McNabb, Westbrook and Jackson still out; Curtis still limited
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McNabb, Westbrook and Jackson still out; Curtis still limited
Jeff McLane
Donovan McNabb, Brian Westbrook and DeSean Jackson did not practice today. The three offensive starters were not in pads, but were out on the field for most of practice.
McNabb has a fractured rib and didn't play last week against the Saints as Kevin Kolb earned his first start. Michael Vick, Jeff Garcia and Kolb are all practicing at quarterback today. Coach Andy Reid has not said who the backup to Kolb will be if McNabb can't go. Westbrook sprained his right ankle against the Saints, but Reid said yesterday that the swelling has gone down. Jackson has a groin injury, but was telling his teammates today in the locker room that he was feeling significantly better.
Westbrook and Jackson should be ready to play against the Chiefs this Sunday, McNabb appears to be a long shot -- especially with the bye week coming.
The Eagles are banged up on offense. Aside from McNabb, Westbrook and Jackson, left guard Todd Herremans (foot) is still out, right guard Stacy Andrews has been demoted from the first team as he recovers from off-season knee sugery and Shawn Andrews is in Los Angeles rehabbing the sore back that has ended his season. And wide receiver Kevin Curtis is battling a left knee sprain. He was a limited participant in practice for the second straight day.
"It's just part of the game sometimes," said Curtis, who has five catches for 70 yards in the first two games. "What can you do? The goal is always to just try and get right."
Safety Quintin Demps (hamstring) was also not at full strength for practice.
Earlier, Special teams coordinator Ted Daisher was asked extensively about his unit's poor performance Sunday against the Saints. On special teams there is the propensity to either be a hero or a goat. As Daisher said, "There's no second down on special teams."
The Eagles have announced that they have signed tight end Martin Rucker (no relation to Hootie and Blowfish's Darius Rucker, although he is the younger brother of Carolina's Mike Rucker) to the practice squad and released rookie Rob Myers. Rucker was released by the Browns on Tuesday and passed through waivers on Wednesday. He was drafted in the fourth round of the 2008 draft and caught two passes for 17 yards in five games last season.
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Bill1966 - put the bong down, my friend.— mebphila- Comment removed.
- "I think Kolb can handle this all by himself..." oh man, i can't even finish the sentence without doubling over in pain and embarrassment.— BananaHammock
- wepons? mcnabb has been doing it for years without wepons. kolb needs wepons, kolb need an arm and stop runing backwards when presure comes. step up in the pocket my man.— coachbarnes10
- If there is "no second down on special teams", that means you have one chance to get it right...so there should be no slack for the special teams coach either. They must improve there or it is going to be a long season.
- Not getting hurt doesn't make you tough and neither does being too hurt to play make you weak or unmotivated. Typical Pseduo-Eagle fan griping about players. Probably scratching the keg you call a stomach sitting in your moms basement with cheetos and pb & j all over your chin wondering why NFL players are so lazy! Thanks for the laugh 411!— aphillyphan
- Bill, what is 500 yds without a win. Get over it, McNabb can produce stats and win, he can also manage a game with pedestrian numbers and still win. No more room left on the Eagles bandwagon, so make up your mind now.....— desdimone
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“McNabb, Westbrook and Jackson still out” - Will we be seeing an episode of the new hit series ‘Trauma’ based on the Eagles 2009 season? Jeez…- Injuries shouldn't matter. According to god, I mean Joe Banner, we have the best roster in the NFL. We can easily withstand the injuries. Maybe they should have thought about that when they signed a gimp (Stacey Andrews), didn't bring in a 3rd RB to join the rotation (Westbrook's ankles are shot, sorry), have only 1 real TE, rely on Shawn Andrews (head & back), rely on Curtis (haven't we learned any groin injury isn't to be screwed with by now after McNabb, LJ Smith et all.) At the end of the season we will hear how great we could have been but for the injuries. I know the sky isn't falling but some of these things could have been avoided. They added QB depth and WR depth but neglected other areas.— DennyP
- Injuries shouldn't matter. According to god, I mean Joe Banner, we have the best roster in the NFL. We can easily withstand the injuries. Maybe they should have thought about that when they signed a gimp (Stacey Andrews), didn't bring in a 3rd RB to join the rotation (Westbrook's ankles are shot, sorry), have only 1 real TE, rely on Shawn Andrews (head & back), rely on Curtis (haven't we learned any groin injury isn't to be screwed with by now after McNabb, LJ Smith et all.) At the end of the season we will hear how great we could have been but for the injuries. I know the sky isn't falling but some of these things could have been avoided. They added QB depth and WR depth but neglected other areas.— DennyP
- These players will be fine come game time. I don't know why we make such a big deal when key guys miss practice. They are held out so that they don't injure themselves even more. It's a good thing we have depth at the WR spot though just in case...RB, not so much, at least not yet. McCoy still has to show me something before I dub him as the next B-West! He's been ok, but nothing special yet...— sima_down_nah
- DennyP, it's tough to shore up every position!! Every team has depth issues at one position or another. I think they did ok filling out the most important positions, you know, the one's they neglected over the last three seasons, RB, WR, FB...— sima_down_nah
- reality speaks=hilarious— Chi-ladelphia
