IS GETTING ITS DRAFT BOARD READY
Eagles coach Andy Reid said Tuesday he hadn't decided on the playing time breakdown for the various units in Thursday's preseason finale, but Reid seemed to indicate he wanted to get more reps for his starters. However, the starters played a limited role in practice Tuesday, and other sources said this preseason finale will be like all the others for the past several years -- a last fling for roster hopefuls battling to survive, in which no starters' health will be risked.
During his news conference Tuesday, after he was noncomittal about playing the starters, Reid was asked why he might be considering it.
“It seems like a long period of time (before the Sept. 7 regular season opener). I wanted to get those guys into the third quarter in this last game and ended up pulling them out at halftime," Reid said.." It’s just something to evaluate, the number of plays they have had.”
Apparently, the key word there was "evaluate." Indications are that despite what Reid said, the evaluating has already taken place, and Reid has decided 9 days isn't too long a break, after all, when weighed against the possibility of injury. So don't look for any starters Thursday. Do expect to see a lot of Shaheer McBride and Marcus Paschal.
Defensive end Chris Clemons, a key offseason free-agent signing who hasn't been healthy enough to make much of an impression in a crowded field, will not get the chance defensive coordinator Jim Johnson said this week that Clemons needed to seize to ensure his spot. Though Clemons participated in individual drills Monday, he has not been able to fully practice with a calf strain suffered more than two weeks ago, and will not play against the Jets, Reid said.
Jets coach Eric Mangini, meanwhile, said Tuesday that he is "not leaning toward" playing Favre on Thursday.
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.
