Eagles Rumors

The Eagles have cut safety Rashad Baker, who they acquired in the off-season after he played for the Raiders in 2008.  They signed a safety out of Michigan named Brandon Harrison.

Today is the last practice before the game on Thursday.  Tomorrow will just be the walkthrough.

Brent Celek (shoulder) is back working out with the team today.  Working out with training staff is Trent Cole (shoulder) and Sheldon Brown (ribs).

No word yet on who is definitely out for Thursday, but it appears likely that Sheldon Brown, Kevin Kolb, Shawn Andrews, and Omar Gaither will all be in street clothes.  We’ll update when we get word.

Update:
Guys not playing tomorrow (in no particular order) –  Shawn Andrews, Stacy Andrews, Sheldon Brown, Trent Cole, Kevin Colb, Todd Herremans, Jason Peters, Darren Howard, Brian Westbrook, Omar Gaither.

Update II:
Reid says that Shawn Andrews has been cleared to practice, and will be eased in after the Colts game.

As BadgerVMD said in the comments, Shawn Andrews has flown west to see a back specialist — the same one who performed surgery on him last year.  Not encouraging news for a guy who made it seem like things were improving.

Brian Westbrook took part in live hitting today, rendering today’s earlier concerns here moot.  It’s nice to have some good news, hopefully Westbrook’s body reacts well.

Omar Gaither left today’s practice with a minor knee sprain.

Brian Westbrook did practice this weekend and is expected to practice again today.  He hasn’t been involved in hitting drills however.  No word on when that might begin.

On the one hand, you need to protect Westbrook and his chronicly injured lower body.  On the other hand, you probably don’t want the first hit he takes to be in Carolina.  Every game is critical in the short NFL season.

Todd Herremans has been seeing in a walking boot, looking the part of a guy who isn’t returning to practice any time soon.

Marty Mornhinweg says Jason Peters’ seemingly bad performance on Thursday wasn’t totally his fault.  Timing issues on snap counts and a nagging quad injury kept him off balance for the sack plays.  Mornhinweg says he was encouraged by what he saw of Peters athleticism out there.

Sheldon Brown’s bruised ribs do not appear to be a serious injury.

Brent Celek should return to practice today.

Nearly lost amongst all of the bad (injuries) and controversial (Vick) news from the Eagles’ summer has been the state of their most important offensive weapon.

And today the team gets very good news.  Brian Westbrook will practice with the team today (although he will be somewhat limited by staff).

He will still not play in any preseason games, but it looks like the Birds could have their playmaker at 100% for the Carolina game.

Signs a two year deal with the Birds.  Details to come.

It’s a one year deal with a $5+ million option for 2010.  This sure seems like a one-year “let’s see what this guy can do to help us get a trophy” move.

We really don’t know how he’ll be used yet, if at all.  How quickly can he get into shape?

2009 will be a circus.

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Update:  Reid addressed media this morning, announcing Herremans injury (out for perhaps the rest of pre-season) and that Stacy Andrews will be kept out of the game for precautionary reasons.

Your likely starting lineup tomorrow night.  Keep in mind (for the out-of-towners) the game is going to be played on tape delay at 11 pm on the NFL Network.

Offense:
QB - McNabb
RB - McCoy
FB - Weaver
LT - Peters
LG - Jean-Gilles
C - Jackson
RG - Cole
RT - Justice
TE - Celek
WR - Jackson
WR - Curtis

Defense:
LE - Parker
DT - Patterson
DT - Bunkley
RE - Howard
WILL - Jordan
MIKE - Mays
SAM - Gocong
RCB - Brown
LCB - Samuel
SS - Mikell
FS - Demps

What to watch for:
All eyes on Joe Mays.  How quickly does he fill the hole?  Is he hitting as strongly as the Eagles coaching staff says he does?  How does he react to passing plays (play action or not) on first and second down?

This really won’t be a big night for the offense — not that it will stop us from overreacting to the one or two series they are in — so focus is on the young guys who are just trying to make the team, special teams, etc.

Update:  Knee hyper-extension.

Hank Baskett was injured during 7 on 7 drills this morning.  He walked off under his own power, but ended up in the medical tent and then took a cart ride inside.  Appeared to be a knee injury of unkown extent.

The Eagles are now left with in a situation where Matt Schobel is their second tight end.  Schobel has had some high-profile screwups as an Eagle, and even when he wasn’t missing a key block or dropping a big pass he wasn’t very productive otherwise.  To put it simply, it’s not a great situation.

They brought in an undrafted rookie, and perhaps the new fullback can help out in spots.  But neither is a proven solution.  And for a team trying to win a Super Bowl now, it’s a big hole.  The second tight end is on the field quite a bit, especially in the ever-important red zone.

So that leaves the Eagles potentially looking for solutions from outside the organization.  And there is one team that is an obvious choice for the first phone call — Denver.

The Broncos has three proven, worthy veteran tight ends.  Daniel Graham, Tony Scheffler, and Jeb Putzier have all been productive in the league — and all would be better options that Schobel.  Scheffler and Putzier profile more as pass catchers than a blocking tight end, but Daniel Graham would be a great solution for the goal line.  The Broncos also have two rookie tight ends in camp who they presumably are looking for upside.

Knowing the rosters of every team in the league is part of the job of the front office, and you can be sure they are aware of the Broncos’ excess.  The questions are — how uncomfortable are the Birds in their current state, how much would the Broncos ask for one of these guys, and how much are the Birds willing to pay (and do they consider them real upgrades).

It would be nice to see a trade for a veteran before they break camp.  Do you see any other teams who would seem to be good partners?

Sheil Kapadia reports that both Trent Cole and Kevin Kolb were taken to the locker room on the cart with injuries this morning.

Cole’s appeared to be an arm injury.  Kolb, his left leg.

Andy Reid spoke with the media today.  Among other things, he stated that he couldn’t be certain Shawn Andrews would be ready for the season opener — but he said he was “making progress” (a classic Reidism).

He also spoke about Jon Runyan, indicating he had spoken with him and that he knew where  he was at in his recovery.

DeSean Jackson would have practiced today, said Reid, had the weather not been bad.