Some Eagles defensive players would just as soon Jim Johnson coach from the press box again this week, as he did for their upset victory over the Giants. That preference has less to do with superstition and more to do with Johnson's ability to express himself, vividly and pungently, in person.
But strongside linebacker Chris Gocong said yesterday he hopes Johnson is back down on the sideline Sunday in Arizona, when the Eagles take on the Cardinals in the NFC Championship Game.
"You get it straight from the horse's mouth, whether you did something wrong or something right," Gocong said. "You don't even have to come off the field; you can just look to the sideline and see his eyes, and you know it's bad."
Johnson, 67, is walking with a cane because of a back problem. He was cagey yesterday when asked where he will do his coaching Sunday.
"Game-time decision," he said. Asked how he injured himself, Johnson said he did it swinging a golf club. Then, asked when he last had time to play golf, Johnson acknowledged he had not done so lately.
"There's plus and minus" to coaching from upstairs, Johnson said. When Brad Childress was the Eagles' offensive coordinator, he often abandoned the sideline for the box, to get a more complete view. "The concentration, sometimes, might be better up there. You see some things. Sometimes, the hardest thing is just wanting to get at them right away, adjustments or stuff like that."
Difference-maker
The Cardinals upgraded their punt coverage recently by making some changes to get quicker on the coverage unit, Eagles special-teams coordinator Rory Segrest said. But he noted they did something else, as well: They jettisoned former Eagles punter Dirk Johnson for veteran Ben Graham, the Australian who blazed the trail Sav Rocca followed. (Rocca, of course, replaced Johnson before last season for the Eagles.)
"He's a very effective punter," Segrest said of Graham, the former Jet who joined the Cards Dec. 1. Arizona ranked 30th in the NFL in both punt and kick coverage. "He can punt the ball way down the field. He has great leg strength and can get the ball hung up there very well. At the same time, they've also moved some guys around and gotten more speed on the field," most notably former Eagle Sean Morey, who made the Pro Bowl as the NFC special-teams player.
Segrest said he doesn't know for sure, but he hears the Cards will open the roof to their stadium, which could affect kicker David Akers, who has hit his last 18 postseason field-goal attempts.
Birdseed
Wide receiver Jason Avant (knee) was a full practice participant yesterday . . . Missing practice again, as usual, in the interests of knee-healing, were right tackle Jon Runyan and running back Brian Westbrook . . . The Cardinals are the only team without an appearance in the NFC title game since the leagues merged in 1970 . . . Road teams are 3-3 in the last six NFC Championships . . . Ex-running back Duce Staley will be an honorary captain for the Eagles Sunday . . . Jim Johnson said you probably will see more of his standout d-tackles, Mike Patterson and Brodrick Bunkley, than you did in the Thanksgiving rout of the Cards, because the Eagles got ahead 21-0 midway through the second quarter in that game, and ended up playing a lot of nickel and dime packages. Also, the Cards are running the ball with Edgerrin James much more than they were in November. "I think their philosophy has changed," Johnson said. *
