DIDN'T KNOW DOC WAS ALSO A MECHANIC
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.
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.
E-mail Les at bowenl@phillynews.com
and follow
him on Twitter.
Paul
Domowitch has been with the Daily News since 1982.
He has spent most of his nearly 3 decades with 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 started his career in Texas,
working first for the Midland Reporter-Telegram (1976-78), and then for
the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, where he covered some god-awful Texas
Ranger baseball teams. His first beat at the Daily News actually was
boxing, which he covered just long enough to lose 2 sports coats to
blood spatter before moving on to football. Domo and his wife Shelley,
a University of Oklahoma grad who still hasn’t gotten over
that Fiesta Bowl loss to Boise State 5 years ago, have 2 terrific
daughters -- Allison, 28, who is an attorney in South Jersey, and Amy,
25, who works in administration for a professional baseball team.
E-mail Domo at PDomo@aol.com and follow
him on Twitter.
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