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Bottom line, Reid laid into the team on Wednesday morning, and if you read between the lines, he might make some lineup changes (Buckhalter? Please?? Who knows, maybe he's even talking about McNabb. I had to toss that out there, just for the sake of argument. We're all talking about it already....
*Edit: Just read someplace else, Reid dismissed a question about replacing McNabb, so it looks like that won't happen this week.
*Edit: Just read someplace else, Reid dismissed a question about replacing McNabb, so it looks like that won't happen this week.
Reid decides to rock the boat
By Bob Ford
Inquirer Sports Columnist
If your only frame of reference is Public Andy, it's easy to believe that sitting in a meeting hosted by Andy Reid would be the equivalent of a mayo-on-white-bread sandwich.
The face Reid gives the outside world - meaning anyone not employed by the Philadelphia Eagles - is of a stolid, somewhat boring administrator.
When he adjusts the microphone in front of him at his news conference and says those magic words, "All right, injuries," he could easily be a middle manager giving his third-quarter widget report at the company conference table. "All right, sales projections."
Reid believes the aphorisms about a steady boat sailing best and he doesn't rock things too often, even in private. He made an exception this week, though, and if you are searching for a pulse on this team, hoping for a little entertainment before the season expires, it's at least good to know the coach is as mad as you are.
"I guess he felt his normal mild-mannered self wasn't working," linebacker Omar Gaither said. "With Coach Reid, when the volume goes up and he starts turning red, you start paying a little more attention."
I bet you do. Reid lit into the team Wednesday at the morning meeting and let everyone know that not only was the season on the line, there were jobs on the line. Unspoken, of course, is that his will eventually be one of them if this sort of play keeps up. Long before he goes, however, a whole lot of players who disappoint him will find the door.
Reid's address to the team was followed quickly by a players-only meeting called by safety Brian Dawkins, who is the team leader by default, even though his place on the field isn't as dominant as it once was.
"Hopefully, everything got through," said Dawkins, who has been around too long to think meetings are a silver bullet. "We'll see. Talking only goes so far."
It might be too little, too late, and it might be - here's the ugliest thought - that the Eagles are playing as well as they can with the talent they have. Reid doesn't buy it, though, and he put the hay down where the cows could get it, as Buddy Ryan liked to say.
"Any time you go out and have a tie with a 1-8 team, he's not going to be happy about it," safety Quintin Mikell said. "That's what we need [to hear]. We need to get back to playing football and stop worrying about the B.S. that we can't control. Just play football. Sometimes you've just got to say what's on your mind, and he did that."
"I think the message was received," running back Brian Westbrook said.
Public Andy played an effective prevent defense on his emotions, as usual. He rewound the tape loop and talked about calling the right plays and putting the players in the right position to execute those plays, and so forth. He means every word of that, too, as maddening as it is to hear again and again.
Around the edges of his statements, however, there was some emotional leakage, of the kind that veteran Reidologists are able to interpret in the way archaeologists translate faded cave drawings. He was asked about the mental state of the team and he pressed his lips together impatiently, maybe just to keep from saying what was really on his mind.
"We're not sitting here analyzing each other's psyches on that," Reid said. "We are just trying to focus in on doing things the right way and making sure we play our best football against the Ravens. Anything else besides that, you're wasting your time."
In other words, warm, fuzzy and nurturing got us to 5-4-1, so you can take warm, fuzzy and nurturing for a long walk. Reid was also asked if there might be lineup changes to shake things up. Sometimes you have to hang a villager to get the town's attention.
Under normal circumstances, Reid would have said some convoluted version of "No," but he didn't. He said something that is also in his greatest hits collection, "We'll see how things work out here." In this context, it means he's not only considering demotions, but also willing to admit it. That's significant, if only to understand how surprised and angry he is about the stinking egg this team is laying.
Reid's problem with trashing the roster, of course, is that he built it. And right now, where would you look for lineup changes?
The defense played well enough against Cincinnati. The offense was awful, but the quarterback isn't changing and Westbrook is hurting too much to carry the ball a lot. If Correll Buckhalter gets more carries - yeah, I know, a wild thought - that's no knock on anyone else. You could not dress one of the receivers, but that would leave the special teams short. You could tinker with the offensive line, but, frankly, that means demoting Max Jean-Gilles and it's not as if the Eagles have Jerry Kramer sitting behind him.
There isn't a whole lot to do aside from scream at them, get red in the face, and demand they do better. That's what the fans are doing at home in front of their televisions, and apparently the coach feels the same way.
"It's like a kid who isn't getting good grades," Gaither said. "He said, 'You're better than this. What's going on?' The volume went up and the words hit home."
Now we find out if the volume and the words still matter, because that's really the last card Reid had to play this season.
By Bob Ford
Inquirer Sports Columnist
If your only frame of reference is Public Andy, it's easy to believe that sitting in a meeting hosted by Andy Reid would be the equivalent of a mayo-on-white-bread sandwich.
The face Reid gives the outside world - meaning anyone not employed by the Philadelphia Eagles - is of a stolid, somewhat boring administrator.
When he adjusts the microphone in front of him at his news conference and says those magic words, "All right, injuries," he could easily be a middle manager giving his third-quarter widget report at the company conference table. "All right, sales projections."
Reid believes the aphorisms about a steady boat sailing best and he doesn't rock things too often, even in private. He made an exception this week, though, and if you are searching for a pulse on this team, hoping for a little entertainment before the season expires, it's at least good to know the coach is as mad as you are.
"I guess he felt his normal mild-mannered self wasn't working," linebacker Omar Gaither said. "With Coach Reid, when the volume goes up and he starts turning red, you start paying a little more attention."
I bet you do. Reid lit into the team Wednesday at the morning meeting and let everyone know that not only was the season on the line, there were jobs on the line. Unspoken, of course, is that his will eventually be one of them if this sort of play keeps up. Long before he goes, however, a whole lot of players who disappoint him will find the door.
Reid's address to the team was followed quickly by a players-only meeting called by safety Brian Dawkins, who is the team leader by default, even though his place on the field isn't as dominant as it once was.
"Hopefully, everything got through," said Dawkins, who has been around too long to think meetings are a silver bullet. "We'll see. Talking only goes so far."
It might be too little, too late, and it might be - here's the ugliest thought - that the Eagles are playing as well as they can with the talent they have. Reid doesn't buy it, though, and he put the hay down where the cows could get it, as Buddy Ryan liked to say.
"Any time you go out and have a tie with a 1-8 team, he's not going to be happy about it," safety Quintin Mikell said. "That's what we need [to hear]. We need to get back to playing football and stop worrying about the B.S. that we can't control. Just play football. Sometimes you've just got to say what's on your mind, and he did that."
"I think the message was received," running back Brian Westbrook said.
Public Andy played an effective prevent defense on his emotions, as usual. He rewound the tape loop and talked about calling the right plays and putting the players in the right position to execute those plays, and so forth. He means every word of that, too, as maddening as it is to hear again and again.
Around the edges of his statements, however, there was some emotional leakage, of the kind that veteran Reidologists are able to interpret in the way archaeologists translate faded cave drawings. He was asked about the mental state of the team and he pressed his lips together impatiently, maybe just to keep from saying what was really on his mind.
"We're not sitting here analyzing each other's psyches on that," Reid said. "We are just trying to focus in on doing things the right way and making sure we play our best football against the Ravens. Anything else besides that, you're wasting your time."
In other words, warm, fuzzy and nurturing got us to 5-4-1, so you can take warm, fuzzy and nurturing for a long walk. Reid was also asked if there might be lineup changes to shake things up. Sometimes you have to hang a villager to get the town's attention.
Under normal circumstances, Reid would have said some convoluted version of "No," but he didn't. He said something that is also in his greatest hits collection, "We'll see how things work out here." In this context, it means he's not only considering demotions, but also willing to admit it. That's significant, if only to understand how surprised and angry he is about the stinking egg this team is laying.
Reid's problem with trashing the roster, of course, is that he built it. And right now, where would you look for lineup changes?
The defense played well enough against Cincinnati. The offense was awful, but the quarterback isn't changing and Westbrook is hurting too much to carry the ball a lot. If Correll Buckhalter gets more carries - yeah, I know, a wild thought - that's no knock on anyone else. You could not dress one of the receivers, but that would leave the special teams short. You could tinker with the offensive line, but, frankly, that means demoting Max Jean-Gilles and it's not as if the Eagles have Jerry Kramer sitting behind him.
There isn't a whole lot to do aside from scream at them, get red in the face, and demand they do better. That's what the fans are doing at home in front of their televisions, and apparently the coach feels the same way.
"It's like a kid who isn't getting good grades," Gaither said. "He said, 'You're better than this. What's going on?' The volume went up and the words hit home."
Now we find out if the volume and the words still matter, because that's really the last card Reid had to play this season.
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