Bears (12-4) host the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles (9-7) in an NFC wild-card game on Sunday. Fangio's dominant defense led by Khalil Mack is a big reason they went from last place to first in the NFC North.Chicago allowed the fewest points (17.7 per game) in the NFL and had the third-ranked defense overall, including first against the run."Coach Fangio is as good a defensive coordinator as there is in the league," Groh said Tuesday. "His attention to the detail obviously in his scheme. He does a lot of things, a lot of different things the way he utilizes his personnel, mixes things up, does a good job week to week of not having tendencies or breaking tendencies."Groh was promoted by coach Doug Pederson after Frank Reich left to become the head coach in Indianapolis. The Eagles struggled offensively much of the season until the final month and Groh received plenty of criticism. He's taken a lot of heat because wide receiver Golden Tate hasn't fit into the offensive scheme since he was acquired from Detroit in October.But the offense found its rhythm when Nick Foles stepped in for an injured Carson Wentz last month. Nobody is questioning Groh anymore. Now he has to help Pederson devise a game plan to combat one of the toughest defenses in the league. Having worked with Fangio can only help Groh this week."I think that we all evolve, and certainly (Fangio) has different pieces to the puzzle that he didn't have when we were together," Groh said. "We just have to study what they're doing now Mens Andre Dillard Jersey , who they're doing it with, and try to put a really good plan together."Mack has wreaked havoc since his arrival from Oakland shortly before the season. He's a game-changing player who had 12½ sacks in 14 games. Defensive tackle Akiem Hicks, cornerback Kyle Fuller and safety Eddie Jackson also were voted to the Pro Bowl."They'll move him around, he'll be on the right, be on the left, be inside," Groh said of Mack. "They'll do a lot of different things with him. Obviously, he's an elite pass rusher Youth Andre Dillard Jersey , which we faced a few of those guys this year. He certainly is excellent. You have to know where he is. That's a credit to Vic because he knows that by moving him around that makes it more challenging for offenses."Stopping, or at least limiting, Mack will be a key to Philadelphia's success if the Eagles are going to pull off an upset and advance. Eagles quarterback Nate Sudfeld is expected to miss six weeks after surgery to repair a broken wrist. When he returns, Sudfeld likely will be the No. 2 quarterback, behind Carson Wentz.“I think so,” coach Doug Pederson told reporters regarding whether he’s comfortable installing Sudfeld as the primary backup once he’s healthy. “I mean, obviously we can go back and kind of look at what he did last year a little bit in some of the games. Obviously, the pre-season game [on Thursday night].“Would you like more time? Yeah Cheap Andre Dillard Jersey , you’d like to get another game or two to see him in a little more action. But what he’s proven to us in practice the last couple of years, what he’s done out here, what he did in the game the other night, again he was smart with the football, made great decisions, threw the ball with accuracy. Those are all things you look for in the backup. . . . He did a nice job in kind of solidifying that spot.”That spot is an important one for the Eagles, given Wentz’s injury history. In each of the last two seasons, the Eagles had to turn to Nick Foles in December and January. Foles Andre Dillard Philadelphia Eagles Jerseys , who led the team to its first-ever Super Bowl win two seasons ago, is now gone.Pederson also said he doesn’t currently plan to add to a quarterback depth chart that includes veteran Cody Kessler and rookie Clayton Thorson. But Pederson didn’t close the door on the possibility of adding another arm while Sudfeld recovers.Looking ahead to Week One, the Eagles likely will be required at a minimum to carry three quarterbacks on the open roster, unless Sudfeld heals unexpectedly quickly. They could decide to keep four, if they think Thorson isn’t ready to play and if they don’t want to risk another team snatching the fifth-round pick from Northwestern on waivers.