IS LIVE CHATTING EAGLES-BEARS
Eagles quarterback Michael Vick will be allowed to keep more than $16 million in roster bonuses from the Atlanta Falcons, a federal appeals court has decided, backing the lower court's ruling, according to the Associated Press.
According to the report, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Minneapolis affirmed Judge David Doty’s order saying Vick had already earned the bonuses before his dogfighting conviction, so the money wasn’t subject to forfeiture.
The NFL had sought to end Doty's oversight of the collective bargaining agreement after the Vick ruling, accursing him of bias. The appeals court rejected that claim.
Chicago-Eagles start time
Flexible scheduling begins with the games of Nov. 22, but NBC has decided to keep the Eagles game at Chicago as the night game, rather than select another game.
Puzzle at linebacker
Starting weakside linebacker Akeem Jordan, the only starter remaining from the group that began training camp, suffered a hyperextended knee and a bone bruise against the Cowboys, Andy Reid said.
Reid didn't offer a prognosis, but it would seem unlikely that Jordan would be able to play this Sunday at San Diego.
It isn't clear who would step in - Tracy White? Joe Mays? Moise Fokou, with strongside starter Chris Gocong expected to return to practice tomorrow (and then to play)? Suddenly, you have to wonder about that roster spot Jeremiah Trotter is occupying.
"We haven't determined anything on that yet," Reid said when asked who would play if Jordan is unable.
Asked if they are looking internally or externally for his potential replacement, the coach said, “We have to see how Akeem is first and then we’ll go from there.”
In case you're keeping score at home, original middle linebacker Stewart Bradley went down to an ACL tear Aug. 2. Trotter returned to the NFL during the bye week, not having played since 2007.
Bradley's replacement, Omar Gaither, was lost for the season to a Lisfranc sprain Oct. 18, leading to the acquisition of Will Witherspoon from St. Louis.
Fokou, a seventh-round rookie from Maryland, got his first career start Sunday for Gocong, who was suffering from quad and hamstring troubles.
The Eagles likely will start their fifth combination of linebackers in nine games Sunday.
Games 1-3: Gocong, Gaither, Jordan
Games 4-6: Gocong, Trotter, Jordan
Game 7: Gocong, Witherspoon, Jordan
Game 8: Fokou, Witherspoon, Jordan
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LaDainian Tomlinson is still a player who can help the Chargers win, but it seems clear he can no longer win games for them and is likely closing out his final season in San Diego.
The Chargers are averaging 3.1 yards a carry, worst in the NFL. And unless they can start getting some leads and let Tomlinson and others pound the ball while the line gets in a rhythm, that doesn't look to get much better.
Sunday was the fourth time this season the Chargers rushed 21 times or fewer. They are on pace to rush just 364 times, which would be their fewest since 2000 and third-lowest total ever.
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To read Domo's Second Take from Eagles-Cowboys, click here.
Les Bowen has covered the Eagles for the Daily News since 2002. Before that, he spent nearly 13 years covering the Flyers. It took Les only a few seasons after the switch to figure out that there was no penalty box at the Linc, and that the time really wasn't his, despite what Andy Reid kept saying. Les came to Philadelphia and the Daily News from Charlotte in 1983. In the intervening years, he has pretty much lost track of NASCAR, and his accent. He, his wife Barbara, and their two sons live in Haddon Township, New Jersey.
Paul Domowitch has been with the Daily News since 1982. He has spent most of his 27 years at the paper covering the Eagles and pro football. For the last 10 years, he’s been a selector for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. A native of Wilkes-Barre and a graduate of Wilkes University, Domo came to the Daily News from the Fort Worth (Tx.) Star-Telegram, where he covered some god-awful Texas Ranger baseball teams. His first beat at the Daily News actually wa s boxing, which he covered just long enough to lose two sports coats to blood spatter before moving on to football. Domo and his wife Shelley, a University of Oklahoma grad and very dangerous to be around following a Sooner loss, have been married 29 years and have raised 2 terrific daughters – Allison, 26, a lawyer and graduate of Boston University School of Law; and Amy, 23, who graduated from Clemson and works in marketing and sales for a professional baseball team.
