Spads conducted an interview with Eagles President Joe Banner.  Here are some highlights:

– Why no moves were made at the trade deadline: Eagles are always looking for ways to improve the team.  They were in talks with KC, but they did not want to trade Tony Gonzalez.  They felt compelled to listen to offers due to Tony’s request, but none of the offers were good enough.

– How Banner views Roy Williams being traded to the Cowboys: The Cowboys paid a lot.  Banner wouldn’t pay that much despite the player that Roy is.  Cowboys traded two 1st -round picks for Galloway and 12 years later, they still haven’t won a playoff game.

– The acquisition of acquiring Tracy White and releasing Tony Hunt: The addition of White will help the Eagles on special teams.  It’s disappointing when a first day draft pick doesn’t work out, but even the best evaluators usually hit only 50% of their picks.  You go into draft knowing some will work out and others won’t.  When a situation doesn’t work out, you have to move on.

– Thoughts on the Fullback position: Eagles are back with Klecko and they feel good about him, but they’re still searching for the answer.

– Eagles players coming back to the team (Westbrook, Curtis, Brown): Adding players to what we have is optimistic going forward.  It’s time to get on a roll with these players.

– Salary Cap: It’s time to offer extensions to players.  Eagles are evaluating options, but don’t want to discuss publicly who they’re approaching and not approaching.  The Eagles  both starting tackles are in the final year of their contract.  Unfortunately, the Eagles will have to let some players hit free agency this offseason.

– Draft Moves: We got good value for the picks.  We essentially traded Anthony Spencer for Kevin Kolb, Stewart Bradley, and Brent Celek.  It looks like the Eagles won that one.  The Eagles also essentially traded Jeff Otah for a 2009 first-round pick and Trevor Laws and then got DeSean Jackson to boot.  The Eagles gained a lot of value there.

– The Falcons: Amazing turn around for them.  Great QB and they play aggressively.  Obviously a game the Eagles have to win going forward.

During an interview with Andy Reid, when asked how the DeSean Jackson matter was being handled, Reid simply replied, “I’m not going into that at all. They took care of it, he’ll be fine.”  McNabb also commented that DeSean’s attitude about the mishap was not aloof.  McNabb mentioned that DeSean was clearly upset over the play and expressed his apologies to teammates.

I wonder what the Eagles players did to “take care of” DeSean.  Maybe a little hazing, probably a lot of ribbing.  The article from the Philadelphia Daily News mentioned that some players taped a Geico caveman picture to his locker.  The Geico caveman has also been known as Trevor Laws distant cousin.

Injury Updates:

– Reggie Brown: Probable for Sunday.  He may not start, but he’ll be ready to go.  He fully participated in practice Wednesday.

– Shawn Andrews: Experienced less back tightness and will be listed as Questionable.

– Tony Hunt: Questionable (Hamstring)

– Trevor Laws: Questionable (Quadriceps)

Good Read:

DeSean Jackson Happy To Have People Underestimate Him [Bears Necessity] — Pictures DeSean Jackson’s ideal stadium, which depicts where various different celebration zones are on the field such as the dancing zone, the pre-touchdown celebration zone, and the chest-thumping zone.  It also suggests that DeSean Jackson will be tagged with the new nickname MeSean Jackson.

Some commentary on the rookie speedster: “One Eagle that I can’t wait to see more of tonight is DeSean Jackson.”  “He’s just a special player.”  “He does not play the game like a rookie.”

Those statements cannot be more true.  DeSean Jackson continues to impress.  He had 7 receptions for 71 yards last night and a nice punt return to boot, but it was then fumbled after a defender knocked it out from behind (the Eagles did recover though).  He is going to have a big year.  He was clearly McNabb’s go-to guy on 3rd down last night: he converted 2 first downs from McNabb when it was 3rd & 3 and 3rd & 5.

In fact, the whole 2008 draft class is going to have a big year.  I like what I see from Trevor Laws, Bryan Smith, Andy Studebaker, and Joe Mays.

Note: As Chad King points out in the comments section of the Eagles/Panthers review, the INT thrown by Kolb was not DeSean’s fault.  The ball was tipped.  I must have missed that.  Apologies to DeSean for placing the brunt of the blame on him.

If you missed my review of the game, here are my game notes.

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]

Training camp is officially 1 week away.  That’s right, 7 more days until there is some real Eagles news to report.  Despite the slow days in Eagles news, I was able to come across a few pieces of Eagles news to share.

First, Donovan McNabb has updated his blog, which you can read in its entirety at Yardbarker.   McNabb discusses the Elton Brand signing, the Phillies, and more.  Here’s an update on his offseason and his health from the man himself:

Speaking of the Eagles, fans might be happy to know that I’m in Arizona working out with Brian Dawkins. Next week some other players will come out and we’ll work together for a few days before training camp opens. I’m feeling great, the shoulder is fine, and I can’t wait to get started this season.

Also, here’s a short but sweet NFL Network video on the Eagles 2008 outlook.  Finally we get a guy in the media who gives Donovan a little credit for what he was able to accomplish in his last 4 games of the 2007 season.  Thank you Jamie Dukes.

One last point to make, DeSean Jackson and Trevor Laws remained unsigned.  However, that is not unusual since only three first-round picks and no second-round picks are signed.  Once other second round deals fall into place, the Eagles will be able to make their offer based on those.  I.e., I wouldn’t expect to see a Bunkley-like holdout from either Laws or Jackson.

2008 NFL Draft Grades – NFC East [The Football Expert] — Great breakdown of the NFC East draft picks.  The author gave the Eagles the highest grade with a 89/100.  He gave the Cowboys an 86, the Giants an 86, and the Redskins a 76.

More Draft Grades [DraftSeason.com] — He gave them a B+.  Better than Kiper’s C+.  I don’t know what Kiper was thinking — the Eagles had a very solid draft.  He must have failed to take into account that the Eagles got  Carolina’s 2009 1st-round selection and Lorenzo Booker.

NFC East Draft Grades [Miami Herald] — The Miami Herlad gave the Eagles a B+.  They thought the Redskins were losers: they gave them a D+.  Washington may have picked up a lot of offense, but paying no attention to the defense will hurt them.

Which rookie receiver will have the best rookie year? [End Zone Buzz] — The consensus has DeSean Jackson as the rookie who will have the best year.   I’m going to through out some predictions for Jackson’s year.  I’ll be modest here and predict 35 receptions, 500 yards, 3 receiving TDs, and 2 kickoff returns.  Here is a quick comparison of rookie WR stats from the 2007 draft class.  [The Pass Rush]

DeSean Jackson has been working with Jerry Rice on his routes [Inside the Iggles] — Jerry Rice says don’t sweat his size.  Rice has nothing but praise for Jackson: he says he has great hands, runs great routes, has tremendous speed, and his work ethic is outstanding.  There is no reason to doubt that he can’t be the next Steve Smith.

AFC scout comes to the defense of Jackson [Delaware Online] — Some are worried about Jackson’s size, but if you see the interview with Jery Rice (above) and read this article you will realize that Jackson has the potential to be a special player in the NFL and not just as a kick returner, but as a wide receiver.

Eagles 2008 Draft Videos [Inside the Iggles] — If you missed the NFL Draft, here are the video segments from the draft that overview the selections for the Eagles first two picks: Trevor Laws and  DeSean Jackson.

Trevor Laws and DeSean Jackson get their first Philadelphia cheesesteak [PhiladelphiaEagles.com] –  After a visit to the NovaCare Complex, the Eagles top two picks got a real taste of Philly.

DeSean Jackson Highlights [PhiladelphiaEagles.com] — I’m liking the DeSean Jackson pick more and more each day.  Here is a great interview with Andy Reid and DeSean Jackson while they go through his college highlights.

Eagles Add Seven Rookie Free Agents [PhiladelphiaEagles.com] — They grabbed a handful of WRs hoping that one of them will stick.

Lito Sheppard Update [Bleeding Green Nation] — He showed up for mini-camp to avoid being fined, had a chat with Andy Reid, and stated there are still some “things” that need to be worked out.  Apparently, everything will be fine between the two parties.  If I were the Eagles, I would say “Play in more than 10 games in a season and then we’ll talk.”  If I were Lito Sheppard, I would be pissed at my agent instead of the Eagles organization.

Sheppard shares time with Brown and Samuel [Philadelphia Inquirer] — At the Eagles’ first mini-camp, Sheppard wasn’t sent to the second team.  Rather, he rotated with Samuel and Brown.

Minicamp Quotables [Bleeding Green Nation] — Dawkins, Sheldon, Asante and Lito commented on the “Lito Sheppard situation.”  Westbrook stated that his contract was fair at the time he signed it.  McNabb stated that he’s happy with the Eagles’ offseason moves.  Sheldon said he’s excited about moving to the slot at times because he’ll get more opportunities to go after the quarterback.  I’m going to say there will be a forecast of a lot of blitzes from the Eagles next year.

Day One Minicamp Observations [Dave Spadaro] — Looks like the King Dunlap pick in the seventh round was huge — literally.

I’m back from a vacation and ready to get into some Eagles draft coverage.  This article highlights my thoughts on the Eagles’ first two draft choices: Trevor Laws and DeSean Jackson.  Coverage on the remaining picks will soon follow.

Eagles 2008 Draft Selections:

Round Pick Player Position School
2. (47) Trevor Laws DT Notre Dame
2. (49) DeSean Jackson WR Cal
3. (80) Bryan Smith DE McNease State
4. (109) Michael McGlynn OG Pitt
4. (117) Quentin Demps S Utep
4. (131) Jack Ikegwuonu CB Wisconsin
6. (184) Michael Gibson OG Cal
6. (200) Joe Mays ILB North Dakota State
6. (203) Andrew Studebaker DE Wheaton
7. (230) King Dunlap OT Auburn

When I saw that the Eagles traded their first-round pick, I was less than thrilled.  I was really hoping the Eagles would take Branden Albert, but he was off the board.  Jeff Otah would have been a mediocre pick, but the fact that the Eagles traded away the 19th pick shows that the Eagles didn’t rate Otah too highly.  Unless they thought Otah was going to be a stud at tackle,  there was no point in drafting him and I’m glad they didn’t.

The Eagles got a steal from the Panthers with their 2009 first round pick, especially since they should be around a .500 team next year, and they got a 2008 second rounder and fourth rounder to boot.  On the draft-trade chart, they Eagles gave away a pick worth “875 points” and picked up picks equivalent to “1,546 points.”  They made out like bandits and still got a player that they could have easily have drafted in the first round: DeSean Jackson.

After the trade, I was then hoping the Eagles would be able to draft Brian Dawkins’ heir to be: Kenny Phillips.  I was livid when Phillips ended up going to the Giants with the 31st pick, but there’s a reason 30 teams passed on him and it appears that his game has major flaws.  Since he’ll be forced to be a starter next year in New York since Gibril Wilson left to sign with with the Raiders, those flaws should be exposed by most teams.

At the conclusion of the first round, not a single receiver was taken, which relieved my fears that this year’s draft would become a disaster.  I was then hoping the Eagles would be able to trade up to land James Hardy, but with the plethora of teams with WR needs, I knew that it was highly unlikely.  With two second-round picks, I was confident the Eagles would still be able to walk away with a solid defensive talent and a wide receiver.  That’s exactly what happened when the Eagles selected Trevor Laws and DeSean Jackson two picks later.

I found both picks rather curious, but I think they were both wise choices.  James Hardy, the top receiver on my board, was snatched up by the Bills. Devin Thomas also went a few picks earlier to the Redskins.  When the Eagles were up after the Laws pick, DeSean Jackson, Limas Sweed, and Malcolm Kelly were options for the Eagles.

I put Sweed and Kelly ahead of Jackson, but the Jackson pick makes much more sense after I gave it a second thought.  Jackson may never be more than a third receiver in his career, but I think the pick was better for the Eagles than Sweed and Kelly for a number of reasons.  First, Jackson’s role as a kick returner is a good enough reason to draft him over Kelly and Sweed.  Plus, as the 49th pick, it was great value since he could have easily went in the first round.  Additionally, when a team drafts a receiver, they rarely contribute as a rookie and don’t contribute much in their second season either.  Typically, a receiver takes about three years to finally come into his own.  With that said, if the Eagles took Kelly or Sweed, guys with potential to be the “No. 1 receiver” Eagles fans want, they wouldn’t be able to reap the benefits of that player until a few years down the road.  With Jackson, the Eagles not only have an excellent Hester-esque kick returner, they have a speedster they can immediately put on the field in three- or four-receiver sets who can stretch the field and give Kevin Curtis and Reggie Brown more room to make plays.  Basically, with Jackson on the field, it will create more mismatches for defenses and it gives the guys around him a better chance to make plays — “the Reggie Bush effect.”  I also think Jackson is a great fit in the West Coast system since he has the ability to turn a short catch into a ton of yards.  A receiving trio of Reggie Brown, Kevin Curtis, and DeSean Jackson should work much better together than if you interjected Limas Sweed or Malcolm Kelly into the mix.

When the Eagles selected Trevor Laws, I was slighly disappointed because I would prefer to address a position of need over a position where the Eagles are set.  The Eagles used their 2005 and 2006 first-round picks on their two starting DTs Mike Patterson and Broderick Bunkley, and last year they were both outstanding.  The Eagles love rotating linemen, so the pick makes sense because outside those two guys, the Eagles didn’t get much contribution from any reserve DTs.  I truly believe the Eagles took the best player available at that spot.  I’m absolutely shocked a team with question marks at DT, like the St. Louis Rams, Oakland Raiders, or Cincinnati Bengals, didn’t pull the trigger to get Laws in the second round.  Laws is easily the third best DT in the 2008 draft class behind Glenn Dorsey and Sedrick Ellis.  Laws is the only lineman in this year’s draft class to amass over 100 tackles with 112 tackles, including 14.5 tackles for a loss, 6 sacks, 5 pass breakups, and 3 blocked kicks.  The guy has a non-stop motor [YouTube Video].  Here is a video of his combine work out.  35 reps on the 225-pound bench press — the guy is a beast!

The Eagles learned their lesson after the New Orleans playoff loss two years ago and improved immensely against the run last year with the development of Bunkley and their young linebackers.  With another year of experience for their young front seven and Laws in the mix, the Eagles should rank in the top five against the run in years to come.  Although I may have scratched my head at the first two picks at first, I’m going to have to say that they were rather brilliant picks.