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i'm wondering if the Bruce Perry reference was supposed to be JR Reed.
Eagles could be sleeping giants in East
By Eric Edholm ([email protected])
Aug. 31, 2006
It has been awfully quiet around the Eagles this preseason, hasn’t it?
As far as the Eagles are concerned, that’s just fine. Let the experts pick the Cowboys and the Giants and Redskins to win the division. To the veterans in that locker room in Philly, this team is better than the pre-You Know Who days.
And now that He Who Shall Not Be Named is gone to the division-rival Cowboys, Eagles players are relishing the fact that they can be the hunters instead of the hunted after four years of dominating the NFC East. They are the ones lying in the weeds.
Some observers say that the Eagles got fat last season, believing they were better than they were. A few veterans, not the least of which included Nagging Hamstring For A Month, were sent packing and a new crew of young talent has been brought in to help right the ship and chance the attitude.
“When I first got here (as a rookie) last year, you could tell this was the Eagles and everyone just expects winning because it was what they had been doing for (four years),” OT Todd Herremans told PFW yesterday. “You could say that the vets had a little swagger — I wouldn’t say cockiness, but I would say confidence.
“After last season, it just seems like everyone got realigned. And now, it seems everyone is hungrier. Once you take the steak away from the dog, and the dog is used to having it, they really want it.”
Long-time Eagle veterans Todd Pinkston and Koy Detmer were dropped like bad habits yesterday. They were both well liked in the locker room, but neither has made much of an impact recently. Maybe you need a few hackings to keep the guys honest.
This is a big season for Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb, and the two big faces of the Eagles appear to have things headed in the right direction. Reid has kept things quiet, eerily so, through the preseason. He has focused on getting back to basics, simplifying things for his talented team. McNabb has shed weight and looked rather spry in his limited preseason snaps, and his leadership will be key at a time when the team is hanging in the balance after last season’s fall from grace.
The offense should be back to its pre-Two Books About Myself Are Better Than One days, where the ball was and is spread around liberally. TE L.J. Smith and RB Brian Westbrook are two of the better receiving threats at their respective positions, and there are a host of receivers — led by Monday’s acquisition, Donté Stallworth — to get the ball. Now Reggie Brown doesn’t face the pressure of being the focus of every defense’s attention in his second season and out-of-nowhere rookie Hank Baskett won’t be expected to start. The team still likes both guys a lot, though, so keep your eyes on them.
The defense is an interesting study, too. After a sack-less attack last season, where the front four provided little rush and blitzing left holes in coverage, coordinator Jim Johnson looks to have the pieces to get back to getting after the quarterback. Darren Howard has been a fine addition to date, showing ferocity at right end, which has allowed Jevon Kearse to rush free. The linebackers remain a question, but trading Mark Simoneau (for Stallworth) shows the staff thinks there’s enough quality depth. And no one should worry about a Pro Bowl-laden secondary that returns all four starters and some gifted backups. The guess here is that the “D” returns to being a top-10 unit by season’s end.
“We’re flying around, making plays.” said LB Matt McCoy, among the new guard on defense. “It has been fun. Guys are challenging each other at a few spots, and no one is taking anything for granted. When we have been (challenged) by the coaches, I think we’ve responded so far.”
Even the special teams are strong. Bruce Perry has looked good on kickoffs, and Reno Mahe, who quietly led the NFL in punt-return average last year, is a solid option. PK David Akers is a perfect 6-of-6 in the preseason, with five of those kicks coming from beyond 40 yards. P Dirk Johnson is solid. And Jim Harbaugh’s coverage units, led by Quintin Mikell and Rod Hood, are usually among the better groups. The kicking and punting games are going to be very important if the Eagles are going to win some of those 16-10 games they were so adept at finishing off during their four-year run as division champs.
If you should worry about the team in one area, the running game comes to mind. Ever since last season’s 6-10 affair, Reid and Marty Mornhinweg acknowledged the need to have a better run-pass mix (it was about 35-65 last season) to be successful, especially in those cold, NFC East battles in December that define a season — and the Eagles play each of their division foes, plus Carolina and Atlanta, in the final month of the season.
Can Westbrook handle the load without a true chain-mover beside him? The team seems to have soured a bit on Ryan Moats, and he never was going to fill that role. Mahe is a spot guy at best. Correll Buckhalter would be the guy, but the jury is still out on a player who has had three major knee surgeries in four years and has averaged 3.3 yards with a long of nine in the preseason. And besides Westbrook, the only other back to average more than that 3.3 average through the first preseason games has been Marty Johnson, a fullback-type who is a longshot to make the roster.
But let’s get back to the attitude and the approach.
“Guys are hungry around here,” Herremans said. “You can feel it. No one is talking about the fact that no one is picking us (to win the division), even though we hear it a lot. No one is worried about that. All we are doing is starting to concern ourselves with (Week One opponent) Houston and getting off on the right foot.”
The right foot would be a 3-1 or 4-0 start heading into a big matchup with the Cowboys in Philly in Week Five. By that point, we should have a pretty good idea if the Eagles can win without This Experiment Is Bound To Blow Up At Some Point — after all, he’ll be in the house that day.
Chances are, if I can make it through a whole column without mentioning him, the Eagles will just fine without the talk as well.
Eagles could be sleeping giants in East
By Eric Edholm ([email protected])
Aug. 31, 2006
It has been awfully quiet around the Eagles this preseason, hasn’t it?
As far as the Eagles are concerned, that’s just fine. Let the experts pick the Cowboys and the Giants and Redskins to win the division. To the veterans in that locker room in Philly, this team is better than the pre-You Know Who days.
And now that He Who Shall Not Be Named is gone to the division-rival Cowboys, Eagles players are relishing the fact that they can be the hunters instead of the hunted after four years of dominating the NFC East. They are the ones lying in the weeds.
Some observers say that the Eagles got fat last season, believing they were better than they were. A few veterans, not the least of which included Nagging Hamstring For A Month, were sent packing and a new crew of young talent has been brought in to help right the ship and chance the attitude.
“When I first got here (as a rookie) last year, you could tell this was the Eagles and everyone just expects winning because it was what they had been doing for (four years),” OT Todd Herremans told PFW yesterday. “You could say that the vets had a little swagger — I wouldn’t say cockiness, but I would say confidence.
“After last season, it just seems like everyone got realigned. And now, it seems everyone is hungrier. Once you take the steak away from the dog, and the dog is used to having it, they really want it.”
Long-time Eagle veterans Todd Pinkston and Koy Detmer were dropped like bad habits yesterday. They were both well liked in the locker room, but neither has made much of an impact recently. Maybe you need a few hackings to keep the guys honest.
This is a big season for Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb, and the two big faces of the Eagles appear to have things headed in the right direction. Reid has kept things quiet, eerily so, through the preseason. He has focused on getting back to basics, simplifying things for his talented team. McNabb has shed weight and looked rather spry in his limited preseason snaps, and his leadership will be key at a time when the team is hanging in the balance after last season’s fall from grace.
The offense should be back to its pre-Two Books About Myself Are Better Than One days, where the ball was and is spread around liberally. TE L.J. Smith and RB Brian Westbrook are two of the better receiving threats at their respective positions, and there are a host of receivers — led by Monday’s acquisition, Donté Stallworth — to get the ball. Now Reggie Brown doesn’t face the pressure of being the focus of every defense’s attention in his second season and out-of-nowhere rookie Hank Baskett won’t be expected to start. The team still likes both guys a lot, though, so keep your eyes on them.
The defense is an interesting study, too. After a sack-less attack last season, where the front four provided little rush and blitzing left holes in coverage, coordinator Jim Johnson looks to have the pieces to get back to getting after the quarterback. Darren Howard has been a fine addition to date, showing ferocity at right end, which has allowed Jevon Kearse to rush free. The linebackers remain a question, but trading Mark Simoneau (for Stallworth) shows the staff thinks there’s enough quality depth. And no one should worry about a Pro Bowl-laden secondary that returns all four starters and some gifted backups. The guess here is that the “D” returns to being a top-10 unit by season’s end.
“We’re flying around, making plays.” said LB Matt McCoy, among the new guard on defense. “It has been fun. Guys are challenging each other at a few spots, and no one is taking anything for granted. When we have been (challenged) by the coaches, I think we’ve responded so far.”
Even the special teams are strong. Bruce Perry has looked good on kickoffs, and Reno Mahe, who quietly led the NFL in punt-return average last year, is a solid option. PK David Akers is a perfect 6-of-6 in the preseason, with five of those kicks coming from beyond 40 yards. P Dirk Johnson is solid. And Jim Harbaugh’s coverage units, led by Quintin Mikell and Rod Hood, are usually among the better groups. The kicking and punting games are going to be very important if the Eagles are going to win some of those 16-10 games they were so adept at finishing off during their four-year run as division champs.
If you should worry about the team in one area, the running game comes to mind. Ever since last season’s 6-10 affair, Reid and Marty Mornhinweg acknowledged the need to have a better run-pass mix (it was about 35-65 last season) to be successful, especially in those cold, NFC East battles in December that define a season — and the Eagles play each of their division foes, plus Carolina and Atlanta, in the final month of the season.
Can Westbrook handle the load without a true chain-mover beside him? The team seems to have soured a bit on Ryan Moats, and he never was going to fill that role. Mahe is a spot guy at best. Correll Buckhalter would be the guy, but the jury is still out on a player who has had three major knee surgeries in four years and has averaged 3.3 yards with a long of nine in the preseason. And besides Westbrook, the only other back to average more than that 3.3 average through the first preseason games has been Marty Johnson, a fullback-type who is a longshot to make the roster.
But let’s get back to the attitude and the approach.
“Guys are hungry around here,” Herremans said. “You can feel it. No one is talking about the fact that no one is picking us (to win the division), even though we hear it a lot. No one is worried about that. All we are doing is starting to concern ourselves with (Week One opponent) Houston and getting off on the right foot.”
The right foot would be a 3-1 or 4-0 start heading into a big matchup with the Cowboys in Philly in Week Five. By that point, we should have a pretty good idea if the Eagles can win without This Experiment Is Bound To Blow Up At Some Point — after all, he’ll be in the house that day.
Chances are, if I can make it through a whole column without mentioning him, the Eagles will just fine without the talk as well.
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