The pageantry and patriotism accompanying the buildup to the Minnesota Twins' home opener forced a pause for James Paxton in his warmup routine Devontae Booker Jersey , leaving the Seattle starting pitcher standing alone in left field while a giant flag was unfurled nearby.

The bald eagle brought in for a ceremonial flight over the field was the final piece of the pregame pomp, prior to the playing of the national anthem.

Well, the big bird didn't want to visit the mound, perhaps wary of Major League Baseball's new rule limiting such trips to keep the pace of play. Instead, it picked out another target at Target Field.

And Paxton wound up as the landing spot, sticking its talons into his back.

"I guess the eagle knew I was Canadian. I don't know. But it came for me," the left-hander said on Thursday evening after the Twins rallied past the Mariners 4-2 .

Even on a 38-degree afternoon against a big-swinging lineup, the toughest task for Paxton might have been keeping his composure during that startling moment before the game when the pastime of bird watching took on a whole new meaning.

"Figured I'm not going to outrun an eagle," Paxton said. "So might as well see what happens."

Rather than soaring to the mound to reach his summoning handlers, the bird took a path straight toward Paxton, causing him to jerk his upper body backward to avoid being grazed. Then the eagle, named Challenger, landed in the grass before circling back to find a perch on Paxton's right shoulder . One of the trainers hustled out to lure the bird safely away and make sure Paxton was all right.

"I kind of ducked it so it wouldn't fly into my face. It was Jacob McQuaide Jersey , I think, trying to stand on my back," Paxton said. "And then I thought, 'OK, if I can stand up slowly, maybe it'll just rest on my shoulder. But as I stood up, he kind of fell off my back a little bit and was kind of clawing to try to get back up on my shoulder. But then as I stood straight up, it fell back onto the ground."

So he simply resumed warming up.

"The talons, I don't think, punctured me. They were kind of sharp on my back. I don't have any scratches, I don't believe," Paxton said. "That's not the first time I've seen a bald eagle, but it was the first time I've had one try to land on me."

Talk about poise under pressure.

"I was just standing there Boomer Esiason Jersey , trying not to panic," he said.

Both teams had a good time reliving the moment. Mariners manager Scott Servais said he thought fellow starting pitcher Felix Hernandez would have run away. Twins center fielder Byron Buxton had no trouble admitting that would have been his reaction, too.

"When I saw him like perk up on Paxton's arm, I'm gone," Buxton said. "He wouldn't have a chance to get on my shoulder."

Twins catcher Mitch Garver said the large-talon landing was "terrifying." Twins closer Fernando Rodney joked about using one of the imaginary arrows he shoots into the air after converting a save to try to bring down the bird.

"When I saw that, I said, 'Wow,'" Rodney said. "That's baseball. A lot of things happen."

Minnesota fans, meanwhile, could probably appreciate an eagle-free sporting event at this point. The Vikings lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC championship game this winter, of course, before the Eagles came to Minneapolis two weeks later to win their first Super Bowl.

Matthew Stafford dropped back and connected over the middle with Golden Tate.

Before the Detroit Lions lined up to take another snap in the two-minute drill, Stafford's short pass to Tate was shown on a pair of huge TV monitors.

The Detroit Lions under first-year coach Matt Patricia are part of a trend: NFL teams using instant replay to make quick corrections and observations during training camp.

The Oakland Raiders Walter Payton Jersey , Los Angeles Rams, Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins are also taking advantage of technology common in stadiums on game days.

Tate said the replays between snaps are shown too quickly for him to see them. But if the receiver is walking off the field while the second-string offense is coming on it, he takes a peek at the previous play.

"I look at what the coverage was," Tate said. "I can also pull a coach aside and say, 'What could I have done differently?'

"It's great to be able to go over something quickly when it is fresh in your mind versus having to wait and forget about it."

The Lions, like a lot of teams in the league, have cameras perched atop towers higher than goal posts. Camera operators use joysticks to zoom in and out, tilt up and down and pan the field to record the action. The Lions also have an operator with a safety harness on a scissor lift. And closer to the ground, staff members hold cameras and put them on short tripods to get other vantage points.

Cornerback Darius Slay said he always looks at replays in practice, especially if a teammate catches a pass against him.

"I want to know what I did wrong," Slay said. "I can correct it just as fast as I can see it. I'm glad (Patricia) got that out there for us.

"You can see what's wrong 鈥?fast."

Instant replays during practices potentially provide another way to help players on the sideline, who aren't getting hands-on repetitions.

"It's a great teaching tool for our team," Oakland coach Jon Gruden said. "I think it'll be better when we have one huddle going at a time. We had two huddles going at once Andre Holmes Jersey , so it was a little bit chaotic."

The Rams also put up a big replay board on the side of a field at their camp at UC Irvine, giving them a chance to get and give immediate feedback instead of waiting hours for a film session.

"That's really the intent of it," Rams coach Sean McVay said.

The Browns have a new camera system and it includes a replay screen at their training facility.

"People who are getting the mental reps, who are not doing it, can turn back and really see what is really going on," Browns coach Hue Jackson said. "Understand the defense, where the offense might have broken down, or why we executed pretty well. I think it is a really good thing to have for both offense and defense."

AP Pro Football Writer Josh Dubow and Sports Writers Tom Withers, Greg Beacham, and Steven Wine contributed.

Authentic Womens Brandon Parker Jersey ,