A Cornucopia of Eagles Items
The onset of OTAs has brought a plethora of Eagles related stories. So, let’s get to them, shall we.
First caught wind of this last night over at Igglesblog. Those guys are always on point. Evidently, a new deal for Donny Mac is in the works. No extension, but a restructuring. Hmm. The extension will be put off “until a later date.” If this report is accurate, it seems Reid and Co. would like to provide more stability for their quarterback. Makes sense. If you’re making another serious championship run, the last thing you want is an unhappy signal caller.
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DeSean Jackson‘s father passed away from pancreatic cancer on May 14.
"“It’s definitely hard, you know,” Jackson said Tuesday after practice. “The biggest thing is, everything I do, I’m going to dedicate it to him. I know he wouldn’t want me sitting around pouting and being sad about the situation.”"
Obviously, a tough situation. Jackson is a strong-willed kid. I would not want to be a defensive back trying to cover him this season.
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More from Jackson. He had to this to say in response to yesterday’s comments by Osi Umenyiora:
"“But with him or without him, we are confident in ourselves. One player can’t determine if they win or lose. As everybody knows, it’s a team. You’ll never know what would happen if he was there or if he wasn’t there. All I know is that we got the victory and that’s what I’m going to go off of. We’ve just got to get another two this year, or however many we play them…We went in their house and beat them twice. We understand what it takes.”"
Clear. Concise. Professional. Not at all what you’d get from some prima donna me-first wide receiver. Clowns like Ocho and TO should take note. So far, Jackson gets it.
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I checked in on another NFC Beast blog chat with Matt Mosley yesterday. I normally just observe, rather than ask questions. I like to read what other fans are thinking, and of course what Mosley thinks as well. I’ll keep this brief because you can read the whole transcript yourselves, but a couple responses stood out.
Here’s Mosley’s take on the Sheldon situation:
"“You have to remain patient with situations like this one. Brown overplayed his hand — and that probably led to the Hobbs trade. The Eagles will bide their time and see if another team has injuries in training camp. If a team loses a starter, Brown’s value would go up. And don’t worry about him derailing anything. Did Lito Sheppard derail the ’08 campaign?”"
The more I look at the Birds’ secondary the more crowded it looks. What if Jack Ike blows up in camp and convinces the coaching staff he’s ready to be a pro? What if “Macho” Harris proves he can play both safety and corner? Brown could find himself the odd man out.
Mosley’s thoughts on which team has the better offensive line: Eagles or Giants:
"“Peters is coming off a down year, although I think he’ll be excellent. Andrews essentially missed the entire ’08 season. The Eagles aren’t exactly high on Jackson at center. And let’s not act like Stacy Andrews is the second coming of Munoz — or insert your guard of choice (Allen for me)…The Giants have a formidable group. Snee’s become one of the best guards in the game. Diehl’s very reliable. I’ll stick with the Giants.”"
As of June 3, he’s right. G-Men have the more stable line. By November things could be much different.
Here’s how Mosley ranks the NFC East secondaries:
1. Giants
2. Eagles
3. Cowboys
4. Redskins
I have to disagree with him on this one. Even without Dawk, the Eagles still have the best and deepest secondary in the division, if not the entire league. I don’t care if it’s Demps or Jones at free safety, either.
Here’s how Mosley ranks the NFC East quarterbacks:
1. Eli Manning
2. Donovan McNabb
3. Tony Romo
4. Jason Campbell
Manning without Burress, still tops? I don’t think so. Matt is infatuated with the 2009 Giants. He has them finishing 13-3 and the Iggles 11-5. Big Blue’s defense will be better, but unless Hakeem Nicks is this season’s DeSean, I have a hard time believing 13 wins is possible.
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Self-described Eagles fan Adam Caplan posted his pressing issues with the Eagles over at Scout.com. McNabb’s future was of particular interest to Caplan.
"“However, if the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had beaten the Oakland Raiders during their Week 17 game, Philadelphia would have not made the playoffs. Many believed that had Philadelphia not made the playoffs, McNabb would have made his last start for the team in Week 17 against the Dallas Cowboys. Reid denied this recently, but does anyone believe Reid would say anything otherwise publicly?”"
I’ll always wonder about that scenario. Did Donovan do enough down the stretch in 2008 to remain the starter, even if they didn’t make the playoffs? I think he did. It’s not as if Kolb appeared ready to take the reigns last season. Oh well, we’ll never know for certain.