Training Camp News Articles Thread

[PhillyPhreak54]

Figured I would start a thread that we can use to post the articles, news bits and whatever else comes out of Lehigh these days.

Rookie linebacker Jonesing to be the starter
By PAUL DOMOWITCH
pdomo@aol.com

BETHLEHEM - Dhani Jones hears footsteps and they belong to Chris Gocong. Right now, just 1 day into the rookie's first training camp with the Eagles, those footsteps aren't very loud. But by the end of the preseason, defensive coordinator Jim Johnson hopes they sound like a stampede of charging rhinos.

Jones has been the Eagles' starting SAM 'backer for the last two seasons. While his poor play last season isn't at the top of the list of reasons for the defense's fall from grace, you don't have to read very far down to find it.

Jones really isn't big enough or strong enough to tango with NFL tight ends down in and down out for 16 games. So, in April, the Eagles selected Gocong - a 6-2, 265-pound defensive end from Cal Poly - in the third round of the draft, with the intention of moving him to SAM.

Gocong is smart. Has an engineering degree from Cal Poly. But making the transition from Division I-AA end to strongside linebacker in Jim Johnson's complex defense is a bigger mental challenge than any he faced in a college classroom.

"It's a mental game right now," Gocong said. "The physical part, everybody knows how to hit. But [switching from end to linebacker] means changing your mind-set. Defensive end, you're really focused on one thing. Beating the [offensive] tackle and tackling the quarterback. [At linebacker] you have a broader vision."

That vision includes pass coverage, which is something Gocong never was asked to do in college, where he was strictly a full-speed-ahead pass rusher who notched an incredible 42 sacks his last two seasons.

"I never dropped [into coverage] in college," he said. "It's just something I have to work on."

That, Johnson acknowledged, will be the biggest hurdle Gocong will have to clear in making the position switch.

"It's the pass coverage," he said. "It's all the coverage checks and that, not the run defense. Making the adjustments and making them on the run. Thinking fast on his feet. That'll be the real challenge for him."

Which raises the question: Just how realistic is it to expect Gocong to beat out Jones for the starting job by the Sept. 10 season-opener against Houston? The answer: probably not very realistic at all.

"It's too early to say," Johnson said. "I thought in the minicamps he was progressing. We've only been out here 1 day and it looked like he had tired legs a little bit. He's got to spend a little extra time on his own, just picking things up.

"The biggest thing with him is, I think he's got the physical ability. You can see that in just the way he moves. But it's going to take some time. We've got to have a little patience with him."

The Eagles also will give Gocong some work as a rush end in their nickel packages. But Johnson said he will remain at linebacker "until further notice."

Seven of the Eagles' eight draft picks were on the field yesterday for the first of 3 days of practices featuring only rookies and selected veterans. Two of them, though - wide receivers Jason Avant and Jeremy Bloom - didn't work out. Avant is recovering from minor surgery on his knee. Bloom has a hamstring injury.

The only rookie not in camp is first-rounder Brodrick Bunkley, who remains unsigned.

"It's real beneficial for me," Gocong said. "Getting a head start before the veterans get here, getting an opportunity to get reps is huge."

The learning curve for defensive tackle Bunkley isn't nearly as big as it is for Gocong. But that doesn't mean Johnson is unfazed by the first-rounder's absence. And if his holdout lasts more than a few days, the Eagles' defensive boss really won't be happy.

"Our philosophy is to say if he's not here, we go on," Johnson said. "But anytime a guy missed [practices], it's going to hurt him, no question about it. He was coming around in our minicamps. So it might set him back a little bit. But hopefully we'll get him in here and hopefully he'll catch up. There's still a lot of things, especially in our pressure package, that he's got to pick up.

"And working with Pete [Jenkins, the Eagles' new defensive line coach], Pete's got some new techniques and that. It's important that he pick that up, too. Of all the years [not to report late], we've got a new defensive line coach and new philosophy and new techniques. So he needs to get in here."

A couple points on this one;

1. JJ mentions a new philosophy. I wonder if he means that is strictly a new defensive line philosophy or if it means a new philosophy for the entire defense.

2. I am very interested to see how Jenkins works the DL. I've been to camp the last 4 years a lot and watched how Brasher ran the drills. He was very laid back. He'd rarely do one-on-one coaching and I never really saw him jump in a guys ass for something.

3. Gocong is a project at SAM, no doubt. But the fact that he is pushing Dhani is good. And remember, its not only Gocong who is pushing him. There are other guys in the mix at OLB who could earn playing time. Let's hope, for the teams sake, that Dhani is about ready to give up the intellectual persona and play some goddamn football. Want to quote Rodin? Retire and be a farging professor! Until then make some plays!

4. I'm not worried yet about Bunkley not being there. I will worry if he's not there by Monday.

5. I do believe Gocong will help in the nickle packages. If you think about it, and if you assume that he can get after the QB in the NFL, the pass rush has a shot to be very, very explosive. Trent Cole, Freak, Howard, Barber (if healthy), Bunkley, Patterson. Holy jeez...I've got a football chubby.

[PhillyPhreak54]

Nothing against Jackson, but Fraley wants his job back
By LES BOWEN
bowenl@phillynews.com

BETHLEHEM - Hank Fraley said he is happy for Jamaal Jackson, who just got a contract extension through 2013, at the start of what the Eagles are billing as a training-camp competition between Fraley and Jackson for the starting center position.

"Jamaal deserves it. He played well when I went down last year," said Fraley, 28, who missed the final eight games of 2005 after having shoulder surgery. "He took advantage of an opportunity, and the Eagles rewarded him for it."

Fraley, the No. 1 center since 2001, said he doesn't know whether Jackson's deal means the Eagles have already decided on their starter. Jackson is getting a signing bonus close to $2 million, according to agent Peter Schaffer.

"I'm going to make it hard for them, if they did," Fraley said. "I definitely don't want to lose the starting job... I can't worry about what they're thinking. I just have to work hard and play my best. It's going to be a good battle. I'm just itching to go."

Fraley has 1 year left on a deal scheduled to pay him about $850,000 this season. He said he learned of Jackson's new contract from news accounts. He described his relationship with the former Delaware State lineman as "a friendly competition - there's no hate between us."

Fraley said his shoulder feels fine and he will be ready for full activity when veterans take the field. The first full-squad workouts are scheduled for Tuesday.

One Eagles veteran who definitely will not be ready Tuesday is running back Correll Buckhalter, placed on the physically unable to perform list just before camp started. Buckhalter is attempting to return from three knee surgeries in 4 years. He worked out after the morning session yesterday for coach Andy Reid, general manager Tom Heckert and athletic trainer Rick Burkholder.

Buckhalter talked about his ordeal during minicamps, but said then he would not comment again until he was ready to play, and he declined to speak to reporters yesterday. He seemed to be moving gingerly in and out of cuts.

Buckhalter seems a long way from being able to help the Eagles this season. But Heckert spoke encouragingly of the 27-year-old back's diligence in trying to come back from 2 straight years of right patellar tendon surgery, which followed a torn left ACL in 2002. In 2003, a healthy Buckhalter scored nine touchdowns and averaged 6.1 yards per touch. In 2001, he set an Eagles rookie rushing record with 586 yards on 129 carries.

"You've got to give him credit - he's done everything possible to come back," Heckert said. "A lot of guys don't even [bother] to come back, but he has. Last year, after he got hurt [on Aug. 5], I wasn't very optimistic, but he looks good."

Birdseed

Nothing seems new in the Eagles' attempts to sign top draft pick Brodrick Bunkley... The Birds claimed offensive tackle Jeff Roehl off waivers from the Patriots yesterday, and released offensive tackle Dejuan Skinner to make room. Roehl, 26, played in 12 games with the Giants in 2003 as a rookie out of Northwestern... Fifth-round rookie wideout Jeremy Bloom called the recurring hamstring injury that has him on the physically unable to perform list "a nuisiance." Bloom said his return to the field is a "day-to-day decision." Bloom is trying to make the NFL after spending the past 2 years training as a moguls skier for the Turin Olympics. "I knew it was going to be tough," Bloom said, when asked if getting his body ready for football has been tougher than he'd anticipated. "Obviously, I had hoped for a smoother transition, but this is just a bump in the road."

As previously discussed, I think the majority of us think Hank is toast. There is no reason to cut him because he's cheap and he's experienced and Jamaal Jackson has a little bit of an injury history. But his days of appearing in McNabb's Chunky soup commercials or being featured on Monday Night Countdown or having his belly talked about by Madden are over.

He was exposed big time in the SB. There were indicators prior to him playing like shtein against NE that he struggled when he had a fat body NT lined up across from him. Matter of fact, it didn't even have to be a 3-4 front that would kill him. If a defense was playing a DT shading the center in the A gap, he'd get blown back.

Jackson's size is something to be excited about. He's 335 and he has decent feet. He has to cut down on the mental mistakes (false starts) and stay off the trainers table.

[PhillyPhreak54]

WHO IS HE, DR. SEUSS?
By LES BOWEN
bowenl@phillynews.com

BETHLEHEM - So, when will we see Donovan McNabb's expose, detailing his side of the Terrell Owens drama that poisoned the Eagles' 2005 season?

"Real soon," McNabb promised yesterday. "It'll be a children's book, right next to his."

That was the tone No. 5 established in answering Owens-related questions at his first training-camp news conference yesterday - light, but very pointed. After saying he had not read T.O.'s book, McNabb acknowledged his familiarity with the most widely publicized excerpts. He mockingly disputed Owens' accounts of events, and made repeated references to Owens' contention that he was misquoted in the book by co-author Jason Rosenhaus.

The Eagles' quarterback was asked about Owens' implication that McNabb blocked T.O.'s return to the team after Owens was suspended for remarks made in a November interview.

"I can sit here and say that's not true," McNabb said.

Then he quickly shifted to joking mode: "If I had that much pull, a lot of changes would be made, believe me. I mean, [Cardinals running back] Edgerrin James made some changes in Arizona - just talking to him, I got some ideas. I don't think that will fly with Andy [Reid]."

In the book, Owens traced their falling out to a dispute in the huddle during a November 2004 game against the Giants. Owens said he complained to the QB that he had been open on the previous play and McNabb told him to shut up. They then argued heatedly in the postgame locker room.

McNabb implied yesterday that Owens did more than just declare he was open.

"We're all grown men," McNabb said. "If someone was supposed to get open on a particular route, I'll tell them. If they feel they're open, they'll tell me. I'm sure, just with the excerpts from the book, [Owens] told me, 'Hey, I was open on that, throw me the ball,' and you guys believe that, I'm sure."

Asked if he was saying Owens said something else, McNabb replied: "I mean, you think about that."

Owens also attempted to justify his haranguing of McNabb on the sideline in Pittsburgh that season as an attempt to bolster McNabb's confidence. Owens said that was spurred by an unnamed assistant coach coming to T.O. and telling him to keep McNabb's spirits up, supposedly because McNabb tends to tighten up in big games.

"There's a lot of excerpts in that book, let me tell you," McNabb said. "We could sit here all day going over excerpts. It's funny how they would just come to him. Why wouldn't they just say something to me?

"I've played in a lot of big games in my career. If you pinpoint a couple of games we lost, that's probably the easiest thing to do. But to say that I can't play in big games, I don't think that's a true statement."

McNabb said he would wait for the Hollywood treatment of the book.

"The movie will be coming out soon, I'm sure," he said. "I'm sure nobody wants to play me... Maybe I'll star as myself, since I don't allow co-stars [another contention in Owens' book], or I don't like it when people are getting bigger names than me. Come on, let's be honest."

Overall, McNabb sounded some of the same themes Reid established the day before. McNabb said he feels the team has confidence in his leadership, and is ready to move on from 2005. He said he is trimmer than before and confident his repaired groin is OK.

"I think we have to focus on that we were 6-10 and haven't been that low since '99, when I came in, when we were 5-11," he said. "We've won 10 or more games [every other year], so that's what we need to focus in on, what we need to do to get back on track for that. As far as the whole rift between the two of us and the book and everything else, that's behind us. We've moved on ever since, pretty much, the season ended. With where he's at [within the division, in Dallas], with you guys bringing it up... it's going to be an issue. But we can continue to focus on being out on this football field, to do what we need to do in order to change that 6-10 season."

Even with T.O. with the hated Cowboys and his book on the shelves (it ranked 933rd in sales yesterday on Amazon.com) for everyone to ask about, this is a much quieter opening of camp than the Birds experienced a year ago. McNabb said he learned in minicamp that "guys are obviously tired of the whole issue of what happened between me and T.O., and guys just want to move on."

"I think it's a good situation, obviously, that we don't have to worry about any veterans holding out. We don't have to worry about any other distractions... guys can communicate with each other without worrying what's going to be said next on TV or what's going to be said in the paper, or how guys are going to handle any situation out here on the football field."

McNabb said he figured Owens needed to talk about him to sell the book, "but the whole deal about it is that he's gone. It's not my business anymore. I'm sure [Dallas coach Bill] Parcells and [QB] Drew [Bledsoe] are going to have to handle that."

Asked if he regretted anything he said or did, McNabb said: "No. No regrets."

Perfect way to address the situation. Get it out of the way and move on.

[ice grillin you]

Gocong is a project at SAM, no doubt. But the fact that he is pushing Dhani is good.

is it tho?

the linebackers are a disgrace regardless of who wins the job.....and i dont see theat changing from now to the end of season....

[PhillyPhreak54]

Eagles Notes | Bloom has torn hamstring; Bunkley remains unsigned

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - An MRI exam taken Thursday revealed that Eagles rookie wide receiver Jeremy Bloom has a torn hamstring.

Bloom, a fifth-round draft pick, is the most seriously injured of the three players the Eagles have placed on the PUP (physically unable to perform) list. He said he was unable to comment about the specifics of the injury because of team policy, but Bloom explained the chronology of the problem.

"I did it in the first minicamp, and then I came back and did it again," Bloom said. "I thought it was just a matter of getting into football shape, but when it happened again in Arizona, I knew something wasn't right."

It happened again earlier this month while Bloom was working out with quarterback Donovan McNabb in Phoenix.

This is the first time Bloom has played football since his 2003 season at the University of Colorado. The NCAA banned him from playing football after his sophomore year because he received endorsement money to help sponsor his participation on the U.S. ski team. Bloom, 24, competed in the Olympics in February, then turned his focus to football, attending the scouting combine in Indianapolis before the Olympics had concluded.

"I probably didn't have enough transition time coming right from the Olympics and going to the combine," Bloom said. "You use totally different muscles when you're running than when you're skiing. But this is just a bump in the road."

If Bloom remains on the PUP list at the start of this season, he will not be eligible to rejoin the team until after the ninth week of the season. It's possible he could end up on injured reserve and be out for the season.

Bunkley update

As of late yesterday afternoon, the Eagles had not had any more conversations with Gary Wichard, the agent representing unsigned first-round draft pick Brodrick Bunkley.

The team's feeling is that nothing will get done with Bunkley until some of the first-round picks in front of him sign.

Gocong's transition

Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson said it would be difficult for rookie Chris Gocong to compete for a starting job at strongside linebacker with Dhani Jones and Greg Richmond. Gocong, the Eagles' third-round pick, is learning to play linebacker after being a defensive end at Division I-AA Cal Poly.

"I think he's got the physical ability," Johnson said. "We've seen that in just the way he moves. Now, it's just the mental part of it."

Extra points

The Eagles released undrafted rookie DeJuan Skinner after yesterday's morning practice and claimed offensive tackle Jeff Roehl off waivers. Roehl had been released by New England... . The Eagles practice today at 8:45 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.

Hmmm...not good news on Bloom. But this is something that should've been expected in hindsight. Harbaugh spoke about it in the post-draft mini-camp and said that Bloom was using muscles now that he really hadn't used much in skiing. And since you don't run and cut in moguls like you do on a football field I look at this as something that we should've known could happen.

So, wait for it, ............this probably means Reno Mahe makes the team if Bloom opens up the season on the PUP. The only way I can see Reno not making it is if Buck somehow makes the team. Would Reid carry 6 RBs?

Westbrook
Moats
Buckhalter
Perry
Mahe
Tapeh

I believe Perry would make it over Reno if it came to them because of Bruce's KOR skills. At least that is what I am hoping for. Plus Perry is a better RB than Reno by a mile.

I will watch the PR position closely too. I want to see who else is back there fielding punts. Let's hope Ryan Moats gets a shot.

[ice grillin you]

no biggie on bloom...even healthy i dont think he would have done much this year...a pratice squad guy that hopefully would contribute on 07

[General_Failure]

You're worried about Reid carrying 6 backs? Do you think he'll have 6 healthy ones to start the season?

[Munson]

Heh, the phantom "torn" hamstring.

If he doesn't get healthy enough, they'll just IR him and he'll come in next year WAY in football shape and have a good feel on the playbook and what not and be able to contribute as the punt returner. Looks like we'll be waiting til next year to see Bloom returning punts.

As for Mahe....JR Reed seems pretty damn confident that he hasn't lost any speed at all....I honestly believe he and Perry make the team, and Mahe is cut...

[Don Ho]

You're worried about Reid carrying 6 backs? Do you think he'll have 6 healthy ones to start the season?

If Buckhalter, Perry & Tapeh are all healthy come 9/10 I'll shtein my pants.  Odds are 4 of the 6 will be healthy.

[rjs246]

Bloom injury or no, anyone who doubted that Mahe would make the team this year hasn't been paying attention...

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

I say Reno, you say Mahe!

[mikey418]

UNDER

[Diomedes]

I say Reno, you say Mahe!

Let's call the whole thing off.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

You wish.

[SunMo]

Eagles | Many players battling for spots at receiver
Mon, 24 Jul 2006 07:31:27 -0700

Zach Berman, of PhiladelphiaEagles.com, reports the Philadelphia Eagles have a large battle for spots on the roster at wide receiver, with a team-high 13 players on the roster at the position. While veterans such as WRs Reggie Brown and Todd Pinkston have their spots reserved, training camp will provide an opportunity for players who haven't been on the field for an NFL game, such as WRs Justin Jenkins and Michael Gasperson, a chance to stand out and land on the roster.

the ol' 'throw everything at the wall and see what sticks method'.  awesome