IS ON THE TRADE RUMOR TRAIL
Eagles defensive end Chris Clemons returned to practice Thursday morning, two days after having to be hospitalized because of heat-related problems. But even with free-agent signee Clemons back, the Birds were missing six d-linemen -- Victor Abiamiri (wrist) and Bryan Smith (hamstring) are hurt, and Montae Reagor, Juqua Parker, Darren Howard, and Kimo von Oelhoffen were due to take the morning off as part of Reid's 30-plus club, which this year gets a morning workout respite after two days in a row of two-a-days (Von Oelhoffen also has right knee inflammation, so he was doubly unavailable.).
"It allowed those defensive ends that were here to work their way through the practice and play fast," Reid said. "All in all, it was a good practice, lot of good teaching. We were able to install the red zone today, got some great work on that during the 7-on-7 period."
The "30-plus" situation wouldn't have such an impact if the NFL hadn't ended the six NFL Europe roster exemptions, which in recent years have allowed the Birds to carry 86 men on their 80-man roster in the preseason.
"Normally, we're stockpiled on the defensive line," Reid said."If you have to make a little adjustment like we did this morning, no big deal, we've still got a lot of time."
Abiamiri, who underwent wrist surgery Tuesday, won't know until the end of camp whether he is close enough to returning to stay on the active roster, or will go on IR and lose the year. He walked past reporters briskly yesterday, wearing a removable cast on his right arm. "Feeling good, feeling good," Abiamiri said, when asked how he was doing
And, by the way, agent Rich Moran said there was nothing new to report about Shawn Andrews' absence from camp.
Crunch Time
Crunch time might be a misnomer, given that the players were in "shells" and there was no hitting Thursday morning. But we have some passing drill highlights for you:
*The previous morning Donovan McNabb took off, Kevin Kolb looked really sharp, but that was less true Thursday. In red zone drills, Kolb seemed to be overthrowing receivers, notably missing an open Brent Celek in the back of the end zone and heaving one way past Hank Baskett at the sideline.
*Kolb had a nice, crisp hookup with DeSean Jackson on a comeback route.
*Lorenzo Booker reached down and behind him to pluck a wayward A.J. Feeley screen, gaining the crowd's appreciation.
*Earlier, Booker dazzled rookie safety Quintin Demps after making a catch, but Demps had a pick and a "sack" in the same sequence. Reid noted that Demps has shown the same nose for the ball that led the Eagles to draft him.
.*Lito Sheppard dropped an easy interception.
*Kolb found Baskett at the back of the end zone, but corner Joselio Hanson broke up the catch.
Les Bowen has covered the Eagles for the Daily News since 2002. Before that, he spent nearly 13 years covering the Flyers. It took Les only a few seasons after the switch to figure out that there was no penalty box at the Linc, and that the time really wasn't his, despite what Andy Reid kept saying. Les came to Philadelphia and the Daily News from Charlotte in 1983. In the intervening years, he has pretty much lost track of NASCAR, and his accent. He, his wife Barbara, and their two sons live in Haddon Township, New Jersey.
Paul Domowitch has been with the Daily News since 1982. He has spent most of his 27 years at the paper covering the Eagles and pro football. For the last 10 years, he’s been a selector for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. A native of Wilkes-Barre and a graduate of Wilkes University, Domo came to the Daily News from the Fort Worth (Tx.) Star-Telegram, where he covered some god-awful Texas Ranger baseball teams. His first beat at the Daily News actually wa s boxing, which he covered just long enough to lose two sports coats to blood spatter before moving on to football. Domo and his wife Shelley, a University of Oklahoma grad and very dangerous to be around following a Sooner loss, have been married 29 years and have raised 2 terrific daughters – Allison, 26, a lawyer and graduate of Boston University School of Law; and Amy, 23, who graduated from Clemson and works in marketing and sales for a professional baseball team.
