Interpreting the Eagles' Message to Andrews

There are a couple of ways to interpret the Eagles' quiet little depth chart shuffle that the Post Patterns crew posted on Sunday.

Figuring out how Shawn Andrews will interpret it is another matter, of course. He has been working through personal issues and physical issues and it's been a confusing time for a kid who has always seemed to look at the world a little differently.

Shawn is now listed as the right tackle and brother Stacy is the right guard on the depth chart for the Eagles. Up until this point, the positions were always reversed, but Andy Reid is telling us, and the players, the new order is how he wants things to work.

Which interpretation would you choose for the move?

Interpretation 1: Shawn, we have confidence in you. Tackle is where you should be playing and you will dominate there. We think you are a great football player and this was our plan all along when either Tra Thomas or Jon Runyan lost one of the tackle posistions. We are not worried even a little bit that the added pressure will bother you, because we believe you have your Mohawk on straight and are committed to the task of playing football.

Interpretation 2: Shawn, we can't mess around much longer finding out if you are interested in playing football. We babied you along for a good while last season -- couldn't seem to get you out of California for a very long time -- and that approach didn't seem to work. So, it's going to have to be tough love. There will be no safety blanket, no going back to the more comfortable guard position. Either you make this football team as a tackle or both of us will move on to something else. Sorry, but that's how it has to be.

It doesn't actually matter what the Eagles intended. It matters how Shawn Andrews takes the news. He's got two ways to go there, too, and it might be that the front office just needs to know which it will be.