Kolb, Cole join wounded Eagles
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - You know it has been a difficult training camp when it's good news that your backup quarterback only has a sprained medial collateral ligament.
Given the Eagles' recent injury misfortunes - including season-ending torn knee ligaments for starting middle linebacker Stewart Bradley and rookie tight end Cornelius Ingram - the MRI of Kevin Kolb's left knee yesterday could have revealed something a lot worse.
Kolb's was not the only injury du jour at Camp Wounded Limb. Defensive end Trent Cole left practice at Lehigh University with a sprained left shoulder.
Both players were listed as day-to-day by the team after the afternoon special-teams practice in the scorching heat. The Eagles said neither Kolb nor Cole would play in the Eagles' preseason opener Thursday night against the New England Patriots.
Cole, a Pro Bowl player after the 2007 season, seemed unconcerned about his injury. It was not clear how he was hurt.
"I'm all right," the Eagles' top defensive end said. "It's just a bruise."
The injury to Kolb forced the Eagles to shuffle the roster. Undrafted rookie receiver Brandon Robinson was released and the team signed Matt Nagy, a former University of Delaware quarterback who was already in training camp as a coaching intern.
Kolb suffered his injury during a controlled team-hitting drill with the second-team offense going against the second-team defense. Defensive end Bryan Smith pushed King Dunlap into Kolb, and the quarterback got tangled up with his offensive tackle.
"I felt I stepped on his foot," Dunlap said. "I got bull-rushed and got knocked back a little bit and . . . I felt like I hopped back and landed on his foot. He went down, but I don't know what happened. I knew he left practice. I had my metal cleats on today because it was a little wet. I hope he's all right."
Exactly how soon Kolb will return depends on the severity of the sprain. Minnesota quarterback Tarvaris Jackson suffered a minor sprain to his MCL in camp earlier this month and returned in three days.
The 24-year-old Kolb said after the morning practice that he thought he'd be OK.
"I just got stepped on by one of my linemen," he said. "I'm OK. It's no big deal."
When Kolb left practice, he had a sleeve on his left leg, and he said he was going to be examined by team physician Peter DeLuca.
Quarterback Donovan McNabb said the Eagles' growing list of injuries since the start of training camp is nothing to worry about.
"That's the game of football," McNabb said. "Obviously, you don't want to see any of your guys go down, but it's the game of football, and I think we have a good training staff that will take care of any of those things that may happen. You just hope everything is all right, and you get back out there and get ready to go."
With Kolb sidelined at least for the preseason opener, No. 3 quarterback A.J. Feeley figures to get the majority of playing time against New England. McNabb typically plays between one series and one quarter in the Eagles' first preseason game.
Nagy, 31, ends up benefiting the most from Kolb's injury. The former star at Delaware, who has an extensive resume in the now-defunct Arena Football League, had been noticeable in training camp only because he was the quarterback throwing the football to Brian Westbrook during the running back's rehabilitation workouts with trainer Rick Burkholder.
A native of Manheim, Pa., Nagy set 20 passing records during his college career at Delaware, including most completions, attempts, yards and touchdowns. This is the second straight year that Nagy has been in camp as an intern coach.
Contact staff writer Bob Brookover at 215-854-2577 or bbrookover@phillynews.com.
Staff writer Jeff McLane contributed to this article.
