Eagles Notes: Despite injury, Eagles' Peters expects to play

Even though he didn't practice for the second straight day with a sprained right ankle, Jason Peters insisted yesterday that he would be ready to play against the Chargers on Sunday.

It's hard to doubt the Eagles left tackle.

Last month, he suffered an identical ankle injury at Oakland only to return the following week. And last week against Dallas after Cowboys nose tackle Jay Ratliff rolled on his leg, Peters took what amounted to only a quarter off before reentering the game.

"It's football, injuries," Peters said. "It's just something you have to deal with when you're playing football."

If Peters can't recover in time, the Eagles will likely enlist the same group they used when he left the Dallas game in the first quarter. Left guard Todd Herremans will shift to left tackle, Nick Cole will hop over from right guard and take Herremans' spot, and Stacy Andrews will take Cole's place. Max Jean-Gilles, who has missed the last three games with a shoulder injury, could also be in the mix at guard.

The Eagles, however, are optimistic that Peters will rebound.

"I may be speaking too soon, but I would expect him to do everything that he can do to get to the game, and I know that he'll do that," offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg said.

If Peters can't play it would be just the latest setback for a unit that has been decimated by injuries. Not even a blind loyalist would say it hasn't affected the team as a whole. Last season, the Eagles allowed just 23 sacks. Through eight games this season, they've surrendered 21.

"We can make up a lot of things here, point to a lot of reasons, but it doesn't matter," Mornhinweg said. "It's encompassing. I would not point to one spot."

Has Brent Celek topped even Terrell Owens in touchdown celebrations?

Apparently so.

After Celek caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Donovan McNabb in the Eagles' loss to Dallas last week, the tight end celebrated by posing like Captain Morgan.

Yes, that Captain Morgan - the maker of spiced rum.

According to Yahoo! Sports, Celek was the first in an advertising campaign that recruited players to pose for cameras as if they were the captain – one leg up with a hand on the knee. The NFL doesn't like pirate ad ploys and has banned the "Captain Morgan."

"A company can't pay a player to somehow promote its product on the field," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told Yahoo! Sports. "Every league has the same rule. . . . It's come up before, companies trying to use our games and then players for ambush marketing purposes."

Celek won't be fined. He had no comment yesterday.

Wide receiver DeSean Jackson left DeBartolo Sports Inc. last week and signed a deal with agent Drew Rosenhaus on Tuesday, waiting the five days as required by the NFL Players Association.

"My previous agents, if they're not doing anything they need to do, everybody wants to think of it in a negative way, 'I want to get paid,' " Jackson told reporters yesterday. "That's all good, but at the end of the day if I'm not being treated the way I needed to be from my other agents, then there's no point in me still being there."

Rosenhaus represents Owens, who helped the Eagles reach the Super Bowl but also had a tumultuous stay with the team.

Brian Westbrook (ankle) returned to practice yesterday, even though it was held indoors. The team normally keeps the running back off its indoor artificial turf. . . . Safety Quintin Demps (ankle) did not practice. Special teams coordinator Ted Daisher said that Demps would return kicks now that Ellis Hobbs is out for the season. If Demps can't go, Jeremy Maclin will field kickoffs.