Eagles Jeremiah Trotter tackles Colts' Dominic Rhodes in a game vs. Indianapolis at the RCA Dome on November 26,2006. (Ron Cortes/Inquirer)
- Trotter says return to Eagles is dream come true
- Paul Domowitch: Eagles need to stop run, but is aging Trotter the answer?
- Low turnout for Vick speech in D.C.
- T.O. says media is provoking him again
- Eagles, Phillies team up to fight breast cancer
- Eagletarian
- Jeremiah Trotter returns to Eagles
- Trotter says return to Eagles is dream come true
- T.O. says media is provoking him again
- Fan says anti-Vick shirt was barred
- Group feeds the hungry with leftovers from Citizens Bank Park, Lincoln Financial Field
- Eagles, Phillies team up to fight breast cancer
- Low turnout for Vick speech in D.C.
- Paul Domowitch: Eagles need to stop run, but is aging Trotter the answer?
- John Gonzalez: Don't call the fun police on DeSean Jackson
- Ashley Fox: Trotter's return to Eagles feels right
- Eagletarian: The Daily News' Eagles blog
- Birds' Eye View: The Inquirer's Eagles blog
- Moving the Chains: Philly.com's NFL blog
RELATED STORIES
Paul Domowitch: Eagles need to stop run, but is aging Trotter the answer?
JIM JOHNSON loved Jeremiah Trotter. Loved the unique blend of athleticism and physicality he brought to the middle linebacker position. Loved his fearless downhill style, even if he occasionally went down the wrong hill. Loved his Ax Man work ethic. Loved the intensity and passion he brought to the game.
Trotter was the kind of player Johnson wished he could have coached forever. But the Eagles' late defensive coordinator saw 2 years ago that forever was knocking on the door.
"Trot can't play too many plays anymore," he said outside the visitors' locker room at the Louisiana Superdome following the Eagles' 27-24 playoff loss to the Saints. "He's getting up there in age and you've gotta watch that.
"He's a great person. He plays hard and he's a competitor. But ...
His degenerative knees had robbed him of his quickness, mobility and explosion. He had become a liability in coverage and his range as a run defender was limited. He was 30 going on 50.
The Saints gashed Johnson's defense for 435 yards that day, including 208 on the ground. They were the eighth team in the last 11 games that season to rush for 140-plus yards against the Eagles. Trotter certainly wasn't the only reason for that, but having a middle linebacker whose bad wheels chained him to the "A" gap didn't help.
The Eagles released him the following summer, convinced he was near the end. But in a strange twist, they brought him back for an encore yesterday, signing him to a 1-year, veteran-minimum deal.
Trotter's return to the Eagles raises a couple of fairly significant questions: 1) Why did they feel compelled to bring him back? And 2) Can a guy who was running on empty at age 30 be any more productive at 32?
The obvious answer to the first question is that the Eagles aren't particularly happy with their middle linebacker situation. After Stewart Bradley tore his right anterior cruciate ligament in training camp, the tentative plan was to split the MIKE job between second-year man Joe Mays and Omar Gaither. The 5-11, 246-pound Mays essentially would play on first and second down, and Gaither would replace him in the Eagles' two-linebacker nickel package.
But the Eagles soured on Mays in the preseason and made Gaither their every-down middle linebacker. Gaither is a smart, fundamentally sound player who almost always is where he's supposed to be. But he weighs only a shade over 230 pounds and isn't a physical, downhill run stopper like Bradley or Trotter.
Still, the Eagles have done a pretty good job against the run in their first three games. They are ninth in the league in yards allowed per carry (3.6) and 15th in rushing yards allowed per game (106.0).
But alarms went off in Week 2 when they gave up 4.6 yards per carry to the Saints in an ugly, 48-22 loss. The Saints had four runs of 15 yards or more in the game. In the Eagles' first three games, 17 of 88 opponent rushing attempts have produced 7 or more yards.
Head coach Andy Reid and defensive coordinator Sean McDermott undoubtedly are concerned about the six NFC East games that lie ahead, beginning with a Monday night visit to Washington on Oct. 26.
Last year, despite finishing fourth in the league against the run, the Eagles struggled against the ground games in their division. They gave up 120-plus rushing yards only six times in 19 games, but four of those six were against NFC East teams (see chart below).
Through the first 3 weeks of the season, the 2-1 Cowboys are first in the league in rushing, averaging 193.7 yards per game and an eye-popping 6.8 yards per carry. The 3-0 Giants are eighth (142.0, 4.0). The 0-3 Redskins are 24th, but Clinton Portis has averaged 105 rushing yards per game against the Eagles the last 2 years.
So that's the answer to the why question. But while I can understand why Reid and McDermott might feel a need to bolster their run defense, I'm not sure I see how signing a guy whose gas gauge was clearly on empty 2 years ago accomplishes that.
Modern medicine has enabled athletes to make almost-as-good-as-new recoveries from a plethora of serious injuries. But degenerative knees aren't one of them.
Trotter had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee last year that he says has restored much of the mobility he lacked in '06. The Eagles, who worked him out twice and gave him a thorough physical before signing him, apparently agree.
"He has worked very hard to keep himself in shape, and we are pleased with where he is physically," Reid said in a statement. "We are excited to give him an opportunity to contribute to our football team."
Listen, I love a good comeback story as much as the next guy, especially when it involves a likable guy such as Trotter. But I have a hard time believing that one cleanout surgery and a year away from the game have erased the damage done to his knees by two torn ACLs and nine brutal seasons of NFL combat.
