Desert Eagles Nest

Observations from Saturday Morning (8/8) Practice:

Packed house at Goodman Campus this morning for the Eagles Practice. Lots of news on and off the field today.

Brian Westbrook, Victor Abiamiri, Trevor Laws, and Matt Schobel did not participate in practice. TE Cornelius Ingram was not out on the practice field at all. I later found out about the Ingram injury. Huge loss for this offense. Even though Cornelius was a 5th round rookie, I truly believe he was poised to be a valuable weapon in this offense. The kid showed a ton of potential over the past two weeks and it is really a shame to lose him for the season. Another one bites the dust at Lehigh. And of course, as always, no sign of Shawn Andrews anywhere at camp.

Jason Peters and Stacey Andrews both returned to practice this morning. Both linemen participated in non contact drills and sat out when the action went live. During non contact drills, the 1st team offensive line consisted of Peters - Cole - Jackson - Andrews - Herremans. The 1st team offensive line during the live period was Herremans - Cole - Jackson - MJG - Justice. Peters and Andrews both looked solid out on the practice field but the real test will come during live game action.

I concentrated a lot on OT Winston Justice this morning. There has been a lot of talk about the 4th year tackle from USC and I felt it was important to look more closely at him after I criticized him Thursday afternoon. I know the coaching staff has been high on his training camp but I honestly don't see it. I want to feel comfortable with him on the line but I don't. It's not that Justice has poor mechanics. His footwork and form is solid. He just doesn't seem dominate on the line. Justice and Jack Ikeguonu seem very similar to me right now. Both are fundamentally sound, however both are beaten for big plays way too much for my liking. I noticed Justice being pushed back on run blocking plays and he was beaten off the edge several times by Juqua Parker and Chris Clemons this morning. I am no expert, but from my view he just doesn't seem as good as many hope for him to be.

Justice wasn't the only bad offensive lineman on the field today. As a whole, the o-line REALLY struggled. Kevin Kolb and AJ Feeley were lucky if they had enough time to even set their feet in the pocket before there was pressure in their face. Specifically, the 2nd and 3rd offensive lines were atrocious. I could try and sugar coat it but there's no point. Just horrendous play this morning. Chris Patrick and Fenuki Tupou couldn't stop anything coming their way. At one point, Andy Reid got so upset that he started yelling at Juan Castillo about how the o-line was wasting his time. It must have been a very fun morning for guys like Juqua Parker, Chris Clemons, Bryan Smith, and Darren Howard. Those guys were in the backfield all day. It is imperative that this team get the offensive line healthy and working together for the Eagles to have any shot at success this season.

There was a lot of offensive and defensive install this morning. Today was the first time that I noticed Lesean McCoy struggling at all with the offense. He wasn't in over his head but he did require a little coaching from Marty and Andy. I haven't seen that from him before. Some interesting notes on the defensive side of the football. During install, Matt Wilhelm was the MLB with the 2nd team. Joe Mays and Akeem Jordan were the LBs during nickel packages. Additionally, there were packages that had Mikell, Demps, and Sean Jones on the field at the same time. I think those three safeties will rotate a lot this season.

The team worked a lot on situational play calling today. A ton of 3rd and short yardage and goal line plays. The good news for a lot of fans is that the team called a TON of running plays today. Lesean McCoy, Leonard Weaver, Lorenzo Booker, and Eldra Buckley got a ton of work trying to pick up the first down. McCoy took a pitch to the left and broke a 20+ yard run on 3rd and 1. Brent Celek had a great seal on the edge to open up the hole for Shady. Lorenzo Booker had a shifty run off the right side for 4 yards and celebrated the 1st down. Asante Samuel talked back to Booker. Asante talks a lot of trash. Leonard Weaver was also used to push the pile picking up a yard and a half on 3rd and 1.

On the goal line, McNabb threw a touchdown pass to Brent Celek in the back corner of the endzone. Lesean McCoy had a touchdown off the right side. Kevin Kolb had a TD pass to Reggie Brown in the back corner. Absolutely terrible spacing on the play. Kyle Eckle and Brent Celek were right next to each other and Reggie Brown and Eugene Bright collided as Brown made the catch. The play ended in success but it was very poorly executed. The first team did have an incomplete pass from the 2 yard line out of the shotgun formation which drove me nuts, but that's Andy. Eldra Buckley had a TD run up the middle and Juan Castillo was pumped. I guess he was excited that his offensive line finally had a good play.

Desean Jackson had another good practice. During 7 on 7 drills, Kevin Kolb threw a pass too high and Jackson wasn't able to haul it in. It was honestly the first time all camp that I saw a ball hit Jackson's hands and he didn't catch it. Besides that play, he was electric. Nobody could keep Desean in front of them. He burned Ellis Hobbs for during 1 on 1 drills and caught every other ball thrown his way. Right at 10am, I noticed Desean limping on the sideline. During the live session, he collided with Asante Samuel. Desean was walking with a limp but was not grimacing. He did not look to be in a lot of pain, just uncomfortable. He walked all the way over to the tent between fields and had a brief conversation with Rick Burkholder before leaving the field. I later learned it was a hyperextended knee. It did not look serious at all but with the way this camp is going, who knows. From my vantage point, I wouldn't be too worried about Desean. Then again, Stewart Bradley's injury looked harmless as well.

Jeremy Maclin had a good practice at WR. Maclin did get more reps with the 1st team than he has on previous days. I still think Andy and Marty feel that he can help this offense in his rookie campaign. The 1st unit ran a WR screen on two straight plays to Maclin getting him out in open space to create. Definitely get used to watching that play come preseason. During live action, Maclin burned Jack Ikeguonu deep but Kevin Kolb wasn't looking his way. Jeremy beat Jack again and Kolb overthrew him. Maclin dove for the deep ball at the goal line but couldn't haul it in. When the 3's were on the field, Maclin and Desean were on the sideline laughing with each other and joking around. During 7 on 7 drills, Donovan threw a ball over the top of Joe Mays and into the outstretched arms of Maclin for a nice gain.

While Maclin was good as a wideout, I was very disappointed in his performance in the return game. He was back on kickoffs and punt returns during practice. As practice concluded, Maclin was the primary punt returner. I was not comfortable with the way he was catching the ball. At one point, he completely muffed a punt. Let the ball come right into his body and bounced off his chest. McNabb started giving it to him from the sideline and Jeremy said, "I'll get it next time." The coaches didn't like that. "THERE IS NO NEXT TIME!" On the final punt of practice, Maclin made the catch but it was a shoestring grab with his hands stretched way out. For such an accomplished returner in college, his form seemed pretty poor this morning. The coaches didn't seem thrilled either.

In two WR sets, Desean Jackson and Kevin Curtis were with the 1st team (with Jeremy Maclin rotating in for Curtis) and Reggie Brown and Hank Baskett were with the 2nd team. Brown took Jackson's spot when he left practice.

The nickel defense had Juqua Parker, Darren Howard, and Trent Cole on the line with Chris Clemons playing the joker.

Kevin Kolb had a perfectly thrown deep ball to Brandon Gibson for a 65 yard touchdown. Gibson beat Jack Ikeguonu and Rashad Baker for the TD. It was by far the best thrown I've seen from Kolb all camp. Just a perfect ball.

Asante Samuel and Ellis Hobbs were the CBs for the 1st team on the goal line. Hobbs had a diving deflection on a pass intended for Kevin Curtis in the back of the endzone. Asante Samuel went nuts jumping up and down in celebration for the good play by Hobbs.

Speaking of Asante Samuel, on the first play of live action, he jumped a route and intercepted Kevin Kolb for a pick 6. He then trash talked Kolb saying something to the effect of, "Keep throwing it my way 4! I dare ya!"

Rashad Baker had an interception on a tipped pass from Kevin Kolb to Eugene Bright. Baker had a solid day and I think will be a nice contributor for the team.

The offense is running a lot of two RB sets with Lorenzo Booker in the backfield and Lesean McCoy split wide or vice versa. I'd look for a lot of Shady and 36-West on the field together in the regular season.

David Akers had a great practice. He hit all of his field goals including 3 straight from 47, 52, and 60 yards. The crowd erupted after his 60 yarder.

Sorry for the late post tonight. It's been a very busy afternoon. I won't be able to get to practice tomorrow or Monday morning, but should make the trek to Lehigh on Tuesday for one final practice before camp breaks.