CAN HEAR CLEARWATER CALLING
Eagles defensive coordinator Sean McDermott said linebacker Omar Gaither remains a big part of the defense regardless of the signing of Jeremiah Trotter.
"His impact on this team will not change," McDermott said of Gaither.
That seems to indicate that McDermott might take it slow with Trot this week. "It's one step at a time with Jeremiah," he said. Trotter said that all indications are he will play a strong role on first and second down, especially with the Bucs being so run-oriented.
Linebacker Tracy White also will see some time in the nickel, the Eagles trying to do better against tight ends. White called Kellen Winslow Jr. "a big, fast tight end" who will require special attention.
On offense, coordinator Marty Mornhinweg said a big offensive focus will be to "know where Ronde Barber is." Barber ran two Donovan McNabb picks back for touchdowns in the last meeting, 3 years ago, and of course, ran one all the way back in the NFC Championship Game that closed Veterans Stadium in 2003.
Mornhinweg reiterated what Andy Reid has said about accomodating both Brian Westbrook and LeSean McCoy into the gameplan.
More to come ...
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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