Eagles’ focus this week is on redemption and receptions | Early Birds

As the Eagles worked to get a grip on an early season that has hardly played out as expected, the topic that dominated Tuesday’s preparations for their game Thursday in Green Bay was maintaining a grip on the football. After seven dropped passes and two lost fumbles in Sunday’s loss to Detroit, offensive coordinator Mike Groh was peppered with questions about the ongoing problem. Groh, for a moment, sounded a bit defensive, noting that running back Miles Sanders, who fumbled twice, “was not the first guy in the NFL to fumble.” Zach Ertz, Mack Hollins, and others were out early, taking balls from the passing machine. “[Our receivers] have to continue to catch balls in practice and continue to concentrating when the ball comes to them," Groh said. "Obviously, we want to catch everything that’s thrown to us, so that would be the mind-set.”

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If NFL seasons weren’t plotted out months in advance, you might think the schedule-makers were punishing the Eagles for losing games the last two weeks that they probably should have won.

OK, for losing ugly to the Falcons and dropping — and we do mean “dropping” — a home game to the Lions, we’re going to give you a short week, force you to play on the road, and make you face the undefeated Packers with a healthy Aaron Rodgers at quarterback.

But if you listened after practice Tuesday to how the 1-2 Eagles players were trying to spin their Thursday night date in Green Bay, it almost sounded like Doug Pederson’s team had the advantage.

“We’re looking forward to it,” said safety Malcolm Jenkins.

“We’re really excited to be on national TV again,” said quarterback Carson Wentz.

The short week won’t be a problem, said tight end Zach Ertz, because the Eagles can just turn to what he called their “Rolodex of reps.”

“We’ve got so many plays installed we don’t need a ton or reps,” Ertz said. “We run these plays so many times in April, May, September. We’ve got so many plays installed that we don’t need a ton of reps. That’s a big advantage for us.

“When you’ve run them so many times, it’s simple,” he said, leaning back against his locker like a man in need of a rest. “I know how to run this route vs. this coverage, this route against this defense. It allows you to not overcomplicate things. You just go and play football.”

Maybe there was something to their optimism. After all, the Eagles have played in the nationally televised Thursday night game eight times and won five, including victories in each of the last three seasons.

And the fact they they’re coming off a Sunday loss doesn’t seem to matter. Four of their five Thursday night wins came after defeats four days earlier. In 2008, they were blown out, 36-7, by Baltimore on Sunday, then came back on Thursday and thrashed Arizona, which ended up in the Super Bowl,

“Obviously, everything gets sped up,” said Wentz. “But sometimes things get simplified and you just do what you do best. We’ve been pretty successful in these games.”

While Wentz was one of several Eagles who sounded enthusiastic over this opportunity for instant redemption at Lambeau Field, he at least tempered it with a dose of reality.

“Thursday Night Football is always tough,” said Wentz, who was wearing a bright green “Team Hope” T-shirt. “It’s always tough physically getting your body back ready to go. Mentally, it’s also a quick turnaround. You’re trying to study a defense you don’t play very often. But I don’t want to make excuses. I think we’ll put a really good product out there.”

This rapid turnaround with the Packers will take place in Week 4, something else that Ertz termed a plus.

“We’re still in training-camp mode now,” he said. “Your body is used to banging consistently throughout the week. We had one of these Thursday games in Week 14 a few years ago. Now that was brutal.”

And maybe the best part of what can be a brutal week, Wentz and Ertz agreed, is that the Eagles won’t have time to dwell on last Sunday’s stinker.

“This gives us the opportunity to get [a bad taste] out of our mouths,” said Wentz.

“It’s easier this way,” said Ertz. “To be able to come here on a short week and put our entire focus on the Packers is a big benefit for us. We’re not looking back at the loss. We’ve got to put the Lions behind us and focus on the Packers. If we focus on the Lions too much, we’re not going to win this one.”

Take your pick, Doug. There’s a pass defense that, perhaps because there’s been no pass rush, has been way too porous. There’s the absence of DeSean Jackson that will allow Green Bay to double Zach Ertz or, if he plays, Alshon Jeffery. And, oh yeah, Aaron Rodgers? He’s pretty good.