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Seeds for Eagles' red-zone and third-down success were sown last spring in OTAs

From the outside looking in, it’s easy to minimize the importance of NFL OTAs (organized team activities).

They look like the football equivalent of dance rehearsals, with players practicing the Samba and the Foxtrot and the Viennese Waltz for a recital that still is more than three months away.

Attendance is voluntary. Players can’t wear pads. Contact allegedly is verboten. And they seldom go at anything resembling September game speed.

That said, Doug Pederson will tell you that the seeds for the Eagles’ first NFL championship in 57 years were sown last spring during these NovaCare dance rehearsals.