Eagles to clash with "brother" Dawkins
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Eagles
Eagles to clash with "brother" Dawkins
Jeff McLane, Inquirer Staff Writer
Get out your No. 20 jerseys, Brian Dawkins is coming home.
The former Eagles safety may play for the enemy now, but there are sure to be plenty of No. 20s at the Linc on Sunday when the Eagles host Dawkins' Denver Broncos.
"I think it will be neat for him to come back here," Eagles coach Andy Reid said today. "It think the crowd will be great for him and all that."
Dawkins left in the off-season via free agency, but he also left amid a cloud of controversy. It's become a he-said-organization-said-type story, but the gist of Dawkins' leaving Philadelphia had a lot to do with money. The 13-year Eagle ended up getting a better deal from the Broncos than what the Eagles were offering and he left.
"It worked out great for Brian," Reid said. "That's what's important there. It was something that Denver needed to do. Listen, it worked out fine for him and his family. Would we have loved to have kept him here? Yeah. But they did a nice job with it."
Dawkins has played a prominent role for the 8-6 Broncos. He's second on the team with 100 tackles, has seven tackles for loss and two interceptions.
So how did things work out for the 10-4, playoff-bound Eagles?
"We've done OK," Reid said. "We've won a couple games."
The Eagles, though, have had a hard time replacing Dawkins in the secondary. And they didn't bring Jeremiah Trotter back because they thought he would become a Pro Bowler again. The defense was missing some of the fire and leadership Dawkins provided. Reid was asked what he's missed most about Dawkins.
"First of all, you miss him as a person," Reid said. "He's a great guy. He was a big part of us getting to where we have gotten as an organization. To say I don't miss him on a daily basis, I used to enjoy seeing him and being around him. He brought a lot of energy. I have nothing but good things to say about he or [Correll Buckhalter]. Those were two of my favorite guys. They're doing a heck of job for Denver now."
Buckhalter, the Eagles' second-leading rusher last season, also left this past off-season.
There will be a lot of emotion in the stadium but it probably won't rival what both Dawkins and his former teammates will feel in their gut before the game.
"It's going to be really emotional, especially at the beginning of the game," safety Quintin Mikell said. "I think that once the first hit happens, everything will go away. Once that first kickoff happens, it will all go away."
Reid equated it to a fight between brothers.
"I always say that when you're a kid and you get into a fight with your brother, for a second there it's one of the most vicious fights you've ever been in and then you love each other afterwards," he said. "That's what this will be."
In other Eagles-related news, Reid said that he anticipates Brian Westbrook being cleared tomorrow to return to action this Sunday. The running back will undergo tests tomorrow. Concussions have sidelined Westbrook in seven of the last eight games.
Jeremy Maclin will return to practice on Wednesday, but Reid could not predict if the wide receiver's foot would be healed enough for him to return to game action. Maclin missed Sunday's 27-13 win over the 49ers.
In other injury news, Michael Vick has a quadriceps bruise and is "sore," according to Reid. His status is day-to-day, as is that of safety Quintin Demps, who has a "slight" ankle sprain.
Eagles had a good off-season. Letting go of Dawkins wasn't one of the good moves, though I might have done it myself. Like Dean1 says, maybe the smart move would have been to flip Dawkins over to the strong safety. I don't think money was the main thing. They probably didn't think he had the speed to perform in this particular defense.— tacklinjoe- Dawk is better than any safety we have RIGHT NOW....
- Sunday is going to be Stacy Andrews's Day.— jb99
- i love it when A.R. offers the family analogy. "It's like when you fight with your brother, and then your kids get arrested for drugs, and you love them even more. And then you never win a Super Bowl."— jb99
- It's a business. You can't pay everyone what they think they should be paid with a salary cap. Dawkins chose to leave. Denver offered the 35-year-old safety more than the Eagles were willing to spend. Eagles were 9-6-1 last year with Dawkins and were one defensive stop from going to the Super Bowl. The defense didn't do it. The Eagles are 10-4 this year and could win the division again. I love Dawkins, too, but just like Taylor and Vincent and Mitchell and Douglas and Runyan and Kearse, etc., the Eagles never won a Super Bowl with those guys. BDawk has helped a terrible Denver defense get a little better. But they were 8-8 last year and will probably finish 9-7 this year. Let's root for current Birds and not worry about guys who can't help the Eagles.— Slovs
- young man's game or not, the birds FS spot is a downgrade from an older dawkins. it was a mistake by the eagles. look how much weaker the steeler's defense is without polamalu— dreinterests
- There is no way Dawk was overrated. He is a first ballot hall of famer. That being said he is not worth the deal the Broncos gave him at this stage of his career. Once the game starts he is just another player on an opposing team standing in the way of a possible first round bye. Thanks for all the great memories Dawk, but that's all they are now. Crush Orange. Go Eagles.
- if the eagles signed dawkins for that kind of money, there would be no jason peters and an old an useless dawkins within a year or 2. it was the right move for the eagles and irresponsible of the broncos. may have paid off for them this year and might even next, but 3 more years at that money? stupid!— mosquito killer
- POT is a moron who wants to follow the daniel snyder model— bv437
- What can I say about a man whom I mailed my son and my jersey to, got a personalized autograh and mailed back to my house by his wife. Nothing but class and he will always be my favorite Eagle. BUT!!!! GO EAGLES....LET'S DO THIS!!!!— Va_Philly_Fan
- i love dawkins but he is not a first ballot hall of famer. i dont even think he will make the HOF but could see it happening. While I do love Dawk he did come up small in several big games including last year's nfc champ. He just bounced off Larry Fitzgerald. As for safeties, Ed Reed and Polamalu are much superior than BDawk.— tremo12
Comment removed.- Last season Kyle Orten was QB for the Bears and chewed the Eagles up when they let his receivers get behind the defenders deep, a flaw they've continued to show much of this year also. They have gotten away with it some games, like the Chicago game, but they better be careful this week against Orten and the Broncos. Hr just might remember how he go over them last year.— atp2007
- I hope Dawk gets a standing ovation, plays well, and the Eagles contiunue their win streak. Is he a HOF-er? You can make a case either way, but I think his strong play in Denver will add to his candidacy. He gets in, as will McNabb for that matter.— MG44
- Comment removed.
