Time to take off | Sports Daily Newsletter

In Year 1 of the Nick Sirianni-Jalen Hurts partnership, a rough start blossomed into a playoff berth.

Now, with training camp beginning, Year 2 has dawned for the coach-quarterback duo with so much in common, as well as their team.

After an offseason in which the Eagles added several high-profile players, Hurts now has more tools in his second season under center for the Birds. Sirianni, for his part, has kept his messaging much the same amid the buzz (or chirping?) that surrounds his team.

To meet the high expectations in place, Hurts needs to show improvement. Sirianni too.

And the 25-year-old is up for the challenge, starting with training camp.

“I can’t wait, I really can’t wait,” Hurts said earlier this month before a youth football camp. “We’ve put in a lot of work. Everybody has been grinding. When the time comes, we’ll be ready. We’re taking it day by day, but I’m looking forward to what’s to come.”

— Maria McIlwain, Inquirer Sports Staff, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.

❓Reader question here. Email us back for a chance to be featured in the newsletter.

The prospect of college football players organizing and seeking revenue sharing in the Big Ten and other major conferences is a hot-button topic lately. Penn State could be in the middle of it. Mike Jensen has the story and more from Big Ten Media Days.

The Big Ten also is firmly in the conference realignment discourse. The conference has been forward-thinking for a while, Jensen writes.

With the 76ers’ season, NBA draft and NBA 2K23 Summer League behind us, the focus in Philly is set to turn to summer hoops. And that’s where Rahim Thompson, a longtime contributor who founded The Chosen League and Team Thompson Family Foundation, comes in.

He’s applied his encyclopedic knowledge of Philly basketball to a new endeavor, now teaming with councilmember at-large Isaiah Thomas to make August “Philly Legendary Summer Hoops Month.” His plan is to commemorate the past while celebrating how it has influenced the present.

Ever wonder what the Flyers do to stay sharp during the summer? Giana Han traveled all the way to Minnesota for an exclusive catch-up with the four Flyers who are playing in “Da Beauty League,” a summer skate that raises money for charity and features a plethora of NHL stars.

Find out more about Da Beauty League, what those Flyers had to say, and why San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle was in attendance here.

It wasn’t all good news for the Flyers, as another player underwent surgery after an offseason injury. Winger Bobby Brink is expected to miss five months after hip surgery and likely won’t return until the new year.

It’s possible to feel some empathy for Nick Castellanos. Everybody knows what it feels like to be bad at something. Now, imagine suddenly being bad at something that you’ve always been good at, and imagine that somebody has just paid you an obscene amount of money to be good at the thing that you are currently bad at. And then imagine having somebody else ask you the same question that you are already asking yourself every night: Why am I so bad at this? One year into a five-year, $100 million contract, the Phillies have little recourse but to hope that they will look back on Castellanos’ last four months as an aberration, one of those maddening stretches that plenty of players have bounced their way back from in the past.

When your dad is a four-time All-Star, it’s easy to feel the pressure to live up to expectations. Justin Crawford’s mother helped the Phillies’ top draft pick learn to overcome that pressure and be himself.

Bryson Stott, future batting champion? Phillies hitting coach Kevin Long is especially bullish on the young infielder.

One day after Bryson Stott’s heroics, the Braves shut down the Phillies to the tune of a 6-3 defeat.

Next: The Phillies wrap up their series against the Braves at 12:35 p.m. Wednesday (NBCSP). Kyle Gibson (5-4, 4.69) gets the start against Braves right-hander Charlie Morton (5-4, 4.20).

Lasting legacy: James “Skip” Wilson, who coached Temple baseball for 46 seasons, died at 92.

Straight to the point: Dawn Staley, serving as a color commentator at the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup, had one big question for commissioner Cathy Engelbert: What does Philly need to do to get a WNBA team?

Who is the tallest out of these former and current Eagles quarterbacks?

A) Donovan McNabb

B) Jalen Hurts

C) Carson Wentz

D) Randall Cunningham

Answer: C: Carson Wentz, regardless of any other quarterback shortcomings, is listed as 6′5. Cunningham is right behind him at 6′4. Jeff M. was our first reader to email in the correct answer.

Schwarber did well, got things going then. Hall has helped. But now the emerging Stott has come up big last 10 games. Bohm and Stott have turned the page. Future of Phillies currently, with lots of games to play. This is going to be fun. — Leonard K.

I think if the Phillies make the postseason, the credit has to go to interim manager Rob Thomson, much like if they don’t make it, Thomson should share some of the blame. He replaced Joe Girardi whose tenure as Phillies manager was essentially a disaster. [Girardi] did not let young players have a chance to play and succeed. Thomson has given the Stotts, Bohms, Vierlings, and others a chance to be effective leaders in terms of performance. He’s not perfect, but he has righted the ship. — Randy H.

The Phillies’— bullpen has actually kept them in close games and protected a lot of leads of late. You cannot win in the big leagues without a good bullpen. If they make the playoffs, we will have the bullpen to thank. — Jason P.

Based on their performance so far, they don’t deserve to make the post-season. Harper was having another MVP year, but he’s hurt & you can’t make the playoffs from the bench. — Karl Z.

Been a Phils fan for 65 plus years. I live in Northwest NJ in the land of Yankees and Mets front-running fans, especially the former. I really dislike baseball’s current financial system which created and institutionalized the existing have/have not two-tier competitive system. By far and away, the NFL supplanted baseball as America’s national past time because they enhance competitiveness each and every year. With that said, John Middleton gets my vote for most responsible individual should the Phils make the playoffs. He has spent stupid money as promised and okay-ed Dombrowski’s decision to end Joe G’s misery mid-season. That’s what leaders are supposed to do. The guy up in Citi Bank Park has done the same thing! I just wish teams like Pittsburgh, KC etc. could have the same option! — Frank P.

Saint Jude. — Dennis K.

God. — Mark H.

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from David Murphy, Mike Jensen, Alex Coffey, Sam Cohn, EJ Smith, Scott Lauber, Giana Han, Gustav Elvin, DeAntae Prince, and Maria McIlwain.