DAWK TALK
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Eagles
DAWK TALK
Bob Brookover
It was a speech that any presidential candidate could have been proud of.
Asked repeatedly about the Eagles' pass coverage in general and his own pass coverage in particular during the Eagles' 41-37 loss to the Dallas Cowboys Monday night, veteran safety Brian Dawkins defended himself extremely well.
"Playing defendsive back, it comes with the territory," Dawkins said. "This is not the first time I've given up a couple of plays and it won't be the last time. It just comes with it. The thing about being in the secondary is you have a short memory. You line up and you play again and that's what I do."
Dawkins said he doesn't expect to be cut slack because he has a resume that includes six Pro Bowls, countless big plays and a lot of big victories.
"No, man, this is Philadelphia," he said. "Do you know where we are? This is Philadelphia. There aren't too many people who are going to be cut slack and I understand that. I'm not going to make a big deal of it because I know those same fans that are questioning what I'm doing will be the same fans who will be hip, hip, hooraying when I grab a pick and take it to the house."
The veteran safety said he doesn't think he's any more limited just a few weeks removed from his 35th birthday (it's Oct. 13) than he was at 22. In fact, he believes he is better.
"I can get to where I need to be in enough time to make the plays I need to make without cheating too deep or putting my teammates in an awkward position," Dawkins said.
And now for the big conclusion, which was prompted by another question about his age.
"I guess this is the age question today," Dawkins said. "I play the game the way I play the game. How I looked at film when I was 22 ... was I hope they don't play-action fake and throw deep because I'm probably going to bite on the fake. That's how I looked at film and how I played the game.
"Now, I recognize formations and I know where I need to be. A lot of times I know where I need to be, but sometimes I make mistakes. I'm not thinking about when I was this age how I ... Kill that! I am 34 years old ... proud of it. Thank you Jesus for allowing me to get to 34 playing in the NFL. I'm going to continue to play this game at a high level for as long as I can. I'm going to protect my body and make sure I'm out there on the field for my guys. I'm going to play ball.
"I'm going to play ball at 34. I'm going to play ball at 35 and whatever else comes out after that, I'm going to play ball. So if I give up a deep ball and you want to say I'm slow, go ahead. Guess what, the next time I'm going to try to make the same play again at 34 or 35 years old. Thank you very much."
And with that, the veteran safety stood up from behind the microphone and made his exit.
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Dawk is in denial.— prez_beck- Comment removed.
- He's going to hurt somebody next Sunday.— Bake McBride
- jesus loves the NFL— jb99
- I find it amazing how we give Dawkins so much slack, but tear down McNabb as soon as he does something wrong. I love Dawkins too, but if you took him away and replaced him with Quenti Mikell, this team could still win 10 games. You absolutely cannot say the same if you took away McNabb and replaced him with Kolb.— TheRock2020
- Dude deserves the benefit of the doubt. Given a lot to the Eagles. Even if he's not at the same level of previous years, still better than most in the league. Plus gotta put some blame on Johnson for the TO-BDawk match-up.— DCExpat
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- I love Dawkins too...and Trotter before that. Age is the one thing these great players cannot outrun. I wouldn't go so far as to say that Dawk is done, but he has most definitely lost a step. Time to acknowledge that fact.— Nicher
- just cut him..— osi is hurt boohoo
- Dawk should have that attitude, and it was one bad game. Now if he has more games like that one and then comes out and says these same things, then we have a problem. But he's a very sensible, proud individual so it's great to hear him react this way instead of pouting (or hiding) like many other professional athletes do. Hope he comes up w/ a big game on Sunday because it's going to be very tough.— Realistic One
- Critics of Dawk are right...Let's line up Considine and Mikell out there and see how things go (please note heavy sarcasm)...Mikell is a solid football player, but Considine frightens me. Dawk may have lost a step, but he's still light years better than the other options we have. Also, Rock, great point...this town never did realize what it had in #5...— jkm5454
- Yo DOH: Donovan 65.7% passing, 642 yds, 4 TD. Garcia 58.5%, 221 yds, 1 TD. Whatcha smokin' dope?!!— WmsCrew
- I think he knows a little more about what's going on than any fan. If he says he can read plays and get into the right position and not require teamates to compensate for him, he knows better than you or I. One of the things that Philadelphia loves about Dawkins is his straight talk. That's not the type of player who would be in denial. Of course you cut Dawkins slack. He's earned it. One big play after another. Hard worker. Takes responsibility. Leader. Pro Bowls. Yeah, you cut him slack because he's come through at key moments again and again. He's the rock.— MikeP
- BDawk is the man and just like McNabb- if we ever lost him, people would only then understand what we lost. He is the heart of the defense, he is the leader, he is the captain- and I friggin hope we get to have him for many more years to come! Again- my fellow Philly fans, whining and acting all entitled... What do we have this entitlement from? Our suffering for not winning a championship? Because we are the underdogs and we are doing the best we can? "WE" aren't doing anything- the team is. THEY work out and practice all the time. THEY have to deal with the media and ungrateful fans. Sure, they get paid more than many of us could ever hope to make... but then again considering what they have to put up with and what happens to their bodies... we worth the money. Maybe WE need to focus on making our city a town worth a championship by getting rid of the crime and gangs and filthy urban blight. Maybe WE need to stop ruining places like Lancaster and Bucks County and S. Jersey with overdevelopment. Maybe WE need to work just as hard as they do so when there is an Eagles Super Bowl parade down Broad Street- no one will get shot and the TV cameras don't have to turn away from burned out old crack houses... God bless BDawk and McNabb and Andy Reid for putting up with you pack of rabid mangy obese dogs who complain, complain, complain. I love Philadelphia- but these blogs are proof we have the worst sports fans in the country. E-A-G-L-E-S... EAGLES. See you in Tampa, if all goes well.— ArcaneAlchemy
- I think is regression has been going on at least 2 years now...Its almost impossible to be as fast as you were at "22" at 35 years of age.. I think we should see Brian in situations(primarily run) where he isn't asked to chase someone ten years younger. He has earned that right. Given that.. Lets see more of Quentin Demps/JR Reid on the field.. You can't teach speed!— raindarr
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- Yeah, he's gettin' up there (who ain't), but he's a warrior and has earned the right to go out and prove everyone wrong over the next few weeks....as Bake said, he's gonna hurt somebody Sunday— phillydenbo
- The TO play included a pretty good fake to Barber on the draw...I think the Eagles secondary bit on the fake. No biggie! I don't even understand why we would even consider or even comment about Dawkins. He's earned the right to play as a starter until he decides he wants to retire as far as I'm concerned. Same with McNabb. Start cheering for crying out loud...this is a good team capable of winning it all.— nervegenerator
- When Romo has all day to pass, its a mute point. Whitten is a good TE. Much better then say someone by the name of Smith. As for McNabb, he is good until its crunch time. Thats when he gets that gagging feeling in his throat. I know the Eagles dont't have the greatest of receivers, but I find it hard to believe they are never open. I just think McNabb is afraid of throwing picks and prefers the sack.— GANick
- Jesus is the reason for the (football) season. Amen.— Big Game
- BDawk isn't done yet, but I agree, we need to see how he comes back in the game against the Steelers. If he doesn't show any improvement, then I think they should consider moving him to the strong side and let Mikell play free safety. I have absolutely no confidence in Considine and STILL don't understand how he is on this team. Demps is unproven and since he didn't show much in preseason, I wouldn't even go there yet. TBD...— nupekase
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- MOVE DAWKINS TO STRONG SAFETY.— JACK V
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- Dude got beat by two Pro-Bowlers. TO and Witten. Give him a break.— Scholes
- Anyone bailing on BDawk now is a frontrunner. He can still play— mijou6
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- Dawk is the MAN....24,34, or 44. He's the hitman.— Chilly
- JimG - Couldn't have possibly said it any better myself!— CV
- Lito didnt get beat deep, he was supposed to have Considine over the top, but he bit and TO "took it too the house" as Dawk would say. They barely got beat by a very good team. Its week 2 stop over analyzing everything.— R Mexico
- Doh you ARE AN IDIOT..............If we replaced you with that lunatic WIP bandwaggon fan we would have the same thing....DOH...— montymiller
- Well put JimG. I second that.— cleansports
- Dow is down 380+ points and it isn't even on the first page of philly.com?! Oh yeah, Dawkins is too old and will hurt us as the season goes on.— jkt
- TO vs corners and he usually wins, so against a safety it is a mismatch in TOs favor. Whitten, hats off to one good Romo throw and Dawkins misplayed another. He helped stop Barber at the one, did you he him prevent a touchdown with his leg essentially; he he didn't stop him the next time, but not many pro rbs do you stop two times on the same play. He is a team leader and brings nastiness to the team, things you need. I would rather get rid of Considine and keep Dawk— s35c
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- The Phils are in 1st place...why is this on the front page?— AlwaysSunny
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- DAWKINS FOR PRESIDENT!— plbrown34
- They should have released him last year, Dawkins and Runyan. Free up that stale money and get people in here who can contribute... just alittle bit more.— haans
- perhaps the media should get on Considine for screwing up on the first TO touchdown. he got faked out big time, as he was looking into the backfield at Romo instead of covering TO.— Jason259
- Dawkins is a saftey, he should not have been covereing TO on that slant route...there should have been inside help on that play.— DeTom
- The time has come to start looking at the safety position. When Dawk is gone, I hope we have more than Sean Considine back there (shudder). He's a joke and isn't even good enough for arena football. Long live Dawk! He's one of the best safeties ever to play the game.— philly-born
- I don't know whether he's a step slow or just as fast. What I do know is the level of play from B-Dawk in 2008 is not the same as in 2005 or 2006. His body had a rough year in 2007.— JeffA
- Dawk can't be judged soley on the plays missed. How many plays is he in position and the QB checks down to another option? Monday morning quarterbacks always have a grasp of the obvious...unless you watch the tape to see what is done right is foolish to recite a few misses everyone can see.— ziggy
- I'm sick and tired of the players responding to the 'fans' Rich Hofmann brought this up in his piece on monday and now it is 'the fans' who say he's washed up. Dawk, keep your 'dog' we're gonna need you the rest of the way. Some of us still believe, heck Romo still believes! B-Dawk...Hall of Fame— gonegator
- JimG is absolutely right. I cannot believe Philly fans are turning their backs on Dawk of all people. If Dawk has lost anything, it's all over the field that he's been defending like a Warrior with blood, sweat, and tears in Eagles' Green throughout his whole career. Keep going, Dawk! Silence the nay-sayers.— puckdad77
- Good point JimG, few corners can cover elite receivers one on one in the league let alone safeties.— northeagle
