Eagles to face Redskins' new playcaller

THIS IS a problem you don't confront every week, the opposing team taking play-calling duties away from its head coach, who has an offensive background, and giving the job to a guy recently hired from the outside.

"It presents a different challenge, and an added dimension," Eagles defensive coordinator Sean McDermott said, when asked about the Redskins turning control of their offense over to Sherman Lewis, a former coordinator for several teams who has been out of the league since the 2004 season. "There's not a lot of film available for what coach Lewis has done, going back to '04 with Detroit and then also '01 as a coordinator [for Minnesota]."

Of course, Lewis, hired earlier this month and given the playcalling responsibilities this week, can't really put in a new offense for Monday night's home game against the Eagles, so watching old tapes of offenses he installed is of limited value. Lewis might be able to emphasize different parts of the Redskins' attack than head coach Jim Zorn did, but mostly you'd think he'll have to choose from the same plays.

"The magnification of what he can do will only be seen when we get to game time," McDermott said. He said he had spoken with coach Andy Reid and offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg, who have coached with Lewis.

"If they run something new, we're just going to have to adjust during the game," defensive end Juqua Parker said. "They're still the same team, no matter what. We've got to go out and stop the run."

Indeed, last season the Birds managed to lose to Washington twice, 23-17 at home and 10-3 at the Redskins, with Clinton Portis running 29 times for 145 yards in the first meeting. The second meeting, the Eagles held Portis to 70 yards on 22 carries, but he scored the game's only touchdown.

Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell seems to beat only the Eagles; he is 3-2 in five starts against them since 2006, 3-1 the past two seasons. Washington's overall record since 2006 is 24-30.

"It's not all Jason Campbell. They have a really good running game, a back that gets 4 or 5 yards after contact, almost every time he touches the ball. I think that has a lot to do with it," defensive end/tackle Darren Howard said.

Howard agreed that it is impossible to predict Lewis' exact playcalling emphasis.

"We'll just see. We've just got to play it by ear," he said. "We've got our staples on defense, we've got our blitzes, our pressure package. After the first 15 plays that they have scripted, we'll kind of know what he wants to do . . . You can't go crazy and put in all kinds of different stuff in 3 days, it's not going to work."

McDermott's defense faces a different sort of unknown with Will Witherspoon scheduled to start at middle linebacker less than a week after joining the team in a trade from St. Louis.

"It's a huge challenge, it is. I don't know if it's ever been done before, for a player of his caliber, in terms of a middle linebacker position to come in and quarterback the defense within a week, and playing all three downs like we expect him to do," McDermott said. "It all starts with his attitude and his work ethic, and from what I've seen over the course of the last couple of days, there is nobody that works harder."

Someone who noticed the "three downs" reference asked if that meant a reduced role for Jeremiah Trotter. McDermott said it didn't, but it's hard to see how Trotter's snaps wouldn't be affected, unless the NFL enacts a major rule change over the weekend.

One defender is scheduled for a greater role - defensive end Jason Babin is scheduled to be active for only the second time this season, with Victor Abiamiri sidelined by a knee sprain. Babin will work in relief of Parker, who tends to wear down, especially against physical opponents.

"Since I decided to change positions [from 3-4 linebacker to defensive end], I've been fighting for this opportunity for 3 years," said Babin, who played very little in his only other activation of the season, the loss to the Saints. "It'll be a good showing, I think, Monday."

Sean McDermott was asked about his $57 million corner, Asante Samuel, missing so many tackles. Specifically, McDermott was asked if this is the price you pay for employing a playmaker, who is more attuned to intercepting passes.

"He's there to tackle, and if you are on the field, you are expected to tackle," McDermott said. "We are going to have 11 guys on the field that can tackle."

Samuel didn't want to speak with reporters yesterday, but he did assent to give a brief statement on his role: "Everybody saw my tape before they signed me; they knew what I was capable of," he said.

You could certainly interpret those words as being dismissive of McDermott's concerns, but Samuel cut off a questioner's attempt to give him a chance to clarify, announcing that was all he had to say. Then Samuel bragged to another player, "That's how you handle the media."

With Todd Herremans set to return to his starting role at left guard, Nick Cole will switch to the right side this week, Cole confirmed after yesterday's practice.

"I just have to change my sets up a little bit. It's cool," Cole said.

Cole started the first five games of the season for Herremans, who had foot surgery Aug. 28. Lately, Max Jean-Gilles has been starting on the right side, with free-agent signee Stacy Andrews apparently not completely recovered from offseason ACL surgery. Jean-Gilles had a fairly miserable day last Sunday at Oakland, when the Birds gave up six sacks.

Cole started at right guard last season for the final five regular-season games and all three postseason contests.

Offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg said Herremans feels he can play the whole game, but Mornhinweg cautioned that the Birds have "some pretty good nicks," elsewhere along the line. Left tackle Jason Peters is practicing with knee and ankle sprains suffered last week.

"There are several things that could happen there," if Peters is limited, Mornhinweg said, including Herremans sliding over to tackle. *

For more Eagles coverage and opinion, read the Daily News' Eagles blog, Eagletarian, at www.eagletarian.com.