IS GLAD SPRING TRAINING IS FINALLY HERE
It has been an eventful two weeks at Lehigh for the Eagles as they take the day away from the practice field to honor defensive coordinator Jim Johnson with a memorial service at Lincoln Financial Field.
Evey day has seemingly brought another issue for the team to deal with, to Sean McDermott's promotion the day before camp began, to Johnson's unfortunate passing, to Jeremy Maclin's holdout, to three players getting injured in the fitness run, to Stewart Bradley's season-ending knee injury, to Juqua Parker's arrest.
We thought this morning would be a good day to take stock of what concerns you the most, among the issues. Yes, we know it's early. Yes, the regular season opener is still more than a month away. Yes, the Eagles have yet to play a preseason game, with the opener next Thursday night against the Patriots. Yes, a lot can and surely wil happen between now and when it counts for real. Still, there is always something to talk about with the Eagles.
You can vote in the poll to the right and leave your comments below.
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Here are some injury updates from yesterday at Lehigh:
Cornerback Ellis Hobbs (stinger) returned to practice, as did tight end Cornelius Ingram (knee swelling) . . . Right guard Stacy Andrews took a "maintenance day" for his surgically repaired knee . . . For the second day in a row, right tackle Shawn Andrews (back) was seen briskly walking on a treadmill . . . Also sidelined are defensive end Victor Abiamiri (chest), left tackle Jason Peters (quadriceps), running back Brian Westbrook (ankle), tight end Matt Schobel (calf) .
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Meanwhile, up in Albany, the Giants practice in pads for the first time. And that meant a return to hitting for defensive end Osi Umenyiora, who missed all of last season with a knee injury. He conceded the knee gets stiff sometimes, but said he is doing well.
“It felt good,” Umenyiora said. “I felt like myself, which is more important than anything. But I felt good. I felt like I did okay.
“It was a lot of fun. I haven’t experienced that in close to a year. It felt good. I didn’t feel rusty. I’ve been playing for so long, it’s cliché – it’s like riding a bike. I got right back on.”
Aside from the day to day repetitions, Umenyiora’s next big test will come in the preseason opener on Aug. 17 vs. Carolina.
“Real life,” he called playing in a game. “These aren’t real bullets yet, these are BB guns.”
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Also, remember to check back at 1 p.m. today for a chat with Les Bowen.
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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