Mays out for Carolina; Vick still exempt
Linebacker Joe Mays is out for Sunday's season opener at Carolina, Eagles coach Andy Reid said today. The backup middle linebacker has a shoulder sprain.
Mays out for Carolina; Vick still exempt
Jeff McLane, Inquirer Staff Writer
Linebacker Joe Mays is out for Sunday's season opener at Carolina, Eagles coach Andy Reid said today. The backup middle linebacker has a shoulder sprain.
Mays recently lost out on the open competition for the starting middle linebacker spot to Omar Gaither. Reid said that SAM linebacker Chris Gocong would move to the middle if Gaither went down. Gocong's backup is rookie Moise Fokou.
Gaither has been hobbled by a knee strain and only recently returned to practice.
"I wouldn't say neccessarily that it's a concern," Reid said of Gaither's injury. "I know that he's feeling better. Time was very important in this injury and he's had the time to heal up. ... I know he can play the middle linebacker position."
Reid also said that Michael Vick would remain on the exempt list, meaning that the quarterback can't participate in practice. The Eagles can take Vick off the special exempt list at any time before he's reinstated for Week 3.
"The way the rule works is he can work out with his coach after practice," Reid said. "He just can't go through team activities during practice."
Reid said that Vick will travel with the team down to Charlotte for Sunday's game.
As of now, it sounds as if the Eagles will carry seven wide receivers with them for the opener. The team carried six wideouts last season, but DeSean Jackson, Kevin Curtis, Jason Avant, Jeremy Maclin, Hank Baskett, Brandon Gibson and Reggie Brown all made the team -- for now. The Eagles were reportedly looking to unload Brown but have yet to find a suitor.
"We feel like we have some good players there," Reid said, explaining why there are seven wide receivers on the 53-man roster.
Todd Herremans is the only other player right now that is out for the Panthers game. The guard is recovering from surgery to correct a stress fracture in his left foot. Reid said that Herremans is out for at least two games. It sounds like Nick Cole and Max Jean-Gilles will split duties filling in for the injured Herremans.
Reid also explained the reason behind the team choosing rookie Macho Harris as its starting free safety. Harris, who played only cornerback in college at Virginia Tech, beat out Quintin Demps.
"We brought Macho here with the thought that he may be able to do that," Reid said. "It's worked where he's at the safety spot and it's worked out well. I think he's picking up pretty well. We'll just see how he does here. I think everybody has got confidence in him to put him at that spot."
Comment removed.
I think Macho is going to excel at the safety position. He is a natural ball-hawk and very good tackler. Pairing him with 'Q' gives us 2 very capable safeties against the run and the pass. D as a whole is still a question mark. Need the LBs to step up bigtime. Everyone is making a big deal about the MLB spot and rightfully so, Bradley will be missed. I want to see if Gocong shows up this year. I am looking for Abiamiri to have an impact too if he can stay healthy. Lets go BIRDS!— BillF1sher- What is Macho going to do against the off side soft trap?? Has anyone thought of that?? I thought not!!— StorminNorman
- I think this could be an interesting game. Will the O-line hold up? And how badly will our question marks on D get exposed?— rwright611
- Any reason why the Eagles didn't get Fowler? They wanted him a few years back, has been a starter, and could at least added some experienced depth.— eaglegrn21
- would feel more secure with Bradley in there. Carolina's running game will surely test us. hopefully we won't see the middle line backer taking angles upfield to make tackles.— retzlaff
- SOOOOO, no real mlb to back up the second string mlb who has been hurt the last two weeks. sounds like a good plan to me or we'll just see what happens there.— JACK V
- they will try and isolate harris all day long and mays is a better run stuffer than gaither. carolina runs the ball - a lot. They eagles are in trouble— sore richard
- Comment removed.
- Eagles stink. 5-11 this year.— Big Ragu
- Anyone else concerned that Cole and Jean-Gilles are "splitting duties" at guard?!? How do you split duties on the offensive line?!? Am I missing something here? God this season wreaks of 2007 right now...— ChazzLCamino
- No one wants Reggie Brown...in this case one mans trash is NOT another mans treasure.— shnuggleshnee
- Comment removed.
Gocong weighs 260 and can run. He would have been the first guy I put in there to replace Bradley. Gaither and Jordan are definately OLB's. They lack the size to play in the traffic an MLB has to deal with every play. Another option might be any one of the smallish DE's like Clemons or Parker.- If the offense can put some points on the board, it might force the Panthers into more of a passing game than running. This would be a real case of the offense helping the defense.— dlscholt
