IS GLAD SPRING TRAINING IS FINALLY HERE
Asked what Brent Celek had to do to rank among the NFC's top tight ends, Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg said he thnks Celek is already there. Mornhinweg said Celek began to elevate his play last season, with more tangible results this season. Celek leads the Eagles with 26 receptions, for 303 yards and 2 touchdowns. That figure ranks fourth among NFL tight ends -- more impressive when you factor in the Birds' early bye week.
Mornhinweg called Celek, a fifth-round draftee in 2007, "an excellent all-around tight end."
It might look like Celek is courting injury, the way he strains for extra yards -- last week he spectacularly hurdled a Tampa defensive back who tried to come in low -- but Mornhinweg said he isn't concerned.
"If you can jump over them, jump over them," Mornhinweg said.
Other highlights from Thursday's news conferences:
*When asked if Kevin Curtis will still be a starter when his knee is 100 percent, Mornhinweg said: "We'll come to that when it gets here."
*Defensive coordinator Sean McDermott discussed the way he seems to find a role for every player he has active each Sunday. "We're going to keep pushing the envelope, to take advantage of our personnel," he said. He added that having a role other than "backup" helps players "take ownership," to pay more attention during the week.
*Left guard Todd Herremans said he still hopes to play next week against Washington, pending a bone scan early in the week to make sure his repaired left foot is still OK.
"Hopefully, get in the swing next Thursday, or whenever we start practicing" for the Monday night game against the Redskins, Herremans said.
"When it first happened, I didn't think it was anything like this," said Herremans, who injured his foot in one of the Birds' final workouts at Lehigh, more than two months ago now.
***
Finally, this nugget from a Q and A with Vikings coach Brad Childress, the Eagles' former offensive coordinator, from the Baltimore Ravens' Web site. Childress and he Vikes host his fellow former Eagles assistant John Harbaugh, and the Ravens this week.
Childress was asked what sort of reception former Vikings center Matt Birk could expect upon his return in a different purple uni.
“I don’t know," Childress said. "I don’t think they introduce visiting players on road games. Certainly not like if he would have left Philadelphia, where he might have gotten something thrown at him. I don’t think there will be any foreign objects or anything. I think Matt’s a native of here, and they have a great appreciation and respect for him here in Minnesota. We’re not quite as mean-spirited.”
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.
E-mail Les at bowenl@phillynews.com
and follow
him on Twitter.
Paul
Domowitch has been with the Daily News since 1982.
He has spent most of his nearly 3 decades with 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 started his career in Texas,
working first for the Midland Reporter-Telegram (1976-78), and then for
the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, where he covered some god-awful Texas
Ranger baseball teams. His first beat at the Daily News actually was
boxing, which he covered just long enough to lose 2 sports coats to
blood spatter before moving on to football. Domo and his wife Shelley,
a University of Oklahoma grad who still hasn’t gotten over
that Fiesta Bowl loss to Boise State 5 years ago, have 2 terrific
daughters -- Allison, 28, who is an attorney in South Jersey, and Amy,
25, who works in administration for a professional baseball team.
E-mail Domo at PDomo@aol.com and follow
him on Twitter.
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