Injury Update

[PhillyPhanInDC]

Posted on Wed, Aug. 09, 2006 

Ashley Fox | Eagles backfield depth is running dry

By Ashley Fox
Inquirer Columnist

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Reno Mahe is one of the most endearingly optimistic guys in an Eagles uniform, but even he had to laugh yesterday at the absurdity of him being the Birds' starting running back. A couple years ago, he was shooting to make the practice squad. Yesterday, he was running with the first-team offense.

"The reality is," Mahe said, "I'm a bubble player. I never know what's going to happen to me."

With the news that Brian Westbrook has a sprained left foot, that pretty much sums up the Eagles' running back situation right now. Andy Reid doesn't know exactly what is going to happen from one practice to the next, much less what's going to happen once the regular season starts.

Four weeks before the regular season starts, it's way too early to panic, but the durability of the Birds' running backs has become an issue.

Reid has said he wants to keep the ball on the ground more than he did last year, and he certainly stuck to his word on that first series against Oakland on Sunday. Seven of the nine plays on the drive were for Westbrook, who gained 46 yards and scored from a yard out.

But just who is going to be healthy enough to carry the load this season? Westbrook? Correll Buckhalter? Bruce Perry? Ryan Moats? Thomas Tapeh? Mahe? The depth chart changes almost hourly.

Here's the latest injury update:

Some time after the Oakland game, Westbrook reported soreness in his left foot. He was diagnosed with a foot sprain, although not a Lis franc sprain like the one he suffered to his right foot late last season. Westbrook won't play tomorrow night against Cleveland, and Reid called him "day-to-day."

Buckhalter practiced yesterday, but he will wait to play until next week's preseason game at Baltimore, Reid said after the afternoon practice. Reid wants Buckhalter, who missed all of last season after tearing his patellar tendon during training camp, to get more work in at practice before playing a game.

After being out since July 26 with a sprained knee, Moats worked out yesterday, although he did not participate in the contact drills toward the end of practice. Neither Moats nor Reid would say whether he would play tomorrow. "I don't want to hurt myself," Moats said.

Two days after suffering what the team said was a concussion in the waning minutes of the Raiders game, Perry missed practice yesterday. He's gone from being a bright spot at training camp to a question mark because of his injury and his inability to hold onto the football.

So Mahe yesterday ran with the ones and Tapeh with the twos. After the morning workout, the Eagles announced they signed Marty Johnson, who recently was released by Denver and who played for NFL Europe's Berlin Thunder earlier this year, rushing for 424 yards and two touchdowns.

Clearly, the Birds need bodies.

When asked whether the Eagles have enough running backs to have an effective rushing attack, offensive coordinator Marty Morninweg said, "We'll see."

"We think we have some pretty good backs on this team," Morninweg said. "That's one of the great things about having five preseason games. We're going to find out."

New England was able to win Super Bowl XXXVIII with an offense that ranked 27th in rushing during the 2003 season. But that off-season, the Patriots replaced Kevin Faulk with Corey Dillon. With Dillon as the starter in 2004, the Patriots skyrocketed to seventh in rushing, and, of course, beat the Eagles (24th in rushing) in Super Bowl XXXIX.

Last season's Super Bowl participants, Seattle and Pittsburgh, ranked third and fifth, respectively, in rushing. The Steelers mainly used a combination of little-known undrafted free agent Willie Parker, who exploded for more than 1,200 yards during the regular season, and Jerome Bettis. The Seahawks had the league's leading rusher, Shaun Alexander.

"I look at the champions of the league last year. [It was] the team that threw the fewest passes per game," Dallas coach Bill Parcells said recently. "This league doesn't change too much."

If the Eagles are to change from the team that went 6-10 a season ago, they will have to have a healthy collection of running backs. For the most part, the days when teams use one power back are gone. Colleges aren't producing them, so NFL teams are forced to choose from smaller players and use them on a rotating basis.

On paper, the Birds have such a rotation, and there might even be a sleeper, a la Parker, among them. But so far through camp, nagging injuries have been a problem. Durability is becoming an issue.

So in early August, the Eagles are left with Mahe, a 26-year-old who enters his fourth season with 43 career carries for 178 yards and zero touchdowns.

During a goal-line drill yesterday, Mahe was unable to find any running room and a couple of times was stuffed for what in a game would've been lost yardage.

Mahe is smart enough to know he isn't the answer.

"I think they've got to be trying to figure out what to do," he said. "I have no control over that. I've just got to take it as a responsibility... . I've never thought about [being the feature back]. I've always just been zoned in on doing my part as far as special teams go. It's one of those things, when the opportunity comes, you've got to make the most of it, especially someone in my position."

[ice grillin you]

its not gonna be very good anyway....but how downright ugly is their offense gonna be when westbrook goes down this year...if he even makes it to the regular season

[SunMo]

i think it's hilariously ironic that they are waiting to play Buck against the team he played his last game against.

[General_Failure]

Anyone else terrified by the fact that Mahe has a 4.1 ypc average?

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

i think it's hilariously ironic that they are waiting to play Buck against the team he played his last game against.

Yeah, but that was so long ago anyway that it's meaningless.

[SD_Eagle5]

Fearless prediction: Mahe has a good game tomorrow night.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Fearless prediction: Mahe has a good game tomorrow night.

...behind the #1 OL
...against the Browns
...in the pre-season.

Fearless!

[reese125]

Fearless prediction #2: Mahe catches a punt, does a Carlton Banks, gains 3 yards, gets the game ball from Reid

[SD_Eagle5]

Fearless prediction: Mahe has a good game tomorrow night.

...behind the #1 OL
...against the Browns
...in the pre-season.

Fearless!

I didn't see anyone else with the balls to make the same prediction hence making it 'fearless'.

[mpmcgraw]

Laugh at him now, but he's two injuries away from being named the starter.

Die. 

[General_Failure]

Sorry, I should update that to say one injury now.

[PhillyPhreak54]

McDougle hurt his ribs today. They showed the clip on CSN of him laying on the ground with Burkholder checking out the ribs and the McDougle walking to the sideline. CSn didn't say exactly what the injury was though.

Kearse tweaked his knee

Pinkston was back practicing and limping

Bloom practiced.

[The BIGSTUD]

Did Kearse finish practice?

[PhillyPhreak54]

Not sure.

[PhillyPhreak54]

Apparently Sheldon Brown strained his back today.