Donovan in the Desert
Latest McNabb blog offering gives a little detail about who's in Arizona with the QB.
Donovan in the Desert
Les Bowen
We still don't have a comprehensive list of the receivers in Arizona this week with Donovan McNabb, preparing for training camp, but DMac drops some names in his latest blog posting. We already knew Brian Dawkins was out there, which is nice from a leadership solidarity standpoint, but I don't expect Dawk to be catching a lot of balls from McNabb this year. (Maybe he wants to get his hands ready in case Brett Favre ends up playing somewhere, though.)
The offensive players mentioned are LJ Smith, Jason Avant, Hank Baskett and Lorenzo Booker. I was hoping to see DeSean Jackson's name, given that the second-round rookie missed much of the full-squad minicamp time with a hamstring injury and can't have a lot of timing with McNabb yet. Jackson's presence also would be reassuring from the standpoint of signaling that he probably will be on hand when camp opens for rookies and select vets up at Lehigh on Monday. Jackson and the other second-rounder, defensive tackle Trevor Laws, are the only unsigned Eagles rookies. Their status could be complicated by an NFL-NFLPA dispute detailed in the posting below.
I'm not surprised to see Booker out in Arizona. He not only looked sharp on the field this spring, he seemed to quickly grasp the nuances of the media, the city and the locker room. Hard to say anything definitive until they at least practice with pads on, but I see him playing a solid supporting role this season, as a receiver out of the backfield, in motion, or flanked wide.
It's good to hear that Booker was out there. The guy clearly knows what it takes to make it at this level. Not only that, but the guy is even a pretty good player. In 5 games last year the guy averaged 4.5 yards/carry and had 28 receptions. He's a nice complement to Westbrook, and even a nice insurance policy if 36 goes down for a game or two. http://santadeservedit.blogspot.com/— Jack B.
Comment removed.- It would be even more encouraging to see Reggie Brown's name on the list of WR's working out with Donovan in Arizona - by my count, Reggie cost Donovan at least 3 picks and 2 more near-picks by not coming back to the ball on "dig" or "hook" routes last year - this is a basic fundamental of WR play, and it mystifies me that he still doesn't grasp the concept after 3 full seasons in the NFL.— JLB
- he has been in arizona with receivers (some eagles, some opponets) for years.........maybe he ought to spend a little more time in reviewing films and learning to understand defensive schemes better, ie when to get rid of the ball and not force it— ox
- I hope they are practicing catching the ball off their shoetops and while jumping three feet vertically - some things really useful with McNabb throwing.— Bama
- LOL...Bama maybe we should bring back Bobby Hoying right? You are the reason this town is labeled they way it is.— montymiller
- I have heard Donovan has been watching the latest films on shoe fashion for the new year, this will assist with where he will continue to target his passes.— wildebill
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- Ox, Get off Donovan. There probably aren't a lot of qb's in the league that spend extra time away from minicamps, preseason, etc. that take time to get extra work in with their receivers. I'm sure he watches plenty of film when its more pertinent to do so. I wish Reggie Brown and Desean Jackson were out there too. Good point by JLB.— BTH
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- I am starting to have small issue with D-Jack. First off have you seen any pictures this guy took at the rookie introductions the NFL puts on??? He stands their looking like a thug. I know the whole hard-nosed football attitude is important but not when you are being introduced as an Eagle. So now he is not in Arizona with McNabb. He should of been the FIRST GUY out there. Also ... JLB ... Reggie Brown should be out there as well. Jackson better not turn out bad...he is way to fast not to be productive. Hopefully he goes to the west side to work with McNabb soon!— jaydes
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- everybody needs to relax about "d-jack." we don't even know for a fact whether he's there or not (though if he was, McNabb probably would have written about it). Either way, i'm sick of reading comments about mcnabb throwing at people's feet. would you rather have him throw it in the hands of the other team? That's the alternative. The guy had a 61.5% completion percentage last year, which is very good, and he has the third-best TD/INT ratio of all time. Of course he's going to throw some incommpletions; every QB does. GET OVER IT. santadeservedit.blogspot.com— Jack B.
