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Eagles Offensive Looking Sharp with New Talent

The Philadelphia Eagles' Offensive Coordinator, Marty Mornhinweg, had a lot of comments at his first press conference of pre-season training camp.  Most of the comments were pretty positive as far as the hopes for a great offense this season.  Granted, it is only the 3rd day of training camp and we haven't even seen the veteran team players take the field, but overall Mornhinweg's comments seem pretty optimistic.

On the top of the list of topics was the the development of Jeremy Bloom.  Bloom is the 2nd year wide receiver and return man out of Colorado who sat out all last year on injured reserved.  Bloom's performance so far, is apparently impressing everyone watching him in mini camps and now training camp.  Odds are this is the guy to watch this year, he could be the break out star, and he's definitely a player this EaglesChick doesn't mind watching! ;)

"Many players make a football team with their special teams play," Mornhinweg said. "But I can tell you he's done an excellent job at the wide receiver spot the last few minicamps and these first three days here. He's progressed at a real high pace. He hadn't played football in a long time and then he went through the injury problem."

Next up, Tony Hunt, Mornhinweg's comments on the rookie running back were that in the past three days of camp he was "excellent" and "sharp, smart, a hard-worker and he's got some physical ability."  This is definitely something to keep your eye one since there's a lot of competition in the RB position this year.  Westbrook is definitely the go to man, but with Buckhalter, Moats and now Hunt - the Eagles definitely have a full aresenal of talent in this position.

"There's a host of different ways that Tony could help us," Mornhinweg said. "The first is in special teams and the second is as some type of situational player and another way would be as a change-of-pace player, and so forth … He's got to earn it though. We have some pretty good backs here."

The competition that is seen at the RB position is mirrored throughout the rest of the offense. Mornhinweg gave praise to Bill Sampy, saying the 2nd year receiver "had already made an impression". The Eagles' offensive coach was equally impressed by the team's young trio of tight ends: Brent Celek, Lee Vickers and Kyle Hunt.

"They all have a chance to succeed in this league I think," Mornhinweg said. "All of them have different strengths, and it'll be interesting as camp progresses."

Wrapping up the conference he commented on McNabb's personal assessment of his rehabilitation being at 75%. 

"We're going day by day," Mornhinweg said. "He sure has looked sharp. He's done an excellent job in rehabilitation and or medical staff and training staff have done a superior job."

Here's hoping Bloom really does "bloom" into a great receiver, Tony Hunt solidifies the RB aresenal and McNabb is back at 100% come September.  So far, there's a lot of optimism!

McNabb's New Blog - Connecting with the Fans

"Yardbarker", that was the one word that McNabb called over his shoulder as he left his first 2007 pre-season press conference.  So what did he mean by just saying Yardbarker?  Well McNabb's stepping out of that "walled garden" the Eagles have so securely wrapped him up in for all his years as the Eagles quarterback.  McNabb's got his own personal blog at Yardbarker.

McNabb started the blog to connect better with Eagles Fans.  I think this is actually a great move by McNabb.  No longer will he have to be totally muzzled by the well-oiled press machine of the Eagles' communication department.  If he keeps up with the blog, it should keep those rumors about where he's at "mentally" when those storms like Jeff Garcia, Kevin Kolb being drafted and not being allowed to go to the New Orleans divisional game blow in, and hopefully will keep those Mama McNabb tirades to a minimum. 

McNabb's been making a lot of great strategic moves lately.  He hired his own public relations specialist, a former team employee that previously handled all of McNabb's appearances, and he began to have his own media events outside the Eagle's "walled garden".  This just goes to show, that although he's been the loyal soldier, McNabb is becoming wise to the fact that sometimes the management in the Eagles front office can be too damn fickle.

The blog's only got three posts so far, but it's pretty savvy in that Donovan's including some of his own videos, hosted on YouTube through the YardBarker Channel.  Take a look at his first video posted, featuring his work out in Arizona last month.

 

Kolb Finally Signs Deal for 4 Years with Eagles

Philadelphia Eagles' training camp distractions have been averted.  The last thing anyone wants to see is some circus going on about whether players sign or don't sign, retire or don't retire (ala Michael Strahan of the Giants).  Thankfully, the Eagles finally secured the deal for the last of the draft picks that they needed to sign, that being quarterback Kevin Kolb.

On Wednesday July 25, the Eagles and Kolb agreed to a 4 year deal which essentially secured that all of their 8 draft picks were at the start of training camp with started this past Friday. Kolb was the most scrutinized of the Eagles' picks since picking him meant the Eagles now have 4 quarterback in their ranks.  Kolb was the 36th pick overall and the third quarterback taken in the draft behind Oakland's JaMarcus Russell and Cleveland's Brady Quinn.

"I'm pumped," Kolb said in a press conference outside the NovaCare Complex on Wednesday. "It was getting down to the wire a little bit here and I think everyone was getting a little bit antsy.

"I was getting a little bit nervous and I definitely wanted to be there (at training camp) with the rest of the guys, and especially not miss anything and get behind. That's my biggest fear."

Kolb will learn the ropes from veterans Donovan McNabb, A.J. Feeley and Kelly Holcomb at this years training camp.  Some are wondering though, is this four-year deal enough to further convince Kolb that he will one day get his chance to carve out his own Eagles legacy?

minor eagles chick postscript - by this picture, it looks like Donovan's finally trimmed that beard!

McNabb Takes Part in Eagles Training Camp Practice

A sight for all Eagles Fans' eyes was the Number 5, quarterback Donovan McNabb, participating in training camp practice.  No matter the questions that surround his return, having McNabb back is definitely a great morale booster for the Philadelphia Eagles.

McNabb dawned his "red" #5 training jersey while snapping on a knee brace to protect his knee that's still healing from his season ending ACL injury that occurred last season. He spoke to the media saying that he felt his knee was at about 75%.  No one is taking bets yet on him playing in the pre-season game against Baltimore though.  This chick has doubts we'll see him playing much if at all during that game.

It doesn't look like the Philadelphia Eagles' head coach, Andy Reid is going to push the issue either.       "I'm not in any hurry to push him into the first pre-season game," coach Reid said.

When McNabb was questioned about wearing a knee brace during training camp in Bethlehem but not wearing it in Arizona, McNabb explained, "you have to continue to stay protective, and if I can continue to wear it and it doesn't bother me, I'll continue to wear it through the whole season."    

"Mentally you have to know that the knee is fine. That's kind of the whole process you go through -- not just strengthening it through the weight room and continuing to stay flexible. You have to continue to prepare yourself mentally for what you'll be faced with." McNabb said.

Sheldon Brown's Hit On Reggie Bush Makes Sports Illustrated Cover

Relating Reggie Bush to a cardboard box, doesn't seem quite right, does it?  Well that's how Sheldon Brown, the Philadelphia Eagles cornerback, described how it felt to level the rookie in last year's playoff game.  I remember watching that game and just being in awe of that utter raw force that came from Brown's body, crumpling Bush's body to the turf of the Superdome like a paper doll, and how the crowd at the Superdome fell utterly silent for a few minutes.

That hit will now grace Sports Illustrated's cover.  The article/piece that drives the photo is entitled "Big Hits: The Glory, Danger and Repercussions" written by Tim Layden.  In it, Mr. Layden goes on to describe the hit in amazing detail.  This chick particularly loves this excerpt from the article:

"A swing pass floated into the right flat, a flash of green helmet and white jersey, and now Bush was on his hands and knees on the turf of the Louisiana Super­dome, crawling in his black New Orleans Saints uniform like a small child, sent back to his infancy after getting blown up by Eagles cornerback Sheldon Brown. "

Brown goes on to relate to Layden about how the Eagles had been working on that particular play the whole week that led up to the game.  It was the one play that the Saints had use to exploit holes in the Eagles defense in their first meeting earlier in 2006.  The Saints kept blowing by Sheldon Brown and matching Reggie Bush up with a linebacker, this time around Sheldon Brown was having none of that.  Obviously from the leveling Bush received, it's likely not something he's going to forget anytime soon.

The hit even received allocates from other players around the league.  Brian Urlacher of the Chicago Bears is quoted as saying, "those are the ones you dream about," after watching the game on TV.  Even though it's a hit to remember, Bush did bounce back pretty well, well enough as all of us Eagles fans know to help end the Eagles season.

Congrats Sheldon - that hit was a great one!

As Training Camp Approaches, So Does Court For Reid's Two Sons

Philadelphia Eagles' training camp is just on the horizon, starting at the end of the week at Lehigh University up in the Allentown/Bethlehem area.  Along with all that goes into getting prepared for Training camp, Andy Reid also has got a lot on his mind with his two son's, whose court dates are Thursday in a southern Montgomery county courtroom.

Garrett and Britt Reid fell into some pretty deep trouble in the past year resulting in firearm and drug charges that have brought them to court.  Because of this, Andy Reid had taken a 5-week leave of absence in the beginning of the year, to deal with his family's situation.

Perhaps though there is a bit a good news that might come out of all of this for Andy and his sons.  Although nothing is certain at this point, there is hope for a plea.  The lawyer for Garrett and Britt, defense attorney Ross Weiss, was quoted by the associated press as saying "A plea is possible. We're preparing for trial if that is going to be necessary,"  apparently one of the key sticking points is how much jail time the sons will need to serve.

However this turns out, Eagles fans are undoubtedly hoping the best for Reid's family.  The only thing positive about it all is that Andy at least doesn't have to deal with T.O. (Terrell Owens) and this situation at the same time.

Eagles Sign Abiamiri and Ilaoa to 4 Year Deals

The Philadelphia Eagles signed on 2 of the 3 remaining draft picks yesterday to 4 year deals.  Running back Nate "Nasti Nate" Ilaoa and defensive end Victor Abiamiri agreed to terms on their four-year deals on Sunday.   The only remaining draft pick the Eagles haven't signed is the first draft pick - quarterback Kevin Kolb.

Abiamiri, who hails from Notre Dame, was the second of the Eagles' two second-round picks in April's draft. Standing 6-foot-4, and 267-pound he racked up 10.5 sacks last season, the second-highest single-season total in the Notre Dame's history.

The Eagles are hoping to have a strong rotation at defensive end this season, since Jevon (The Freak) Kearse is returning after missing most of last season with his knee injury (this Eagles Chick is VERY happy to see Kearse back in the lineup).  Also in the lineup is, third-year man Trent Cole who will battle Darren Howard, for the starting right end spot. The Eagles re-signed Juqua Thomas who had a career high six sacks last season and also have former first-round pick Jerome McDougle.

Ilaoa, who the Eagles chose in the seventh-round of the 2007 draft come from Hawaii,  He's one of two running backs selected along with Tony Hunt from Penn State was drafted in the third round.

Ilaoa stands 5-foot-9, 245-pound and earned All-WAC honors as a senior rushing for 990 yards and scoring 18 total touchdowns (13 rushing, 5 receiving).   This guy is seen as important to the Eagles offense because of his great ability to catch the ball out of the backfield and since the Eagles often uses the running back in the passing game, you can get the feeling how this guy is going to fit in with Westbrook Hunt, Moats and Buckhalter.  While at Hawaii, Ilaoa set a single-season school record for a running back with 67 receptions and 837 receiving yards.

This does leave the Eagles with a similar situation with the quarterbacks, only now the Eagles have five running backs on the roster - Westbrook, Correll Buckhalter, Ryan Moats, Hunt and Ilaoa.  At 245 pounds, Ilaoa is the biggest running back on the team's roster. Four running backs were kept on the original 53-man roster last season at the end of training camp, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out for all the players.

Ilaoa got the nickname "Nasti" for his style of running.  He also put up impressive numbers while at Hawaii:

• Ranked 12th in Division I-A with 139.5 all-purpose yards per game in 2006
• All-purpose yardage total (1,827) was the third best single-season total in Hawaii's history
• Hawaii's all-time leader among running backs in receptions (151) and receiving yards (1,694)
• Hawaii's fourth in all-purpose yards (3,383)
• Hawaii's fifth in rushing touchdowns (20)
• Two-time all-state, all-region, all-area, all-district and all-league selection at North Stafford High School in Stafford, Va.

Eagles QB Ranked 3rd in NFL for 2007-2008

Fox Sports came out with its rankings for Quarterbacks for the 2007-2008 season, yesterday.  Great news for Donovan McNabb since he's ranked 3rd behind Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts and Tom Brady of the New England Patriots.  This is in spite of his ACL injury suffered at the end of last year.

Mike Tanier of Footballoutsiders.com rank McNabb 3rd over all for the following reasons:

"When healthy, McNabb is an elite quarterback. He's great at launching deep passes, but he's even better when the Eagles offense is balanced and he has the chance to throw underneath. McNabb underthrows some passes and is starting to lose his scrambling ability, but he's a great decision maker in the pocket and one of the hardest quarterbacks in NFL history for players not named Ronde Barber to intercept."

If there's one thing that Eagles fans love to see, it's our team's players ranked highly in polls.  Especially when they are ranked much higher than the Dallas Cowboys.  It just makes this Eagles fan giggle with delight to see Tony Romo ranked below Donovan McNabb at #11.

Donovan McNabb to Chicago Bears? Nah.... Just Speculation

Rumors, speculation and whole lot of "what ifs" have been tossed around this past week concerning Donovan McNabb.  ProFootballWeekly kicked it all off at the beginning of the week by speculating that Philadelphia Eagles Quarterback Donovan McNabb could eventually end up with Chicago sometime in the future.

That article took off like wild fire, and it turned into "trade rumors". Mere speculation around the fact Donovan's from Chicago, his family being there, his manager's from there, his high contract, drafting of Kevin Kolb, and a few statements Donovan McNabb's made in the past has managed to send the rumor mill into full tilt.

Donovan's not going anywhere this year folks, and likely not anywhere next year either - he is committed to the Eagles.  Heck, he even put together his own press conference after the Eagle drafted Kolb.  His contract is until 2011, and it is high, and I wouldn't doubt that after 2008-2009 season there's more talk of trades if Donovan's performance this season and next doesn't get them to be division or super bowl champs.  But there again, speculation and "what ifs".

There's no doubt the Eagles really like what they see in Kevin Kolb.  At this point, he is the likely successor to Donovan - down the line.  There's also no doubt Donovan's been a fall guy, just look at the crap he had to take with prima dona "he who won't be called by his initials" Terrell Owen, and he didn't know too much about the Eagles drafting Kolb.  Definitely can add fuel to the Chicago trade rumors.

Donovan's staying put for now, and to worry about next season or the season after is a little silly at this juncture in time. Now only if we here at EaglesChick can convince Donovan to loose the beard, that'd give us something more worthy to talk about. ;)

Falcon's QB, Vick, Indicted for Dog Fighting

The starting quarterback of the Eagles' division rival Atlanta Falcons, Michael Vick, has been indicted on dog fighting charges by a federal grand jury.  The Atlanta Falcons quarterback and three others were charged with competitive dogfighting, procuring and training pit bulls for fighting and conducting the enterprise across state lines.

The indictment stemmed from an earlier drug raid on Vick's property.  Local authorities have been investigating the allegations since the April 25 drug raid.  On June 7, officials with the Department of Agriculture executed their own search warrant and found the remains of seven dogs.

Normally we don't focus too much on other teams and what goes on with their players here at EaglesChick, but dogs hold a soft place in all of our hearts.  It saddens us that a leader among the NFL players has been charged in this manner, but it's even sadder that the animals had to suffer.

For more information about this story, check out Fox Sports.

Eagles Fans Show Their Football Knowledge

Up for some football trivia and snark?  Cold Hard Football has a really great post today about Pennsylvanians and their love of their football teams and great gridiron knowledge.

They even mention they received a letter from Erick in Coal Township, PA (go Shamokin! *former North Schuylkill gal here*) pointing out a poll for the Eagles best all time Middle Linebacker, being conducted on the Eagles' "museum" site.  Although, this Eagles Chick would love to vote for Trotter, Bill Burgey just is the ultimate of all the middle linebackers.

There's some other great points about Pennsylvanians and their football love and why Cold Hard Football loves us so much:

• is a vital piece of the Gridiron Breadbasket.
• names sandwiches after its favorite football players.
• has produced more scrapple and more Pro Football Hall of Famers than any other state.
• claims not one but two legions of die-hard pro football fans.
• boasts, smack dab in the middle of the two pro rivals, often uniting them on autumn Saturdays, one of the world’s biggest sporting arenas – a place called Beaver Stadium (cap. 107,282).

Check it out and have a great chuckle! :)

Kelly Holcomb Trade Rumors - Could the Eagles & Vikings Do a Deal?

Philadelphia Eagles football fans all know the Eagles have a problem, ever since the 2007 draft.  Four quarterbacks is just one to many and makes even the most devoted football fan just stand and scratch there head. 

As much as Kelly Holcomb is a nice guy and was a great find prior to the draft, the draft is what left everyone asking "Do the Eagles really need 4 quarterbacks?"  Most sports experts have been predicting we'll see Holcomb being traded before his cleats even hit the turf of the Linc.

On top of that, the rumor vine has been having a lot of whispers in the last few days.  The ESPN Insider (subscription required) has floated "what they've heard": Vike's head coach, Brad Childress (you know that guy who use to be a coach for the Eagles), might have use for Holcomb's services. 

Childress is still on friendly terms with the Eagles coaching staff.  Heck, I think all of Philly still likes the guy, except on Viking/Eagle game days.  These types of discussions makes perfect sense to any football strategy watchers.  The word is that Childress might trade take Holcomb off the Eagles' hands for a late 6th or 7th round draft pick in 2008.

McNabb Reports In from Arizona

The thought on every Eagles fan these days, is "Just how is Donovan doing, for real?"  Well McNabb's been rehabbing and training in Arizona and Rob Alberino got the chance to ask a few questions about how Donovan's been doing. 

As to question on everyone's mind?  Donovan McNabb replies:

"I'm getting better. I think at this point it's hard to say because I'm pushing it to a point where it will prepare me for what we do in training camp. Obviously, you're trying to be smart with it still. At this point, again, you want to continue to strengthen. You want to take it slow, but in doing that you're working to prepare yourself for a good season."

It's a short interview, only 3 questions and answers, but it's interesting.  Apparently football isn't all that they guys talk about.

Of course this Eagles Chick is hoping that Dawkins is talking to McNabb about that beard.  At least in these Eagles training camp pictures it looks a little more trimmed! :)