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Some of the walking wounded returned to practice on Saturday. Brian Westbrook, Victor Abiamiri, and Trevor Laws all got back in action. That is huge for us, much more important that the signing of Ron Mexico.
Westy seems to be ahead of schedule. That is great news. Everyone was all worried about him back in the spring. Would he be healthy this year? Would he be ready for Week 1? Now he's back in time to get on the practice field in August. Hopefully he'll get a little preseason action so he can get loosened up a bit.
Abiamiri's return is also big news. The Eagles are projecting him as the starting LDE. VA needs practice reps to work on his game so he can get ready for the season. Victor doesn't lack talent. He needs experience and technique work. He'll benefit from every practice rep he can get. VA wasn't able to play much last summer because of injuries. Hopefully he'll be able to play in the next 2 preseason games. Starters normally sit out of the finale, but VA could even play in that if the team feels he needs more work.
Laws is a backup player so his return isn't as critical. Still, our backup DTs are not very good without him so we do need him back in the rotation. We got little push by the backup DTs against NE. Laws presence will make a big difference for the #2 defense. We also need him to get up to speed in case anything should happen to Patt or Bunk.
OPTIMISM
The young guys and new players looked good against the Patriots. Some of the injured guys are coming back. If we can go find a legit backup TE I'm going to start feeling pretty darn good about the team.
The OL is still a bit of a mess, but the team is expecting Todd to be fine for the season opener and Stacy could play this week. Adding those guys to the lineup will be a big help. Now we just need Shawn's back to stop being a problem. Keep your fingers crossed.
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9 comments:
I think, according to Mr Lurie anyway, that we did not sign Ron Mexico rather the new Ron Ron Ron the new Ron Ron. A true Ron Mexico sighting would result in a Ron Mexico firing.
There will be a TE, it's hard to know who and from where, but more importantly, when? Surely we like them before the season opener?
Backs are crap and very hard for Docs to understand in my experience. I hope he can sort it out, because the nature of a back spasm, twitch or jerk is entirely reflex and therefore it isn't like a pain you can play through.
Thanks for the little info on back injuries. Being a fan of the NFL (or just the Andrews brothers) requires a specialty in orthopedics.
When I think of possible TE's around the league, it's hard to look past Tennessee. That's mostly because the Eagles already inquired about Bo Scaife over the summer, but the Titans do have 4 good ones.
Another possible trade partner I wondered about a few months ago was Arizona, but overlooked their injury and suspension situation at the position. But now I read in the Arizona news that Leonard Pope is severely underachieving and on the outs. Possible free agent pick-up after cuts?
The only other team my superficial eyes can see is the Bears. They need a WR, right? Could we trade for Desmond Clark or Greg Olsen? I doubt either would be seriously available.
Honestly I don't care who we get as long as its a warm body not named Schoebel.
I'm very curious about Shawn Andrews' back problem, he has carried around a ton of weight for a long time (he was like 400 lbs when he came into the league remember) so I'm curious if thats caught up to him. Honestly if he miraculously gets better right around the time the season starts, ill both be pissed that he was skipping out on practice and relieved that we get our all pro OL back at the same time.
@Stephen
I broke 3 bones in my back in 1995, and damaged a 4th (depressed). I have been suffering badly from back problems for the last 3 years. I had an MRI last year and the present problem has nothing to do with the accident in 1995. Ugh, was my response. The point is that back problems can be really hard to diagnose with any degree of accuracy.
Greg Olsen? Are you smoking weed? The Eagles had their chance with Olsen and took Kolb. Now Olsen is going to be a monster. Really bad decision on the Eagles. First time in a draft I really thought they made a poor decision.
This is why the Eagles got Michael Vick :
"Michael Vick would be one of the scariest guys to run that [Wildcat] offense," Jets coach Rex Ryan said yesterday during a break at the Jets' SUNY Cortland training camp. "Probably the scariest guy."
I watched all throughout college. He is a monster.
If Jeremy Maclin has to learn how to run real pass routes after only playing in a spread offense, how are Michael Vick and Donovan McNabb going to just walk on the field and line up as receivers. Maybe Vick can catch a screen pass but I don't see Donovan doing anthing of the kind. While he may only be a step slower than he was when he entered the league, after all his injuries he has lost his aggressiveness. He still has the elusiveness to dodge would be sackers and that talent is best used to gain time to make the pass. Once he turns up field he looks to get out of bounds and maybe a first down if it isn't to much of a stretch. That's probably the way it should be since we don't want our franchise QB exposing himself to any more injury.
I'm sure there is lots to do with Vick to give opposing defenses a scare. But WR McNabb won't scare anybody but Reid, Morningweg and Eagles fans everywhere.
McNabb as a WR is simply a body.
The Wildcat is built on the premise of numbers. On a normal running play you have 9 blockers, the runner, and the QB against 11 defenders.
The Wildcat lets you have 10 blockers and a runner against 11 defenders. All the QB/WR has to do is stay out wide with the CB across from him. He's done his job just by lining up.
As for McNabb actually running a route. That might happen on a trick play or two, but it won't be standard. You don't want to risk him getting hit out in space.
Vick is someone to get creative with. Use him on a WR screen. Have him run a route or two. Just basic stuff. He doesn't need to perfect the entire route tree.
I was just speaking extemporaneously about Greg Olsen and other teams' tight end situations. I have very little knowledge of other teams' tight ends.
But I do think Desmond Clark could be a real trade target.
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