The Eagles played preseason game #2 and here are some game notes.  I missed the 1st half, but what a game it turned out to be in the 2nd half: a come from behind win — 24 unanswered points — 24-13.  From what I saw from the 1st half highlights, it was uneventful, except for a botched field goal attempt by the Eagles that ended up in 7 for the Panthers.  Carolina was up at halftime 10-0.  The Eagles made a 2nd half comeback with Kolb leading the way to a 17-13 lead.  The Eagles then tipped a QB pass in the final minute of the game and it was picked it off by Justin Roland for a TD.  Here are some notes from the 2nd half:

– Kevin Kolb: I love the guy.  His stats don’t really “woo” you, but here’s what I saw.  Scratch that, he ended up with 155 yards and a TD in one half.  The guy throws darts on the field.  He has a great command of the offense, he plays fired up, he plays with passion — he’s a winner.  He has great awareness in the pocket, he steps up at the right time, and he makes the right throw — on a bullet.  He had an INT, but it wasn’t his fault: he threw a bullet to DeSean Jackson and it went through his hands, and ended up in the hands of the defender behind him.  More on DeSean Jackson next.  To reaffirm what I said about Kolb: he just threw a beautiful deep pass to Greg Lewis in the left corner of the end zone — touchdown, 7-13 — just text book.

– DeSean Jackson: He was definitely the #1 target with the second team.  2 mistakes from the rookie: he had a fumble and gave up and INT by not getting his hands on the ball.  Hopefully,  we get those mistakes out of the way early.  He has the great ability of catching short passes and turning them up field for big yards: he just caught a short ball and turned it into 9 and he ended up with 4 catches for 32 yards the last time I saw the stat tracker.  He looks good out there, except for giving up the INT, but as mentioned before, that pass was a bullet.  As I write this, another short pass to DeSean for a first down: 7 catches 70 yards — that’s 3 catches and 28 more yards in a matter of about 3 minutes: this guys is going to be good.  He will have to put on weight though, and that will come.

– Jerome McDougle: McDougle started out with a sick sack in the 3rd quarter: the first and only (as of now).  The guy has his motor back.  He is clearly playing for his job and it shows.  If he keeps playing at this pace, I wouldn’t be surprised if he overtakes Juqua Parker for the starting job.

– Lorenzo Booker: Booker got a few touches.  He got gobbled up a couple times, but he was able to break a really nice run for 17 yards.

– Hank Baskett: Baskett had a chance to convert on a deep ball from Kolb but he was forced out of bounds by a defender and couldn’t secure the ball before being run out of bounds.  I’m a big Baskett fan: I think he’s the best #4 receiver in the NFL.  Baskett and Kolb hooked up deep later towards the end of the 4th quarter to make a push to win the game.

– Sav Rocca: Beautiful punts from the Aussie.  I want see him start hitting some people.

– Lito Sheppard: He got a pick.  Is a healthy season too much to ask?

– Tony Hunt: I love the way he runs: he’s straight down hill.  3:00 minutes left in the game and he takes it 50+ yards to the house for the 17-13 lead!!!

– Andy Studebaker: After the Eagles scored 24 unanswered points (led by Kevin Kolb), I saw Studebaker with a beastly tackle on special teams at the end of the game.  Great draft pick by the Eagles.  Great draft pick.

– Bryan Smith: The “smallish” small school DE that the Eagles drafted in the 3rd round seems to be worthy of the selection.  He had 4 tackles in the game and looked good on certain plays.  He doesn’t look incredibly small on the field.  He reminds me of Trent Cole.  Another brilliant draft pick by the Eagles.

– Tackle Leaders: Bradley (5), Arrington (5), Mikell (4), Demps (4), Bryan Smith (4)

Let’s Go Birds!  Is it September 7th yet?  At home against St. Louis — I expect at least 35.

Jay’s Day 1, Morning Practice Review: A perspective other than Dave Spadaro.
Donovan McNabb/DeSean Jackson:

After viewing the Eagles morning practice today, I was pretty impressed with what I saw.  I began the day, obviously, by watching Donovan McNabb in action to see how our franchise player looked.  He began his practice by throwing some quick outs and flare patterns, followed by launching some deep balls to the rookie wide receivers including DeSean Jackson.   I mention Jackson specifically, since his presence on the field was very apparent to the point that it almost seemed as though McNabb was targeting the first year rookie, out of California, during the drills.  This is great to see since good QB/WR chemistry (especially with a rookie WR) is a huge factor in determining how well the offense will get things done this coming season.  Although McNabb’s knee injury seemed not to bother him, I couldn’t help but notice the signs of rust from his shoulder injury that he and the team have been calling a “non-issue” during the QB drills.  But it was not only me who felt this way.  Perez and Jordan from Downingtown, Pa said, “He (McNabb) seems to be in the best shape we’ve seen him in the last three years.  His arm strength was great, but his throws seemed to come out a bit wobbly”.  Jeff of Emmaus, Pa added, “Donovan looked to be in great shape and threw some great deep balls to DeSean Jackson.  I must admit, however, that he wasn’t throwing a very pretty ball”.  Like Jeff, I was a bit discouraged by #5′s throws but was amazed by the pure speed and agility of DeSean Jackson.  The only knock on the rookie today was the many drops I witnessed during his workout.  Let’s hope these drops only last another few days until he learns the “ins and outs” of Marty Mornhinweg’s offense.  Joe, a veteran Eagle fan from Philadelphia said of Jackson, “Although DeSean looked good and had some spectacular moves and catches, I’m afraid he’s gonna turn out to be a ‘hot dog’ on the field”.  When asked what he thought about the Eagle QB situation Joe replied, “McNabb may have looked rusty, but that’s normal.  He is a proven veteran and leader and will be ready for opening day.  But what really stood out to me, was how good Kevin Kolb looked.  To me, he had just as much zip on the ball as Donovan, and at times seemed to outplay him (McNabb) and Feeley on this first day of training camp”.

The Linebackers:

After watching the offense for a good 35 minutes, I got up and walked over to where the rookie linebackers were getting some work in.  I must say that I was completely blown away by how good our young LB corp looks.  The presumtive starters at the LB position include 2nd-year man Stewart Bradley, Omar Gaither and Chris Gocong, but any of the other six LBs could fill the void if one of the starters were to go down.  The only problem I can think of concerning the LBs is that there is no possible way that we will be able to pay and/or keep all of these young studs, and will inevitably lose some of these guys to other contenders in the NFL that need help at the LB position.  The Eagles must decide decisively and quickly which of these linebackers they need to keep around the huddle.

To conclude, practice ended a bit early, around 10:25am, just as the heat began to wear down not only the players, but the spectators as well.  Afternoon practice is scheduled for 3:30pm.

– Jay Vaidya

From the Desk of Jay Vaidya

Even as the price of a gallon of gasoline nears $5 and heat indexes soar above 100 degrees in the Lehigh Valley, Eagle fans are once again expected to converge at Eagles Training Camp 2008 on the campus of Lehigh University in record numbers.  Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the summer amongst the fans and the media is nothing new to Coach Andy Reid, who will be preparing for his 10th year as head coach of the Eagles.  Yet controversy and concerns still loom amidst an anxious and eager 2008 Philadelphia Eagle squad before the pads even go on.  As all of Eagle nation knows, six of Coach Reid’s past Eagle teams have found their way into the post season with limited success (aka one Super Bowl appearance) and four of them have forever been deleted from our memories (not to mention the lingering  void from not reaching the playoffs in two of the last three seasons).  This all of course is in addition to the salty taste and anger that has been brewing in Southeastern Pennsylvania ever since David Tyree’s “immaculate reception” in last year’s Super Bowl.

Topping the list of the afore mentioned concerns include the contract dispute of disgruntled Pro-Bowlers RB Brian Westbrook and CB Lito Sheppard, the health of Donovan McNabb, and rookies WR DeSean Jackson and DT Trevor Laws.

(1)          To begin, both Westbrook and Sheppard have fired their current agents and have re-signed with different agents in order to gain leverage against Eagle management, since their previous representation could get nothing done during talks in their favor before training camp.  At the “Welcome to Training Camp” press conference, Coach Reid made it clear that he has been in contact with Westbrook in the past few days, but has not spoken with Sheppard since the discontent cornerback skipped Organized Team Activities (OTA) last month.  To me, although the Eagles can survive and thrive in a season without Lito Sheppard (a la Sheldon Brown), a season without Brian Westbrook would mean disaster.  Let us all cross our fingers and hope that a Westbrook holdout is not in the near future.

(2)          Moving to less turbulent news, Coach Reid also noted (as reported here at www.allphiladelphiasports.com by Zach Zawarski) that Donovan McNabb’s shoulder problems are now in the past.  #5 has spent the last few weeks rehabbing his injury and training in Arizona (as he does every year) along with teammate Brian Dawkins and has been quoted as saying his shoulder ailment is a “non-issue”.  It is good to see the captain of our offense and the captain of our defense spending some of the offseason together butting heads in attempts to get the Eagles Team focused on another Super Bowl run.  Once again, we should all pray that both these cornerstones of our team remain healthy for the duration of not only training camp, but the entire season.

(3)         Finally, we move to the contract situations with rookies WR DeSean Jackson and DT Trevor Laws.  It is my pleasure to report to you that as of July 21st both these explosive players, one on each side of the ball, have inked 4-year deals with the Eagles.  (NOTE:  DT Trevor Laws will likely miss a portion of training camp due to what’s described as a “foot injury”, however this injury does not seem to be a major concern to either Laws or the Eagles’ staff)Near the end of his press conference, Coach Reid announced his new “30 Plus Club” policy.  This policy is specifically targeted at older veterans (i.e. Brian Dawkins, Tra Thomas, and Jon Runyan) to keep them fresh and ready for the start of the regular season.  Basically this means that after these players workout back-to-back days, they will receive the following next day “half-off” in order to relax, recuperate, and keep from getting fatigued in the intense summer sun.  Players over 30 not included in the “30 Plus Club” include Donovan McNabb and AJ Feeley, since they wear the protective red jerseys, and don’t get as physically into the practices as the rest of the players do.

TRAINING CAMP SCHEDULE NOTE: Over the next three days, the Eagles will work out their rookies and some select veterans (27 in total), including throwing sessions with Donovan McNabb, AJ Feeley, and Kevin Kolb so that these select players are ready for when the pads go on this Saturday July 26th.

All of the Eagles’ rookies can report to camp except Trevor Laws.  Laws is the only Eagles rookie that remains to be signed by the team.  The Eagles signed Jackson to a four-year deal earlier today.

This comes via the Philadelphia Inquirer:

The Eagles were confident this afternoon that second-round draft picks Trevor Laws and DeSean Jackson would be signed in time to join the other rookies who are scheduled to report for the start of training camp tomorrow night at Lehigh University. By late tonight, Jackson, a wide receiver from the University of California, had agreed to a four-year deal, leaving Laws as the team’s only unsigned draft pick.

Division Tracker:

– The Giants trade Jeremy Shockey to the Saints [ESPN]

– The Redskins signed Jason Taylor [Bleeding Green Nation]

In other Eagles news:

– Westbrook wants more money [Bleeding Green Nation]

– Lito hires Drew Rosenrat [Inside the Iggles]

– Kevin Kolb Interview [Inside the Iggles]