Eagles Notes: Andrews again absent from camp

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The strange case of Shawn Andrews' absence remained exactly that yesterday.

The Eagles' two-time Pro Bowl guard did not report for a second consecutive day because of undisclosed personal reasons, and coach Andy Reid said Andrews' absence is unexcused.

The team responded by placing Andrews on the reserve/did-not-report list, which allowed it to sign former Rutgers offensive lineman Cameron Stevenson.

Pressed about Andrews' absence, Reid declined to elaborate.

"He's not here, and he wasn't excused, and that's as far as I'm going with it," the coach said.

Andrews' absence has fueled all sorts of speculation, including a report on WIP-AM (610) yesterday that said the Eagles have tried to trade the offensive guard.

"No," Reid said when asked whether that was true. "I don't get into all that stuff anyway. I don't know where people get all this stuff."

Asked whether he expected Andrews in camp, Reid said, "I don't know."

Andrews is subject to daily fines of $15,000 for every day he misses camp.

Rich Moran, the agent for Andrews, said he was going to fly to Philadelphia today to meet with Andrews. Moran dismissed a report that Andrews was holding out because he wasn't happy about Reid's penchant for running a physical camp.

"The team has been in touch with Shawn, and it has nothing to do with that," Moran said. "People can speculate. Shawn's not in camp and it's reasonable to speculate, but this is a guy who has always been forthcoming, so why not give him the benefit of the doubt? He was up front about his weight loss. He had a contract clause about losing weight by 2009, and he dropped the weight long before.

"He's a guy who is active in the community. He likes Philadelphia, but he's trying to address some personal issues. Just because somebody is a good football player doesn't mean he's immune from personal issues."

Moran reiterated that Andrews' "personal issue" is related to what prevented him from attending the final week of the Eagles' voluntary camp in June.

With Andrews missing, Max Jean-Gilles worked with the first-team offense at right guard.

"Max is fine in there," Reid said. "He's worked in there before. Max came back in good shape."

The plan before Andrews' absence was for Jean-Gilles to compete with Todd Herremans for the starting left-guard spot.

Extra running

A group of about eight players, including defensive tackles Brodrick Bunkley and Mike Patterson, ran extra wind sprints after practice yesterday. Reid would not say why, but denied it had anything to do with players' failing to reach weight requirements.

"They were just guys who were doing a little extra running," Reid said.

He then tried to sell some Lehigh Valley swampland.

Extra points

Rookie defensive linemen Bryan Smith (hamstring) and Trevor Laws (foot) were the only players who did not practice because of injuries. . . . After experimenting with using Winston Justice at guard during the spring camps, Reid said the former second-round pick would play exclusively at tackle during training camp. . . . Victor Abiamiri and Juqua Parker alternated with the first-team defense at left defensive end.

- Bob Brookover