IS TAKING DOC TO SEE THE DOC
Almost seven months after having microfracture surgery on his right knee, Jon Runyan got the green light to play football again Monday.
``Now I just need to find a job,’’ the 35-year-old offensive tackle said.
Any chance he could end up re-signing with the Eagles?
``There’s a chance of everything,’’ Runyan said. ``So we’ll see. I’m not writin g anything off at this point.’’
Two weeks ago, coach Andy Reid didn’t completely close the door to bringing Runyan back.
``We have a pretty good idea where he’s at, and we’ll just see how things go,’’ Reid said on August 10. ``He’s working hard at getting back, and that’s what his primary focus should be, whether it’s here or somewhere else.’’
At the moment, ``somewhere else’’ has a pretty good lead on ``here.’’ A source in the Eagles organization told the Daily News on Tuesday that, while the team hasn’t completely ruled out the possibility of re-signing Runyan, right now it’s unlikely. Though that could change the next time Shawn Andrews opens his mouth.
Andrews was moved from right guard to right tackle to replace Runyan. But he’s been on the shelf since the first day of training camp when he reinjured his back during the team’s conditioning run.
Despite Andrews’ ``hell, yeah’’ declaration Monday that he’ll be back in time for the Eagles’ season-opener against Carolina, nobody’s betting the ranch on that happening.
Runyan said he doesn’t have any workouts scheduled yet with any teams, including the Eagles. But he has no doubt that he’ll be playing for somebody this season.
``It’ll definitely happen,’’ he said. ``Whether it’s next week when everybody’s juggling their rosters, or a few weeks after that, I’ll wait and see what happens.
``It’s just a matter of timing right now. You never know what’s going to happen from week to week. Somebody goes does down and all of a sudden, somebody else is in a bind. I’m not in a big hurry.
``It’s a matter of me being able to go out and do what I’ve done in the past. The biggest thing is now that I’m able to do it, people are going to have to bring me in so I can pass a physical and prove I can still play.’’
Runyan, who has started 192 straight regular-season games, said he has made a complete recovery from his February surgery.
``I can play,’’ he said. ``I’m not the smoothest in the world right now, but I can still get the job done. Dr. (James) Andrews was very conservative in letting everything heal, because originally, whe n I had (the surgery), he said 4 to 6 months, and it’s already been 7.
``We’re sure it’s healed. Now the biggest thing is just getting back. Getting over the mental aspect of throwing your leg into the ground. And that’s only going to happen when you prove to yourself that you can do it. You can only do so many drills and run so many sprints. Eventually, you have to get out there and hit somebody and say, `Wow, that didn’t hurt.’’’
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To read our earlier post about Mike Vick and his Eagles debut, plus a Brian Westbrook update, click here.
To read about the tight end and linebacker the Eagles signed today, click here.
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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