On the Birds Beat-McNabb Should Return Tomorrow - Wednesday, November 12, 2008
152 Views :: 0 Comments ::  :: Team - Eagles, Brian Seltzer -QB Donovan McNabb missed this morning's walkthrough and the this afternoon's practice due to a personal matter deserving of an excused absence. The issue has nothing to do with his football responsibilities to the Philadelphia Eagles, and he is in good health. This situation should not linger past today, and McNabb will likely rejoin his team tomorrow taking reps with the first-team offense. -In McNabb's absence, second-stringer QB Kevin Kolb took snaps with the first team at today's workout. While he'll reprise his reserve role tomorrow, the back-up takes whatever reps he receives with the first-team seriously, and truly values the experience. As far as how far along he is with the Eagles offense, Kolb, halfway through his second season, said he's "very close" to having the entire playbook down. -RB Brian Westbrook questioned his club's commitment to the run game, saying, "We don't always have it, no. At some points we have it, at some points in other games, we don't. I think that there are situations at times when we probably should hav emore commitment to the run." -Hard to argue with Westbrook's sentiment there. Given McNabb's inexplicably erratic starts to games as of late, perhaps a few runs or managable screen passes would settle him down; however, a commitment to the run game requires a patience and belief that Andy Reid has yet to exhibit, with the lone exception being 2002 (the Birds ranked 7th in the NFL in rush yards/game, and their 30.6 rushes/game was the highest average under Reid). -Another day, another visit to a Marina del Rey, CA back specialist for RG Shawn Andrews. He enters the fourth week of his conspicuously extended stay out West. Reid revealed today that a little bit of bleeding has attributed to Andrews' delayed return to Philly, which the head coach had hoped would happen this week. -Credit Reid for ensuring that Andrews' support system for dealing with his depression has remained in tact during his time in California. Andrews' agent Rich Moran, who played for Reid in Green Bay, lives near the facility where Andrews is rehabbing. The Eagles are also in regular contact with the Pro Bowler, who has the option, if needed, of calling his psychiatrist/psychologist in Philadelphia. -Despite the lingering nature of Andrews' back spasms, Reid is not more inclined to place the lineman on the Injured Reserve list. -With their record at 5-4 and having bottomed back into the basement of the NFC East, the Eagles have officially resorted to the "Us Against the World" mentality for motivation. Placed inside each of the players lockers at the Nova Care Complex was an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper that had the following title at the top: "Think of what CAN be done instead of hearing and reading what can't be done." The sheet went on to tell the stories of previous NFL teams that ultimately won Super Bowls despite mediocre mid-season records. The examples were the 2000 Baltimore Ravens (5-4 at Week 9 only to win 7 straight en route to a title), the 2001 New England Patriots (started 1-3 and were later 5-5 10 games into the season), the 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers (suffered a 3 game losing streak weeks 11-13), and lastly the 2007 New York Giants. The description of Big Blue was particularly interesting, as it explained that the squad prevailed in light of the "media calling for head coach Tom Coughlin's job"...(what comparison could possibly be drawn here?) |