A Macho Start; Shawn Ready to Roll
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A Macho Start; Shawn Ready to Roll
Les Bowen
Apparently, new defensive coordinator Sean McDermott is not afraid to roll the dice. Quintin Demps, who entered 
training camp as the starting free safety, said rookie Macho Harris had that role during Monday's brief practice.
Most players, including Harris, were not available to reporters after the closed practice, but Demps spoke at length about how he felt he had not made the most of his opportunity. Demps, who was the Birds' kick returner last year, apparently won't start the season in that role, either -- he said Ellis Hobbs will return kicks. Demps said he will be a special teams "gunner."
"I'm just going to come to work, man, pin my ears back and play football," Demps said. "When you've got an opportunity, you've got to capitalize on it."
Asked how he thought Harris won the job -- as a latecomer to what had been a competition between Demps and veteran Sean Jones -- Demps said: "He just had that hunger. When you first come in, like, I came in last year (as a rookie), you have nothing to lose. My second year, I felt like I had a lot to lose, so I was playing not to lose instead of to win."
Demps also said he didn't think his comments last week, in which he seemed surprised and annoyed not to have the starting job locked up, helped him in the final analysis.
None of the linebackers was available; the assumption is that Omar Gaither is starting in the middle.
Shawn Andrews practiced at right tackle and expects to play in Sunday's opener at Carolina, against Julius Peppers and the Panthers.
"Football is football. I'm physical, I'm athletic, and the big thing is just being fundamentally technically sound. The rest of it will take care of itself," said Andrews, when asked how hard it would be, not having played in a game since Week 2 last season.
Earlier, the Eagles completed their eight-member practice squad, bringing back three more players they'd waived on Saturday, when they were bringing their roster size down to 53. The only practice squad member who wasn't with the Birds in camp is linebacker Jeremy Leman, who was cut by the Panthers. Surely it's pure coincidence that the Eagles open with Leman's former team.
Among those returning is 2008 fourth-round draft pick Jack Ikegwuonu, nicknamed "Iguana" by teammate Asante Samuel. Ikegwuonu's recovery from a devastating knee injury suffered preparing for the draft has been slower than the Eagles had hoped. The other returnees are safety Reshard Langford and fullback Marcus Mailei.
Players are off tomorrow before a regular day of practice on Wednesday.
Glad they're keeping Mailei around. He looked good in preseason.— fammarlin- still hoping the Iguana pick turns out to be brilliant and he becomes an Allpro but at this point it's looking McDougle-esque.— raoool
- J. Leman, from my alma mater U of I, could be an interesting practice squad guy. The guy was a tackling machine at U of I and he's fearless. He was considered a little too small and a step slow for a LB to be a high round draft pick but the guy is an extremely hard worker, tackles anything that moves and has enough crazy in him to be a pretty good special teams player.— JimG
- McDougle was top 15 pick in the 1st round. Ike was a 4th round pick and everyone knew he was already out for the year when the draft too place. Give me a break. No comparison there. You're talking apples and oranges.— JimG
- i think "iguana", if he were to become healthy, can be similar to bobby taylor but a little faster— xrajux
Comment removed.- Comment removed.
- Best comparison for the Iguana is this year's 5th rounder - a guy who would have gone higher if not for injury, injury proves insurmountable and player busts. I'm not in love with the "lottery ticket" approach to day two of the draft.— dragoon6
It was obvious watching "Iguana" in that last preseason game that he is still hurt. He was limping badly after that pick he made. Those injuries can take really up to two years to heal from. I am surprised they didn't just IR him again. He was fast prior to the injury. Maybe he will never regain that speed and quickness, some guys just don't. I was hoping for big things from him this year, he was a HUGE prospect before he got hurt just before the draft our of Wisconsin. A shame for him.- an thought about moving the iguana to safety? He woudl be able to cover TEs but may have lost too much speed to stay @ corner.— Eagles Phan in LI
- true215fan, nothing like free advertising. now that's capitalism spelled with a capital C. take that michael moore.— JACK V
- @raoool: This sounds purely like the unfortunate hype placed on players the Eagles draft. Iguana should never be considered a bust like McDougle, mainly because they were drafted four rounds apart and it was clearly known from the beginning that Iguana was a project.— trungy
- looks like DEMPS has won the starting job as 'speaker of the house'. mcdermot has impressed me with the demotion of demps. he wasn't able to play free safety either this preseason or late last season. i'm sure he'll see some time as kick or punt returner before he's cut.— JACK V
- I'm glad Mailei was brought back. Built like a tank, good hands.— paolibulldog
macho is the man im happy he won the job— MPatt24
