In a span of just a little over a month, there would be the Cowboys. There would be the Kansas City Chiefs, world champions. There would be the Buffalo Bills, high among the better AFC teams of the early part of the decade. And Sunday, the Eagles would be made to play their third game in 13 days, this time against the San Francisco 49ers, sturdy NFC contenders. Then it would be back to Dallas, with the division standings potentially tightening.

Such burdens always have been among the charms of an NFL first-place schedule, the Eagles’ treat for their 2022 NFC East championship. But it’s not always that a good team will be made to face the heart of the order without as much as an automatic victory over the Giants shoved somewhere into the mix.

Nope, that was the deal: Between Nov. 5 and Dec 10, the Eagles would be made to play Dallas twice and contenders galore. For an added burden to prove Super Bowl readiness, it all would be chased with a game in Seattle Dec. 17, meaning they would have to travel to Texas for a night game, then the Pacific Northwest within seven days.

Good luck?

“You just got to control the things that you can,” Jalen Hurts said as the challenge approached. “The objective is to play to a standard and demand excellence of ourselves.”

The Eagles didn’t play to a championship standard Sunday, falling 42-19 in misty conditions. They were strong early, throwing bodies all around the Linc and limiting the 49ers to a minus-6 rushing yards and minus-10 yards of total offense in the first quarter. Yet despite two lengthy drives for a combined 120 yards, they were forced to settle for two field goals, allowing the Niners time to settle.

By halftime, the Eagles were behind, 14-6. Then, Deebo Samuel blasted around the right end for a 12-yard touchdown on a seven-play, 75-yard drive to open the second half, and for the Eagles, it would not get much better. Before the day was over, their quarterback would need a quick concussion-protocol check, their tackling would be exposed as clumsy, and their offense would appear plodding, particularly near the end zone.

The 69,879 fans, as they occasionally might, expressed their dissatisfaction, for that’s their job. They were realizing the Eagles were about to drag a one-game division lead into Dallas, and that they likely would be underdogs even after their recent 28-23 triumph over the Cowboys at the Linc. They were coming to grips, too, with the fact that should the Eagles and Niners post identical regular-season records, a rematch of the 2022 NFC Championship Game would be in Santa Clara, Calif.

So the game itself had the kind of relevance boost that only the contenders comprehend. All of which could have explained the oddity of the Niners — despite the Eagles’ 10-1 record — being three-point road favorites. The more-desperate-team phenomenon has always been a sports reality. Sunday, it was obvious.

“I just know this game is going to be about two good teams coming in here and having a good game,” Sirianni had said. “There are a lot of good players on the San Francisco 49ers, some of best players in the world over there.

“This is different. This is 2023. It’s not 2022. And it is very similar to what we said going into the Chiefs game: There are different players on this team. There are different players on their team. So this is about the 2023 Eagles vs. the 2023 Niners.”

The Niners won, proving not much more than a long-established sports truth: Spots are important. And there were the Eagles, overworked of late and aware that Dallas was next, playing a good team desperate to keep within striking distance of the No. 1 NFC East seed. As for the Niners, they hadn’t played in 10 days. So the woe, if there was any, was at a minimum in the Eagles’ locker room.

“There was some stuff that we normally don’t do,” Fletcher Cox said. “So now we have a chance to play a good football team next week, a division game. We know them. They know us. They have been hot, so we have to go on the road and — if you want to be a good team — work.”

One loss is not going to define the Eagles. Indeed, if there has been any defining of Sirianni’s players, it has been that they were able to defeat Dallas, Kansas City and Buffalo in order, two weeks after thumping Miami.

Should the Eagles fall again in Dallas and sputter in Seattle, where the Seahawks could be desperate, then prepare another status report. But if the worst that happens to the Eagles during a schedule challenge for the ages is that they lose a game, their status as contenders will only rise.

Contact Jack McCaffery at jmccaffery@delcotimes.com

So when Ridley head coach Dave Wood called with an idea – a little unusual as it was under at least one circumstance – there was Vosheski, ready and willing to run it, and to run it right.

The play: Be among a handful of alums to return to Phil Marion Field to talk to the current Green Raiders about the importance of program history and, in particular, defeating Interboro on Thanksgiving.

Even if he is the head coach at another program – Academy Park, in Interboro’s Del Val League – Vosheski would be there.

“This is where I went,” Vosheski was saying Monday evening, after a Raiders practice. “I still live in Ridley. So if we’re not playing, this is where I want to be.”

Vosheski has been the Knights’ head coach since 2005, borrowing many of the basics that has made Ridley a generations-deep high school football power to build a powerful program of his own. One of those concepts is to ever reinforce pride in a program. That’s why, in the days leading up to the Interboro game, Wood didn’t just run his players through practices. He also ran them through history, arranging a parade of Ridley football legends to address his players.

“Shine your light,” Vosheski would advise in his pep talk. “This game is so much bigger than you might imagine. There’s going to be old heads at this game who played 50 or 60 years ago and they are going to be watching. And you might not realize it, but for some of you, this might be the last meaningful game you ever play. Leave it all on the field. Don’t save it for next year. Don’t save it for college. Leave it on the field.”

So it began, Vosheski providing the keynote speech. Later, former Raider Michael Capozzoli, the current school board president who played in the first game of the Thanksgiving series in 1965, offered similar encouragement. So did Jim Richardson from the 1985 team, long a valued assistant coach at Williamstown and Hammonton high schools in South Jersey. Due Tuesday were 1990 Green Raider Tom Ennis, along with Mike Iannacci, the broadcast voice of Ridley sports. Alum Jack McGlone was to speak Wednesday, as were Sean O’Doherty of the 2020 team and his father, Sean O’Doherty Sr., of the 1993 Raiders.

While all would attempt to spread Ridley pride, the dual-generation O’Doherty link would resonate in a way that helped hatch the initiative.

“Used to be, you could go into any Ridley huddle, ask how many of the kids had fathers or grandfathers who played here and seven, eight, nine hands would be raised,” said Brian Morris, the 2016 Raider and current linebackers coach. “It’s not like that anymore.”

Sensing that, Wood took a deeper dive and found that only five of his current players were “legacy” Green Raiders. Two-way lineman Billy Bair is the son of former quarterback Billy Bair Sr. Quarterback Ryan Carroll’s father, Steve Carroll, was an All-Delco defensive back, and his uncle, Scott Carroll, was a former quarterback. The father of tight end John Tinney, John Tinney Sr., was a Raiders quarterback. His uncle, Jeff Tinney, was a former defensive back. Mike Farren, the father of current linebacker Hunter Farren, played for the Green Raiders, as did Rick Palladino, the grandfather of sophomore running back Johnny Palladino.

But since that was all that was known to be it, Wood felt it important to reinforce the importance of the Green Mystique and the Interboro game to a newer generation.

“My dad talks about the Green Mystique and how people used to fear Ridley and stuff,” said Carroll, whose grandfather, Chip Carroll, was the Interboro quarterback in the inaugural 1965 game. “He has told me about that, and about the Thanksgiving games. It’s everyone’s last game and it means so much to the community. We’re just trying to keep that tradition.”

It has not been simple in recent years, with both the Raiders and the Bucs often busy in November with state playoff obligations. But for the Raiders, the 10:30 game Thursday morning road game will be big in multiple ways.

Though Ridley is only 4-6, it fell by one point to Strath Haven and was within a play or two of defeating Springfield. Those two teams just played each other in a classic District 1 Class 5A semifinal. With Carroll just a junior and set to return next year, the Raiders can give The Mystique a boost by ending the season on a four-game winning streak by beating Interboro.

“We showed grit,” Bair said. “We had kind of a tough schedule at the beginning of the year. But then we beat some teams and want to finish it off with a big win Thursday.”

As much as any of his teammates, he knows what that would mean, in the community and, in particular, at his dining room table.

“If you are ever in a Ridley football shirt, you will run into somebody who will tell you about how they beat Interboro,” he said. “If they lost to them, they don’t say anything. But I always look forward to this game, because for almost my whole life, on Thanksgiving, I would watch the Raiders play.”

The rivalry itself is under no threat of collapse. But Wood, for one, wants to make sure that it remains strong at its core, with more than just grandfathers and fathers and uncles and sons ever aware of its value.

“I’ve seen some YouTube clips of my Dad,” Bair said. “He was good. I’m not going to lie to you. He was good. But he doesn’t talk about it much. He doesn’t like to toot his own horn. He’s not selfish. He would rather talk about me.”

Should the Raiders prevail Thursday, they’ll be talked about for years. Same with the Bucs. Ridley leads the series, 41-13, and has won seven of the last eight. Some were more memorable than others. None, the march of alums would emphasize this week, will be forgotten.

“I’ll tell you this,” Vosheski told the Raiders. “Whatever else happens, I will always be able to say, ‘I was 3-and-0 against Interboro.’ Always. And that means something.”

The Eagles played the Commanders at home and won by three in overtime, largely because Washington coach Ron Rivera couldn’t summon the willingness to attempt a two-point conversion at the regulation horn.

The Eagles played the Cowboys at home, won by five, holding on at the end to blunt a dangerous Dallas drive.

It’s nice to be good.

It’s better to be lucky.

That is not a shot at the Eagles, who all did enough other things in those games that led to ultimate success. Football is about fumbles and bad decisions and blunted drives. But it is also open to the laws-of-average discussion as Nick Sirianni’s team takes a midseason pause.

In a season when good teams — and in one case, a historically great one — are losing at some reasonable pace, the Eagles have sneaked into their idle week at 8-1 and in fringe magic-number-calculation distance from the second-place Cowboys. But the 49ers, widely believed to be the second-best NFC team, have three losses. Kansas City, the world champion, has dropped a couple. Dallas has three Ls.

Typically, it’s how the NFL works. Parity. All that. But at the virtual midway point, the Eagles have the best record in the league. They also have some concerns, or at least that’s how it sounds.

“There is always room for improvement,” Sirianni said. “Always room for improvement. We’ll continue to work on things, the details, the ball security, the ability to take the football away. That’s something we’re going to continue to work on.”

Sounds solid. But there has not been much about the Eagles through nine games to suggest the need for drastic improvement. They have been fine. Entertaining. Resourceful. They are playing like a defending conference champion.

But the preseason over-under for Eagles wins was set at 11.5, which says two things: They already are close to cashing on the over, and that they should understand that it’s unlikely they will rocket too far past that 12-win mark. So if it is destined to be close, then their fans should not expect another eight games of .888 football.

“What did Bill Parcells say?” said Sirianni, winding up for the tired suggestion that the Hall of Fame coach never said anything else. “He said, ‘You are what your record says you are.’ So we’re in a good spot right now. And we are going to enjoy this bye week at 8-1 and get ready for the Kansas City Chiefs, who obviously are a great football team. And we will just continue to try to bust our butts to get better every single day.”

With the Chiefs, Bills, 49ers and Cowboys among the remaining games, that wouldn’t be a bad idea. Because at some point the NFL is going to NFL and even out the breaks.

• Every athlete should deal with injuries the way Jalen Hurts has with with his nagging knee issue. Too many others, in many sports, would have spent weeks milking sympathy or, worse, unnecessary time off. All he did was continue to boost his MVP candidacy.

• • •

It’s always sad news when the last Halloween horror movie is televised for another year. Those never fail to entertain.

• • •

Rhys Hoskins neared free agency and the Phillies held the door ajar, declining to give him a qualifying offer to remain, fearful he would reach for his contract-signing pen.

Nothing against a homegrown power hitter with a valuable clubhouse and community presence, but if there is one thing the Phillies did not need, it was another low-average hitter haunted by dramatic batter’s box streaks and slumps. No, the team that has not finished in first place since 2011 already has cornered the market on those.

• The Texas Rangers, whose accounting department OK’d $250,000,000 for human resources, won the World Series. Long term, that’s the only analytic that matters. Spend to win. As long as they have an owner hip to the concept, the Phillies will contend up to the point where there has to be a decision made on when to use Zack Wheeler in an elimination game.

• You know what was a good idea? Using Orion Kerkering in the NLCS and not Michael Lorenzen or Taijuan Walker. That way the Phillies could ruin his confidence the same way they did for Johan Rojas.

• • •

Me, I gladly kick over the extra fee for shopping bags. Just my way of being socially conscious.

• • •

For an interesting read, try “It’s Been a Rich Life,” an autobiography by former Daily Times sports writer and Springfield resident Rich Westcott. It’s a good look into how a fulfilling career in sports writing unfolds caked in some honest reflection on his upbringing.

• Starting to think Deion Sanders didn’t have every college sports coaching answer.

• RIP Bobby Knight. The former Indiana coach would not suffer the hideous officiating that has soiled college basketball for decades. If nothing else, remember him for that.

• • •

You get those gigantic, tableside pepper grinders?

Contact Jack McCaffery at jmccaffery@delcotimes.com

With that bow tied on an empty package, general manager Daryl Morey nicely continued another franchise tradition, begun when Josh Harris once called a 63-loss season a, “huge success.”

Have at it, DM:

“Welcome,” a smiling Morey said at the crack of training camp. “There’s a lot of excitement and optimism about this season here.”

Where’s the confetti cannon when you need it?

A known basketball-team pest throughout his career, Harden was on brand with his latest stunt. Despite opting into a $35 million contract this season — with the agreement, or so he has implied, that it would be followed by a trade — the 33-year-old point guard was not in Camden as the Sixers prepared to fly to Colorado Springs for a brief training camp.

Already fined $100K for taking his trade demands public, Harden faces more fees for going missing. Morey, however, was unspecific Monday about the bill, hinting only that he would trade Harden at some point for immediate help or for draft picks that would be used for immediate help. That is, the Harden tantrum will not key another rebuilding process.

The irony was not lost on those assembled for the annual Media Day that Harden was only a Sixer in the first place because Ben Simmons staged a similar boycott two seasons ago. That led the Nets and Sixers to engage in a miserable-employee swap, with some sweeteners added.

By Monday, the 20 Sixers who did not boycott engaged in corporate choreography, almost to a man reciting, “we can only control what we can control.”

Said Joel Embiid: “I can only control what I can control.”

See?

The Sixers have enough talent that, if healthy, they can control a place high in the Eastern Conference mix, with or without Harden. But that job will go primarily to new coach Nick Nurse, who will have control of the starting lineup.

The earliest indication is that he will hand the ball and Harden’s lead guard responsibilities to Tyrese Maxey, who likely will be paired with De’Anthony Melton in a starting backcourt. Embiid and Tobias Harris will anchor the frontcourt, with Nurse blessed with a plentiful supply of wing options, including free-agent signee Kelly Oubre, who averaged 20.3 points last season in Charlotte. P.J. Tucker, a holdover starter and a valued small-things contributor for Doc Rivers, is also around.

“We’ve had a good summer,” Nurse proclaimed. “I would say that with the voluntary workouts and some of our skill development and player development, and some of the runs the players had in L.A., and the voluntary workouts we’ve had in the last couple of weeks here, it has been a 10 out of 10 from a work-rate effort. The guys have really worked hard, and the spirit they have brought to the gym is really has high as it can be.

“So it has been an enjoyable start here to the summer.”

Unfortunately for the Sixers, basketball is primarily a wintertime sport. And in the NBA, it is known to be more enjoyable with a bundle of superstars. With Harden, the Sixers have one-and-a-half. Without him, they have Embiid. Just the same, Morey will try to spread the optimism among other spreadable things.

“What Coach Nurse has seen made him excited,” the basketball ops president said. “To start with, we have the MVP of the league, and we’ve got one of the great up-and-coming players in Tyrese Maxey. In this league, we have winning players in Tobias and Melton. We’ve got additions we love in Pat Beverley and Kelly Obrue and Mo Bamba. We’ve got young, great players like Paul Reed.

“We come in here every day and we feel like we are going to show this league that this is a team that can win.”

The Sixers won 54 times in the last regular season and another seven times in the playoffs, so Morey’s boasts do have some strength. It’s what Media Day is for, after all.

“Let us show you,” he said. “Let us show you in the regular season. Let us show you in the playoffs. I would ask for that.”

There is the possibility that show-and-tell will reveal that any team can be just as successful without the distraction of Harden, even if he did lead the league last season in assists. Given how it looked Monday, the Sixers are going to have to do exactly that.

“We have Plan A and Plan B,” Nurse said. “We’ve got to get the team ready regardless. We are expecting him to show up. If he shows up, we go. If he doesn’t, we go.”

This season’s complicating issue being the AWOL behavior of James Harden, that left Embiid Monday to endeavor to limit the team-wide panic.

He’ll be fine, he says.

“Hopefully, the situation with James will be resolved,” he said at Media Day. “If he is here, we love it. We want to be our best and we will have a better team with him on the floor. And I think he knows it, too.

“But if not, it doesn’t change anything. The goal is to go out and win a championship. It doesn’t change that.”

While that will be the goal through the upcoming training camp in Colorado, through the preseason, the regular season, an in-season tournament and the playoffs, the greater question will be how another potential truncated Sixers postseason will bend Embiid’s mood.

Not that he has ever mentioned a desire to be traded, but he is 28 and championship-driven in a conference where the better teams improved in the offseason while the Sixers did not have a draft pick and hung only around the fringes of the free-agent market.

Modern NBA realities what they are, superstars often demand to be moved for a better chance to win a championship. Why not Embiid?

“It’s all about consistency,” he said. “If every year is going to be the same and that doesn’t push you closer to a championship, that gets frustrating, I guess, for sure. But like I say, it doesn’t matter who is on the team, I am always going to believe I have a chance. So I have to go out and do what it takes.

“If I’m here in Philly, I love Philly. It’s all about winning a championship. I’ve got to be honest, if we win a championship, it would be fun to see for the fans. They deserve it after going through the process years and disappointments. I don’t think anybody wants to go back to that era of basketball. But when you have good players on a basketball team, anything can happen.”

Married during the offseason, Embiid repeated Monday what he said last season — tongue in cheek — before winning the MVP.: “I didn’t work on my game at all in the offseason.” So that is becoming a tradition. One of a few.

“Every single year of my career, I have been hurt in the playoffs at some point,” he said. “We just need a little luck in the organization, and we are looking at it as time to take the next step.”

• • •

Nick Nurse says Plan A is for James Harden to play the point for the Sixers. Should Harden remain unavailable, Plan B is to give Tyrese Maxey the job.

Bring it on, the developing All-Star says.

“I’m ready for Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, Plan D,” he said, “and all the way down to Plan Z.”

Unconcerned that the Sixers have made multiple trips through that alphabet since 1983, Maxey will take another crack at a point guard slot, even if he so far has been more productive off the ball.

“I’ve always prepared myself in the summer,” he said. “This year, I prepared in a different way because I know how important I feel to this team and this organization. I am just ready for whatever happens.”

Nor is Maxey shaken by the new Eastern Conference normal, with Damien Lillard in Milwaukee and Jrue Holiday in Boston.

“It makes the East even more competitive than it already was,” he said. “It’s going to be great. Everybody is trying to get better, including us. As a basketball fan, I can’t wait to sit on my couch and watch it when we are not playing.”

• • •

One way or another, Embiid, a citizen of three nations, will play in the 2026 Olympics. His preference is to represent his native Cameroon, as long as it qualifies. If not, he will probably play for the United States, although France is in the mix.

He said he will decide this week.

“Obviously, the US has been struggling in the last couple of years to get back on top,” he said. “It’s a tough choice. We’ll see.”

• • •

One of the most difficult dance steps in sports is for accomplished players to welcome a new coach without disrespecting the last one. The Sixers handled that well Monday, choosing not to dismiss the efforts of Doc Rivers while expressing pleasure about the approach of Nurse.

“It’s a different style of basketball, with his philosophies of defense and offense,” Tobias Harris said. “There is going to be a lot of different actions, a lot of body movement, a lot of running, getting up and down. I think all those things will be helpful for a lot of guys, including myself.”

While coaching Toronto, Nurse had particular success against Embiid, throwing multiple looks at him early with the hope of tiring him late.

“He just has you guessing all the time,” Embiid said. “I’ve been asking him a bunch of questions about what was going through his mind. And those conversations have made me better. Now I am excited about what he can do.”

• • •

The Sixers will be encamped through Friday in Colorado. They will open the preseason Sunday in Boston and host the Celtics the following Wednesday. Their regular-season opener will be Oct. 26 in Milwaukee.

“I never thought about it,” Rob Thomson was saying the other day, admitting that in-house celebrations are not a manager’s call. “It’s just what it is. You win something, you celebrate. It’s always been that way.”

So it has, and so the Phillies would take their fifth crack at it in two years Tuesday, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-2, in 10 innings then dropping plastic covering from the ceiling and spilling champagne about the place to toast themselves for reaching the playoffs for the second consecutive year.

For their payroll, their assembled superstars, their power and their status as sitting pennant winners, it might have seemed that not finishing seventh in the National League was the least they could do. But it wasn’t that way at all this season. It wasn’t that way at all.

No, theirs was a season that began with Bryce Harper recovering from one surgery while Rhys Hoskins was being carted into the operating room for another. It was a season with such a slow start — they were 0-4, 1-5 and 5-10 among other early records — that Thomson vowed early to re-imagine how spring training was being run. Though hardly alone, they did have plentiful injuries. For a time, Trea Turner, who had signed for $300,000,000, could not resist waving at down-and-away sliders and ground balls near shortstop.

The Phillies, at first, did not have a fifth starter, or close to one. But nor did they ever find a reason to shrivel up and go away – not early, not in the middle, and not in the stretch, when they rampaged to the postseason, where they will enjoy a Citizens Bank Park advantage for every scheduled game of the first-round best-of-three.

“There were a lot of challenges,” said a champagne-drenched John Middleton, who authorized all the spending, “but that’s what makes this even sweeter.”

So party on.

“I think everybody goes through challenges over the course of a year, and multiple challenges,” Thomson said. “Last year, Harper got hurt. Last year, Zack Wheeler got hurt. We had things that we had to overcome. But the group we had last year, which is basically the same group we have this year, never buckled. They just kept moving forward. So ever since then, I have had the confidence they would do it again. And they did it.”

Of all the characteristics that would define the 2023 Phillies, it was that refusal to be bothered by tests. They recovered from losing streaks, multiple September bullpen follies, the Turner slump for the ages and the disappointment of being boat-raced by the Braves in their division. To the credit of Thomson, they did that by accepting new roles, sharing duties and never pouting when things went wrong. Or maybe that credit should go to Dave Dombrowski for finding players experienced enough to know how to mesh with one another. Both, probably.

“Dave Dombrowski built this team the way Pat Gillick did in 2008,” said Middleton. “He built it so that there was enough redundancy that if anything happened, we would be OK.”

Bryson Stott calmly went to second base when Turner was signed as a shortstop and showed why he someday will have played in multiple All-Star Games. Harper, who hustled back from elbow surgery, learned how to play first base. Brandon Marsh didn’t complain when Johan Rojas, who delivered the game-winning hit Tuesday, was promoted to play some in center field. Kyle Schwarber was meant to be a DH, but labored through most of a season in left as Harper healed. Nick Castellanos wanted to play left, but made himself into an excellent defensive rightfielder. Alec Bohm played first when asked, third when asked, and well all season. The committee of closers worked. The starting rotation, once Cristopher Sanchez settled in, worked even better.

It was the only way the Phillies would be able to overcome so many hurdles and still have the right to drench each other in alcohol despite a 12th consecutive season without finishing in first place.

“It’s difficult to get into the playoffs,” Thomson said. “And so, you need to celebrate that.”

The Phillies celebrated making the playoffs last season, then again after the first round, after the second and after the third. Then they lost in the World Series and were made to wait to try it again.

If it ends differently this time, it shouldn’t be a surprise.

“We’ve got everything we need,” Craig Kimbrel said. “We’ve got pitching. We’ve got a lot of guys who wanted to be here and had all the tools to get it done. And we’re just going to keep playing good ball and seeing the good things that happen.”

And not looking back.

Contact Jack McCaffery at jmccaffery@delcotimes.com

Don’t rule out a return this season of Rhys Hoskins, says Rob Thomson.

“No,” the manager said before a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. “We’ve got a long ways to go, but he sure looks good.”

Hoskins tore knee ligaments late in spring training and has not played all season. Though the first baseman and the Phillies have maintained hope that a return was possible, it never seemed as real as it had by Tuesday.

“He took BP on the field today,” Thomson reported. “He’s still going through some tests, but he is up to 75 or 80 swings a day. But it looks good. He’s starting to get some power back and sometimes that takes some time.

“He probably hit seven or eight balls out of the ballpark today, which is more than he has so far. So that’s good.”

Thomson had previously confirmed that the surgically repaired Hoskins would not be active early in the postsesason, but was willing by Tuesday to set the World Series — “if we were to get there” — as a reasonable target.

Hoskins, 30, supplied 30 home runs and 79 RBIs last season. He had four home runs and seven RBIs, in the five-game NLCS triumph over San Diego.

“He’s in really good spirits and he feels good about where he is at,” Thomson said. “He ran the bases today. And as you know, he’s the leader and a great sounding board for these guys. He has great knowledge and I love having him around.

“He is really in a good frame of mind right now.”

• • •

Michael Lorenzen registered his first save of the season, and the 15th of his career, in a Sunday triumph over the Mets.

The Phillies are deep enough in starting pitching to be flexible, so the right-handed veteran stressed Tuesday that he would be fine in whatever role Thomson has in mind for the playoffs. Yet Lorenzen, who is unsigned past this season, also made it clear that he has no interest in any long-term bullpen role.

“No,” he said, laughing. “I want to be a starter.”

While he is valued for his ability to not only start and relieve but, in the past, play a little outfield, Lorenzen was an All-Star starter in Detroit this season and, shortly after arriving in Philadelphia at the trade deadline, uncorked a no-hitter against the Washington Nationals.

For that, he elaborated on his stance: “I don’t ‘want’ to be a starter. I ‘am’ a starter.”

Just the same, he will accept any postseason role.

“I am in a position to try to help this team win,” he said, “no matter how that may be.”

• • •

After a choppy season at the plate, J.T. Realmuto entered the game Tuesday with a six-game hitting streak and six RBIs in his previous three outings.

Thomson knows he will have to decide whether to risk disrupting that late-to-arrive rhythm at the plate or to give his catcher some potentially valuable maintenance days in the final week of the season.

“It’s a balance, right?” he said. “I wouldn’t want to overplay him and potentially get hurt on a foul ball or something. But at the same time you have to keep him sharp. So you have to keep that balance. I do think, if we were to clinch, we would give him a couple of days off to be sure.”

• • •

Orion Kerkering has had one major-league pitching appearance, but it likely was enough to cement him in the Phillies’ postseason plans.

Thomson hopes the right-hander will pitch Wednesday and then once more on the weekend, but he has already about made up his mind.

“That will be enough for me,” he said. “And from what I saw the other night, that’s pretty much enough.”

A 2022 fifth-round draft choice, Kerkering stormed through the minor-league system, making stops in Clearwater, Jersey Shore, Reading and (briefly) Lehigh Valley before joining the Phillies last week. He has shown he is physically ready to pitch anywhere. Thomson is certain he will be emotionally fit too.

“Yeah,” he said. “From what I saw the other night, he wasn’t even sweating. Right? He didn’t look like he was affected by anything.”

Kerkering struck out two — both on what already has become his legendary slider — in his perfect eighth inning Sunday.

“You never know how anyone is going to react in this atmosphere,” Thomson said, motioning toward the  Citizens Bank Park seating area. “But that’s with anybody.”

• • •

NOTES >> The Phillies have dispatched batters Rafael Marchan, Darick Hall, Weston Wilson and Kody Clemens, along with pitchers Andrew Bellatti, Connor Brogdon, Nick Nelson and McKinley Moore to Florida, keeping them fresh in case of a postseason injury. … Recently waived Drew Ellis accepted a minor-league assignment. … Ranger Suarez (4-6, 3.89) and Bucs righthander Johan Oviedo will start Wednesday night at 6:40 … Zack Wheeler 13-6, 3.64) is scheduled to pitch Thursday at 6:05.

In the next game, D’Andre Swift ran 28 times, covered 175 yards, scored a touchdown and was elected as the NFC’s Offensive Player of the Week.

One is the outlier. By Monday night in Tampa, the mystery of which performance that is should begin to clear.

While Nick Sirianni has steadfastly refused to appoint a No. 1 running back, preferring to keep the auditioning microphone open, he did give a hint Thursday that momentum can be a valuable tiebreaker. So in a 7:15 game against the Buccaneers, it figures he will ride it until shown it’s not working.

“The question keeps coming up about who’s the starter and all this,” Sirianni said Thursday at the NovaCare Complex. “Well, we’re going to ride the hot hand. Do I think it’s sustainable? I mean, shoot, his body is ready to go, and I don’t ever want to put an expectation on anybody. But if he has the hot hand Monday night, we’ll keep rolling with him.”

Swift wasn’t necessarily the heir apparent to departed Miles Sanders when the Eagles acquired him from Detroit in a shuffle of mid-round draft choices. But he was believed, at least, to have the background to win most of the newly available touches. Kenny Gainwell, who missed the 34-28 Week 2 triumph over Minnesota with a rib injury, was also considered high on that list, along with Rashaad Penny and Boston Scott. Scott got five carries against the Vikings, Penny three.

While Sirianni might have preferred keeping Bucs coach Todd Bowles guessing about his running-back pitch counts, the Player of the Week announcement made it tough to keep too many secrets.

“We feel pretty good about the work (Swift) puts in to make sure his body is right,” Sirianni said. “It’s hard not to run the ball with that. Give it to him 35 times. It’s hard not to do that.”

• • •

In a recent radio interview, Jason Kelce might have seemed concerned about the “temperature” of the Eagles. So, he was asked to clarify.

“I said it on the radio and I said it before: In this business, you don’t want to get comfortable,” he said. “I think it’s good when you come here with a healthy level of respect for the fact that you have to prepare and try to get better and have a very attentive mindset in meetings or on the practice field. Where we are at right now, we have played some close games but we haven’t played our best football. But we’ve won those games.

“So in my opinion, it’s the best place to be, where we don’t think we’re the best in the world, we don’t think we’re absolutely terrible. But I think we are in a healthy mindset.”

• • •

After A.J. Brown was caught on video in some kind of sideline discussion with Jalen Hurts about the offense during the Minnesota game, Sirianni has been careful to stress that there is no stress between Brown and DeVonta Smith in the receivers’ room.

“I love to watch their growth as teammates and friends,” the coach said, responding to a question. “I think they both respect the heck out of each other, and they are helping each other get better. That’s what you want, that you have two guys who have done it at a very high level helping each other out and getting better.”

With the Eagles running successfully enough for Smith’s Player of the Week appointment, Smith was targeted just five times against Minnesota. Brown was a six-time target.

“I think those guys complement each other really well in terms of their games, but there is a reason those guys were voted captain,” offensive coordinator Brian Johnson said. “They’re great leaders. They’re very passionate about their craft and trying to be the best they can possibly be.

“So any time you have players that kind of set that stage in terms of their leadership, in terms of their work ethic and how they prepare themselves to get ready to go play each and every week and play at high level each and every week, it is a testament to them.”

Johnson, who recommends the play calls, is not going to adjust his rhythm to accommodate egos.

“I think ultimately Job No. 1 is to do what you have to do to win the football game,” he said. “I think one of the luxuries we have is we have a bunch of great players. The reality of that is when you do have great players, it allows us to really attack what the defense is not focusing on.”

• • •

James Bradberry, who missed the Minnesota game with a concussion, practiced Thursday, though in a limited capacity. Gainwell remained limited with his rib issue.

Also limited were Smith (hamstring/thigh), Reed Blankenship (ribs), Fletcher Cox (ribs), Zach Cunningham (ribs), Jordan Davis (ankle), Jack Stoll (ankle) and Josh Sweat (toe).

Scott (concussion), Terrell Edmunds (illness) and Quez Watkins (hamstring) did not practice.

In other words, after a courtesy media day on the New Jersey waterfront, they will run to Colorado State University and hide. But wherever he camps, new coach Nick Nurse must shave a 21-man offseason roster to 15, then reduce that to 13 for the Oct. 26 Opening Night visit from Milwaukee. And if he wants to save the travel and the trouble, he is invited to simply refer to this roster forecast and spend his off time in Colorado on the slopes.

There shall be no extra charge for the added commentary.

1. Joel Embiid: The question is exactly what body part will malfunction and when. It was the knee, remember, in the last playoffs.

As modern NBA medical situations go, he has been mostly healthy while playing 154 regular-season games in the last two years. But he is 28, has injured everything, and is the Sixers’ only true avenue to success.

2. Tyrese Maxey: Dramatically more often than not, he has shown by age 22 that he can be an enduring NBA star. But with James Harden declaring he will not play for a general manager he has likened to Pinocchio, Maxey will be the full-time point guard and with all of those added responsibilities. Harden being what he is — painful to any coach — he was an ideal backcourt complement to Maxey.

3. Tobias Harris: To no benefit to the collective waistline of the Philadelphia fan base, the $180,000,000 man will be back. That means all fans will be treated to a gourmet dessert, as part of a cross-promotion hatched after Harris blurted out that the fans would have traded him for a Crumbl Cookie. Daryl Morey didn’t, and Harris — whose fundamentals are under-appreciated but only because he is vastly overcompensated — will be back. Sweet.

4. Kelly Oubre: Throughout the offseason, the know-it-alls hedged on including the Sixers among the NBA cream largely because they didn’t have enough frontcourt scoring. But at the close of the summer, it was revealed that Morey will spring for the 6-6 free agent forward who averaged a career-high 20.3 points for Charlotte last season. Known to be a handful, thus partially explaining his five NBA stops by age 27, he will do what P.J. Tucker never will: Score.

5. P.J. Tucker: Through night after NBA night of two-point games, Doc Rivers insisted the veteran forward was an acquired taste. Turns out, he was right, as Tucker proved invaluable in the playoffs for his tip-ins, hustle, defensive efforts and corner shooting. Whether Nurse will have as much patience as Rivers is unknown.

6. De’Anthony Melton: Streaky shooter, good defender, knows his role, can play multiple positions, leads by example. Could start. A depth value to any team.

7: Paul Reed: Already on the list of all-time Sixers over-achievers, he has spent his summer redesigning himself as a four-man. That sounds ambitious, but he has improved through each of his first three seasons and thus has earned the confidence that he can make it four.

8. Patrick Beverly: Long valued for his defense, the Sixers will see if he has much left at age 35. With 65 games of NBA postseason experience and muffled expectations, he may have a surprising year left.

9. Danuel House Jr.: Never one to hedge on an opinion, Rivers never could decide last season whether he liked the 30-year-old small forward or not. But when right, and maybe Nurse can draw that out of him more, he plays with a valuable edge.

10. Mo Bamba: He’s 7-feet tall. And beyond that, he’s 7-feet tall. But since he can’t really play, he will back up Reed, who will back up Embiid. And if it gets to that point, there’s always hockey.

11. Danny Green: Georges Niang went to Cleveland in free agency, so the Sixers needed at least the threat of a three-point shooter in reserve. His deficiencies everywhere else aside, the 36-year-old is a 40-percent shooter from the arc.

12: Jaden Springer: Already into them for $10 million, the Sixers are going to have to give their 2021 first-round draft choice a real NBA chance. He can defend, has played well in the G-League, and at 21 should be ready.

13: Furkan Korkmaz: Already heading into his seventh season, he had some intriguing moments under Brett Brown. But with Rivers never feeling comfortable with him, he went into sharp decline. The coaching change could give him new professional life.

Montrezl Harrell injured his knee and will be lost for most of the season. Harden is going to go on strike. Filip Petrusev, the 2021 second-round pick, should make the 15-man roster. Terquavion Smith, a walk-on guard from North Carolina State, has the club’s attention. And David Duke Jr. and Ricky Council IV will be on the Delaware shuttle.

Good team.

Good coach.

A chance.

Contact Jack McCaffery at jmccaffery@delcotimes.com

So the Eagles’ quarterback has, with Eagles offensive coordinator Brian Johnson acknowledging that opposing coaches have been testing him with schemes that hadn’t shown up in game film.

Jason Kelce even recently offered a word for it: Chaos.

“I think those guys have done a great job presenting looks that haven’t been on tape – looks that have been un-scouted — and trying to find new ways to challenge us as an offense,” Johnson said Wednesday.  “That’s one of the things that we talked about, that defenses were going to try to adjust to what we’re doing. And you kind of see the evolution from ’21 to ’22 to ’23 of what focal points defenses use to try to take away from us offensively.”

The coordinators in New England tried, and the Eagles ran up a 25-spot. The coordinators in Minnesota tried, and the Eagles scored 34 points.

Challenges faced.

Challenges met?

“I was just really proud of the guys for being able to adjust on the fly really, really quickly,” Johnson said, “and find a way to manipulate that and attack and use it to our advantage.”

While it’s early, Eagles opponents have focused on blunting Hurts’ running. Through two games, the quarterback is averaging 3.4 yards per carry, down from 4.6 last season and 5.6 in 2021.

“We just haven’t hit very many explosives with our running plays,” Johnson said. “If you go back and watch the tape, it’s really, really close. We just have to continue to strive to be better in all areas and continue to try to put our guys in the perfect situation.”

In the meantime, Hurts will have to continue to adjust in his adjusting.

“I think Jalen is just continuing to progress,” Johnson said. “He’s starting to see some different things defensively, and just finding ways to adjust to the play.”

Next up, the Buccaneers, Monday night at 7:15 in Tampa, and coach Todd Bowles, known for his defensive stylings.

“Well, they have great players,” Johnson said. “Coach Bowles does a great job of putting those guys in position to make plays and create big plays and to create tackles for losses. So just like any other week in the NFL, it’s going to be quite the battle.”

• • •

After running for a career-high 175 yards and a touchdown against Minnesota in his home debut in his hometown, St. Joseph’s Prep product D’Andre Swift was chosen as the NFC Offensive Player of the Week.

“He showed vision and explosiveness,” Nick Sirianni said. “I thought the offensive line did a phenomenal job of pushing them off the ball. I was really pleased that he protected the ball. Protecting the football is not an easy thing.”

Swift, who likewise credited his offensive line, averaged 6.3 yards on 28 carries. He ranks third in the NFL with 178 rushing yards.

“D’Andre is an explosive player and an explosive playmaker,” Johnson said. “He had really, really good vision. He did a great job staying square. All the guys in that room are excellent football players, and it was great to see D’Andre come out and have such a huge performance in the home opener back in Philly for him. I was really excited for his performance.”

• • •

Among the reasons former New York Jet Braden Mann was hired to replace Arryn Siposs as the Eagles’ punter was his three years of experience with upper East Coast weather.

“He’s done it in this league for a few years,” special teams coach Michael Clay said. “It’s always nice knowing that he wasn’t coming from a different climate. It’s tough playing in the Northeast in the wintertime, especially MetLife Stadium.”

Clay is confident Mann can connect with long snapper Rick Lovato and Jake Elliott as his holder.

“Obviously, he has done it before,” Clay said. “He has worked with Jake in the offseason. And it all starts with Rick. If Rick is throwing a pearl back there every time, it makes the holder’s and kicker’s job a lot easier. He is the catalyst for the operation. So as long as Rick stays who Rick is and be on point, it should be pretty seamless.”

• • •

With the Eagles about to face Bowles, a Temple grad, defensive coordinator Sean Desai had a story to share.

“I’ve met him a couple times,” said Desai, a former Temple assistant. “He’s awesome. I have so much respect for him obviously as a head coach and even as defensive mind and defensive coach.

“We did a Temple coaching clinic a couple years ago,” he added, smiling. “One of my contacts there said they will be juiced up about me. At that point, I was a quality control coach in Chicago. So I go and show up and I’m sandwiched between Todd Bowles and Bruce Arians. I am like, ‘There is no way people came to see me over here.’ But Coach does an awesome job. I have a lot of respect for him.”

• • •

With Avonte Maddox sent to injured reserve with a torn pectoral muscle, returner Britain Covey was promoted to the active roster. University of Toledo product Bryant Koback, a running back who went through the Minnesota and Seattle camps, was added to the practice squad.