YONG KIM / Staff Photographer
Eagles' Jason Peters (left) and DeSean McCoy block New England Patriots' Tully Banta-Cain in Thursday's preseason game. Peters' coach mentioned his "great athleticism."
Eagles Notes
Lineman Peters cites snap-count trouble
Other than the fact that he reinjured his quad and allowed a sack of quarterback Donovan McNabb, it was a fine Eagles debut for left tackle Jason Peters on Thursday night against the New England Patriots.
Peters, thanks to the breaking news that the Eagles had signed quarterback Michael Vick, didn't receive much attention after his first game.
"He had several good plays where you could see his athletic abilities," offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg said. "Our offensive line played well together as a unit. We've got to be right on it, so he's got a couple of corrections to make, but he certainly showed his great athleticism."
Asked about the sack, Mornhinweg said Peters struggled with the snap count on the play.
"We use a lot of snap counts," the offensive coordinator said. "That snap count, we've got to be able to use that as a weapon, and if you're not using it as a weapon, then it becomes a deterrent for yourself, and that's what happened."
Peters described his Eagles debut as "OK."
"I was late off the ball a couple of times, but that's fixable," he said. "It was the snap count. I was late off the ball. I just have to get used to the cadence. It's kind of different in practice than it is in the game. I'll get used to it."
Though Peters spent practice with trainer Rick Burkholder's band of rehabilitating players, he said he did not think his quad injury, which surfaced early in training camp and has lingered, would continue to be a problem.
Besides Peters, tight end Brent Celek, defensive end Trent Cole, and quarterback Kevin Kolb worked with Burkholder yesterday. Celek and Cole are recovering from sprained shoulders, and Kolb is rehabilitating a sprained knee ligament.
Running back Brian Westbrook practiced in a limited role for the second straight day, going through individual drills and the offensive installation portion of practice.
Cornerback Sheldon Brown, meanwhile, did not make it to the practice field yesterday after suffering a rib injury Saturday. X-rays of Brown's ribs were negative, and the cornerback said after practice that he was fine. Brown has never missed a preseason or a regular-season game because of an injury.
Now back to the game . . . Mornhinweg opened his weekly trip to the podium at the NovaCare Complex by giving his assessment of Thursday's preseason game.
Then he fielded 18 questions and, predictably, all but one was about Vick. He started to answer the 18th one about how much film he has watched on the Eagles' new quarterback, then switched gears in midthought.
"Let's get back to the game," he said, announcing that he thought running back Eldra Buckley played well.
It was an odd moment.
Extra points. Special-teams coordinator Ted Daisher didn't leave the impression that Vick would be part of his units, but he referred all those questions to coach Andy Reid. Daisher admitted, however, that he wouldn't mind having Vick. "I think I'm like any coach," he said. "Anybody that is that good of an athlete you can always find things for them to do, but again that's Andy's decision." . . . Daisher on the 75-yard punt return for a TD by New England's Julian Edelman: "As a group, we were out of position. We didn't get the ball going laterally, we didn't use the sideline to our advantage, and we've got to do a better job of getting guys in better position to make a play."
