Training Camp News Articles Thread

[Feva]

Plenty of work left to do for Eagles

The Birds are packing up and leaving training camp at Lehigh.

By Bob Brookover
Inquirer Staff Writer

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Longer, less controversial and more optimistic.

That's the best way to describe the Eagles' monthlong portion of their training camp at Lehigh University compared to the chaos and controversy they endured a year ago.

It officially ends today with a brief walk-through practice in preparation for tomorrow night's game against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium. The last public workouts were yesterday, and all those moving trucks on the Goodman Campus were visible proof that this camp is indeed finally ending.

"The things I like about the Lehigh camp are that you get away from the city and you develop a little camaraderie," Eagles coach Andy Reid said after an abbreviated morning practice. "Those are things that can be hard to accomplish if you're in your own complex. This is where you build the foundation of the team, and then you take it back and you get into a normal schedule."

Despite quarterback Donovan McNabb's recent Super Bowl prediction, the future remains unknown for the Eagles. The only thing that can be predicted with any certainty is that there won't be an airplane with a message for a certain wide receiver circling the practice field when the Eagles reconvene Saturday at the NovaCare Complex.

The traveling circus no longer accompanies the Eagles from town to town.

"Obviously, last year felt different [leaving camp]," safety Brian Dawkins said. "You can throw that one out. But every other year besides that one felt the same as I'm feeling right now. We have a chance to do something and take ourselves deep into the playoffs and, hopefully, win out. We take one game at a time, and that approach is always the key to success, but that's the big picture we're thinking about."

With that in mind, here is a look back at some of the events that transpired during the Eagles' four-week stay at Lehigh and some of the questions that still lie ahead before the Sept. 10 season opener against the Houston Texans.

Biggest surprise. It had to be Hank Baskett. He went from an obscure, undrafted rookie out of the University of New Mexico to a fan favorite, thanks to his imposing size (6-foot-4, 220 pounds) and playmaking ability.

"I've definitely had a lot of fun," Baskett said. "Even that hot week that might have been the hottest week of my life, I still had some fun."

Baskett's best qualities may be his intelligence and humility, two things some recent Eagles wide receivers had little of.

"I've been fortunate that some people have pulled me aside and just helped me remain humble," Baskett said. "That's the biggest thing. You have to remain humble. The only way you guys are still going to want to talk to me or the fans are going to keep chanting for me is if I keep making plays, so I have to keep performing day in and day out."

Biggest controversy. It took first-round draft pick Brodrick Bunkley 16 days to agree to his first NFL contract and 19 days before he joined his teammates at practice. The big, impressive defensive tackle was fortunate to miss the most sweltering days of camp, but he's still making up for lost time.

Negotiations between the Eagles and Bunkley's agent, Gary Wichard, became contentious at times. Also, there is some recent history indicating that players who miss time in training camp struggle for success during their rookie seasons.

Of course, comparing the Bunkley controversy and the ones the Eagles found themselves involved in last year is like comparing the nightlife in Ames, Iowa, to that of New York City.

Biggest concern. Brian Westbrook looked impressive in the Eagles' preseason opener against the Oakland Raiders, carrying six times for 32 yards and a touchdown. Two days later, the team revealed that he had suffered a sprained left foot during the only drive of the evening for the first-team offense.

Westbrook has not practiced since, and it appears as if he's not going to play in any of the three remaining preseason games.

Perhaps it's no big deal. Westbrook sat out the final two games of the 2004 season and still performed well during the postseason. Last preseason, he carried the ball just 12 times in exhibition games.

Nevertheless, Westbrook's value to this team is every bit as great as McNabb's, especially when there is not another established back behind him other than the oft-injured Correll Buckhalter.

Biggest questions. With three preseason games left, the Eagles still have some unsettled issues.

Will receiver Todd Pinkston, who has not played in a game since Super Bowl XXXIX, be ready for the season opener?

Will Baskett be a starter if Pinkston isn't ready?

Will the Eagles make a deal for disgruntled Denver receiver Ashley Lelie?

Will Buckhalter and J.R. Reed be successful in their comeback bids from major injuries?

Will Darwin Walker and Jerome McDougle be back from rib injuries in time for the opener?

Will all these positive vibes translate into a successful season?

"The chemistry is where it needs to be going into the season," Dawkins said. "Everybody is thinking about the same goals. That's the atmosphere... that training camp is supposed to be about."

To see more photos of Fan Appreciation Day at Eagles training camp, go to http://go.philly.com/photos

[rjs246]

Baskett's best qualities may be his intelligence and humility, two things some recent Eagles wide receivers had little of.

I like the effort to go that extra mile and get a dig in at TO, not only for being a pompous self-serving dickhole, but also for being as dumb as a post. Well done.

[Magical_Retard]

for all the optimism i have going into the season these injuries worry me a lot. westbrook, walker, and mcdougle better be ready for week1.

[Drunkmasterflex]

for all the optimism i have going into the season these injuries worry me a lot. westbrook, walker, and mcdougle better be ready for week1.

Westbrook's ankle sprain worries me, hopefully it is only minor, but from my own experience I know how nagging those things can be.  I had a fairly severe ankle sprain in Mid-March, I am by no means a world-class athlete, but I am in pretty good shape and my ankle still bothers me. 

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Worrying is for Hoydas.

[ice grillin you]

westbrook, walker, and mcdougle better be ready for week1

one of these things is not like the others....

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Yes, one is absolutely vital to the success of the team and the others are not.

[General_Failure]

One of them may not even remember what a field looks like.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

He remembers what a gun looks like, though.  Zing!

[reese125]

already posted

[Feva]

One guy doesn't have a crack in his ribs.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Greg Richmond and Adrien Clarke both had surgery and are headed to IR.

[Rome]

Les Bowen's stab at predicting the roster.

Les Bowen | My 53

TWO PRESEASON games left. Who needs 'em?

With nearly 3 weeks left before the season opener in Houston, and 8 days remaining before the first cuts of training camp, it really isn't that hard to pencil in the Eagles' final roster. I have my 53 right now, with a couple of tiny equivocations - I'm still not sure whether Josh Parry or Thomas Tapeh is the fullback, and I don't know whether injury-comeback hopefuls

J.R. Reed and Correll Buckhalter have shown everything they need to show to reclaim their spots; Buckhalter's situation could be affected by Stephen Davis' visit with the Eagles today. I think most of the other choices are pretty clear, even as the Birds prepare for today's first Nova

Care practice of the preseason.

I'm carrying six wide receivers, eight offensive linemen, seven linebackers, four corners, and five safeties, if Reed makes the team. I have 10 defensive linemen - five tackles and five ends - three quarterbacks, three tight ends and four running backs, along with a fullback, a kicker and a punter, of course.

Here's the breakdown:

Wide receivers

Todd Pinkston, Reggie Brown, Hank Baskett, Darnerien

McCants,

Jason Avant and Jabar Gaffney.

Before last week, Gaffney's spot seemed in

jeopardy, but he looks less lost in the

Eagles' offense now, and unless the team adds somebody else, I'm guessing he makes it. I have to figure Greg Lewis is gone.

We've seen his upside, and it wasn't very "up." Yes, fourth-round rookie Avant could be shelved on the practice squad, but remember, practice-squad players go through waivers and then remain eligible to be signed by other teams; somebody would take him.

Offensive line

William Thomas, Todd Herremans, Jamaal Jackson, Shawn Andrews, Jon Runyan, Hank

Fraley, Winston Justice and Max Jean-Gilles.

Yes, undrafted rookies Pat

McCoy and Nick Cole have done well for themselves in camp, but they are what the practice squad is for. Scott Young could make a late charge, but I think he's likely headed for the practice squad again.

I'm assuming back surgery means injured reserve for Adrien Clarke, who would have made the team. Calvin Armstrong, last year's sixth-rounder, just seems to be too much of a project.

Early in camp, Thomas' in-and-out status might have mandated a ninth o-liner on the roster just in case, but he seems fine for now.

Linebackers

Jeremiah Trotter, Matt

McCoy, Dhani Jones, Shawn

Barber, Mark Simoneau, third-round rookie Chris Gocong

(assuming he's healthy) and

fifth-round rookie Omar Gaither.

Special-teams ace Jason Short, moved from linebacker to defensive end this year, just doesn't seem to fit into the picture. As special-teams coordinator John Harbaugh well knows, you have to have a position to make the Eagles.

Gocong and Gaither probably close the door on Dedrick Roper, who also played well on special teams last season.

Secondary

The corners are Lito Sheppard, Sheldon Brown, Rod Hood and probably Donald Strickland, if he's healthy. Ex-49er Joselio Hanson made a nice run, but something has to happen above him for Hanson to make the team. Hood's foot injury doesn't seem serious.

The safeties are Brian Dawkins, Mike Lewis, Sean Considine, Quintin Mikell and J.R. Reed. Matt Ware, a third-round pick

2 years ago who moved from corner to safety this year, probably needs for Reed's comeback from peroneal nerve damage to stall; otherwise, there wouldn't seem to be a spot for Ware.

Defensive line

The tackles are Darwin Walker, Mike Patterson, Brodrick Bunkley, Sam Rayburn and sixth-round rookie LaJuan Ramsey. In order for the Birds to keep 33-year-old Ed Jasper, signed in the offseason, they'd have to gamble on getting Ramsey onto the practice squad and being able to keep him there. That might be a tough gamble, in a league that covets promising d-tackles. If the Eagles were going to trade a player in order to bring in, say, a wideout, this would be a place to look for someone to trade. Rayburn probably has decent value, which would let you keep Jasper. There's no obvious spot for 2005 seventh-rounder Keyonta Marshall.

The defensive ends are Jevon Kearse, Darren Howard, Trent Cole, Juqua Thomas and Jerome McDougle, assuming McDougle comes back from broken ribs. Each one of these guys has had a good camp.

Tight end

L.J. Smith, Matt Schobel and Mike Bartrum.

Schobel's arrival means no spot for last year's backup, Steve Spach.

Fullback

Thomas Tapeh.

I might be inclined to take Tapeh over Parry at fullback,

betting on Tapeh's potential and the option he offers as a running back, but there's no question

Parry has a better grasp of the offense.

Running backs

The running backs are Brian Westbrook, Ryan Moats, Reno Mahe and Correll Buckhalter if Buckhalter's knee is ready, Bruce Perry if it isn't. Both

Perry and Moats looked good in minicamps but have raised significant alarms in the preseason. As much as the Eagles get tired of hearing it, they really do need another back they can count on. Maybe that's why Davis is here, at age 32, having been released by Carolina. He would probably take the Buckhalter-Perry spot.

Even before the news broke about Davis, I didn't think Buckhalter's presence on the Opening Day roster was a given. Yes, he rambled 48 yards with a shovel-screen Thursday in Baltimore. But he still needs to show he can make that hard, sharp cut. The Eagles have taken it so slowly with him, it's hard to believe they really expect Buckhalter

to contribute this season, after missing 3 of the previous 4 years with knee injuries.

Quarterbacks

Donovan McNabb, Jeff Garcia and Koy Detmer.

If it was my choice, Detmer would be designated the third QB and punter Dirk Johnson would hold for kicker David Akers, because Detmer just isn't a decent QB alternative now, even for a series or two. But Akers probably will get his way, Detmer will hold, and he'll have to go into any game in which McNabb gets hurt. Then, when Garcia comes in, McNabb will be ineligible to play for the rest of the day. That's a lot of trouble to go through, when Johnson is perfectly capable of holding. And no, Timmy Chang isn't going to supplant Detmer as the third QB - he barely got any reps in training camp. He, too, could be what the practice squad is for, unless a

better "project" QB gets cut

elsewhere.

Overall

That's the roster - deeper along the defensive line than last season's version, bigger on the o-line, healthier so far at quarterback, less impressive at wide

receiver, still Trotter and a bunch of question marks at

linebacker. Figuring it out was pretty easy. Figuring out how it will fare in December seems much tougher.

[ice grillin you]

i dont know how pinky makes the active roster

[phattymatty]

seriously.  6 WRs?  i don't see it.

and if jason short gets cut i may hurt someone.