IS GLAD SPRING TRAINING IS FINALLY HERE
Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg acknowledged a "quick discussion" on the sideline last Thursday with
quarterback Donovan McNabb, about the offense's problems trying to sustain rhythm with Michael Vick shuttling on and off the field once every series.
"I understand all that," Mornhinweg said. He said that going forward, the team's use of Vick is "not going to affect our rhythm."
Mornhinweg was asked about the fact that last year's Eagles offense started to click for the Thanksgiving game against Arizona, when Mornhinweg and Eagles coach Andy Reid pared down the personnel groupings and simplified the attack.
That happened, Mornhinweg said, because by that point in the season, it was apparent that "we were good at certain things ... You play to your strengths."
Mornhinweg indicated Vick is likely to play a lot in the final preseason game, this Thursday at the Jets. McNabb and the starters are not expected to play, though Mornhinweg seemed to hint that some starters who haven't gotten many preseason reps -- such as left tackle Jason Peters, right tackle Shawn Andrews and right guard Stacy Andrews -- might get on the field.
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Defensive coordinator Sean McDermott called his middle linebacking position "a work in progress." Joe Mays, rookie Moise Fokou and veteran Omar Gaither, who has been out with a knee injury, seem to be the components. McDermott acknowledged that overall, his young linebacking group has struggled with play action. "They're getting better at that," he said.
McDermott also acknowledged a continuing battle for the safety spot opposite Quintin Mikell, with Quintin Demps fighting Sean Jones and maybe even rookie Macho Harris, who clearly has caught the coaching staff's fancy.
McDermott wriggled out of a questioner's attempt to get him to concede disappointment that those roles have not been seized authoritatively this late in the preseason.
McDermott said he wouldn't say he was disappointed, he would prefer to say that "we've had youth at the positions."
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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