THINKS THE EAGLES STOLE ONE
THE INACTIVE LIST for the season opener last month was not quite what veteran safety Sean Jones had in mind when he signed with the Eagles this past offseason.
Jones, 27, had started all 44 games he'd been healthy for, the previous three seasons at Cleveland. He'd been one of four players in the league to record at least four interceptions in each of those seasons.
But over the spring and summer, Jones seemed slow to adapt to the Birds' defensive scheme; first Quintin Demps, then rookie Macho Harris were promoted ahead of him to fill the starting vacancy left when Brian Dawkins signed with Denver. Early on, Jones' role on the team seemed marginal, at best.
"This league, it's a very long season," Jones said. "Your role changes, it varies - it all depends on how you take it."
Jones did what he had to do, excelling on special teams, where he is tied for the team lead in tackles, and slowly working his way into the safety rotation, first in the dime package. When Harris went down with an ankle injury Monday night at Washington, Jones stepped into his spot. Harris, officially listed as "questionable" yesterday, didn't practice this week and seems unlikely to play tomorrow, when the Eagles host the Giants.
"I don't want to say it's been tough, but I've been waiting, I've been anxious, I've been praying that I'd get an opportunity," Jones said. "Now, this week, I'm going to get an opportunity to go out there and play. I'm going to make the best of it, take advantage of it."
Even if Harris is able to play, the Eagles likely will want to use Jones' size (6-1, 220) and tackling ability against the Giants' powerful ground game.
When Jones was signed, he was perceived as more of a strong safety. It seemed likely the Birds would move Quintin Mikell into Dawkins' spot, and use Jones in the box. For whatever reason - maybe just because the Eagles consider Mikell a Pro Bowl-caliber strong safety, and didn't want to move him - that didn't happen.
Jones said the perception he was a strong safety with the Browns wasn't quite true, anyway.
"In Cleveland, it was really right and left - they were interchangeable, so it's really the same thing" as with the Eagles, he said.
Jones said he really likes the Eagles' scheme, but noted that it has "a lot of detail." He thinks he is making steady progress with it.
Defensive coordinator Sean McDermott didn't sound surprised that it had taken Jones a while.
"If you look overall over the years at free agents coming into this system, defensively, it takes some time for them to master the system, to the point where they can play and execute," McDermott said.
"I wouldn't say [it was] frustrating. I kept grinding, kept working. Like I said before, I know this is a long season and anything can happen," Jones said. "Special teams is great, but my heart and my love is to play this game of football at safety."
The Eagles listed Brian Westbrook as "questionable" yesterday for tomorrow's game. Westbrook has not practiced since suffering a concussion Monday night at Washington. Andy Reid reiterated that Westbrook's participation will be a game-time decision.
"These things take time, and they're all different, so we'll just see how it works here," said Reid, who said that if Westbrook is cleared, the pregame workout tomorrow ought to be enough to get him ready. When Reid spoke to reporters yesterday, Westbrook still had not been cleared to exercise, pending results of neurological testing.
Asked whether Westbrook's headache has gone away, Reid said: "I think he's feeling pretty good right now. We'll see how things go here."
