Rich Hofmann | Players manage without Reid
IT WAS LIKE any other Thursday, in so many ways. The Eagles were on their practice field, doing whatever it is they do to get ready to play the Dallas Cowboys. It was a warm day, a little breezy, pleasant. Airplanes took off in the distance. A truck driver on Broad Street shouted some encouragement as he peered out of his elevated cab over the screen of arbor vitae. He blew his horn, once, twice, as he waited for the traffic light at Pattison Avenue.
Team owner Jeffrey Lurie and president Joe Banner watched much of practice, as they often do. The team worked in small groups and then in bigger groups, as ever. The kickers stayed for a while, then left for some practice at Lincoln Financial Field. The injured watched and kibitzed. Reporters retold the same, old stories.
That is what Andy Reid missed - not nothing, but not much. Mostly, as cornerback Lito Sheppard said: "Everybody did their job. We don't need Big Boss Man watching over us to do our job."
If Reid were suffering from the flu, it would have merited a paragraph. But it was not the flu, as we all know. Reid was in a Montgomery County courtroom, watching along with his wife, Tammy, as his two sons were sentenced to jail terms for drug and other offenses. It could not have been anything but horrible.
One more time, a troubled family endured a public test. That we all have opinions on the matter is human nature. That none of us has all of the relevant facts is the simple truth. Mostly, we watch in wonder as Andy Reid continues to live a public life.
Yesterday, for the first time in a while, his players talked about it.
Pointedly, in the case of Sheppard: "Even though they're his sons, they're grown up. He can't be holding himself responsible for . . . their actions."
Poignantly, in the case of tight end L.J. Smith: "My momma used to tell me, 'You don't know love until you've had kids.' "
Expansively, in the case of quarterback Donovan McNabb: "It's a lot different when you look back and see the big guy with the faded black shorts, the shirt that you see every day, and the little gray shorts he has on underneath. But we know the situation, and we [team leaders] wanted to be sure everyone understood that being out at practice [without the coach] isn't an opportunity to just be kind of loose and fly around. We have a job to do, and [we need to] make sure we do it with excitement out there.
"We wanted it to be just like he was there. When he watches the film, [he'd see] less mistakes, he would feel confident that if he had to leave any other time for any other situation that we would be able to handle it like professionals, take care of our jobs and make sure we do it right."
There has been some idle talk that the Eagles are 3-4 because Reid cannot possibly give his full attention to the team under these circumstances. One by one, when that subject was raised yesterday, the players rejected it.
"I think sometimes people forget that we're all human," McNabb said. "When something involves your family, it's somewhat hard to concentrate.
"I think he's handled it great. We can't tell if it's bothering him or not when he's over here. We just try to take pressure off him, knowing what's going on, on the outside, but while we're in here, make sure everybody in here understands that we have a game to play this weekend and we have to fully concentrate on what's going on. Everything will take care of itself outside, but while we're here, we'll make sure we're doing our jobs."
There are no answers, of course. None of us knows, not really, whether the office and the football team have become a sanctuary for Reid, a respite, or an anvil. He has never shown much of a public personality, not through all of the good times, and has not wavered through this. He gained some weight, but he otherwise appears the same at his news conferences.
And, on the day he wasn't there, it really did not seem different. At morning meetings, when Reid wasn't there, L.J. Smith said, "Everybody was like, 'Where's Coach?' Then the word kind of spread."
But, as McNabb suggested, by the time came to go to practice in the afternoon, the team's leadership group had filled whatever vacuum existed.
"We kept to business as usual," left tackle William Thomas said. "It wasn't hard to do. We've got a big game coming up, and I think everybody was focused in on what we have to do. We didn't want to treat the other coaches like substitute teachers in class and try to get away with as much as we can. I think everybody focused in . . . "
Normally, Reid is more observer than participant at practice anyway. He can correct mistakes, and do it loudly, but as often as not, he just watches, working his gum, maybe clicking a ball point pen repeatedly.
The Eagles missed that yesterday, the man's large, brooding presence on the practice field. But this is a veteran team in many ways, and 1 day holds little meaning for them. As Andy Reid and his family endure another public trial, you can be pretty sure his absence yesterday will mean nothing Sunday night. In his complicated life, that might be the only certainty. *
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