MUST BE DREAMING: TEMPLE IS 9-2?
It is obvious Jeremiah Trotter's value as a football player has diminished.
At 32, the four-time Pro Bowler no longer can move the way he once did, and his return to the Eagles has made us wonder why the team and the player felt his comeback could be a success.
Before dismissing Trotter's return as a waste of time, you should know what's going on behind closed doors at the NovaCare Complex. Trotter's age and surgically repaired knees may be betraying him on the field, but his instincts and football guile remain.
Weakside linebacker Akeem Jordan may be the biggest beneficiary of those attributes.
"I've looked up to Trott ever since I got here," Jordan said. "From day one, he just took me in. He made me watch film with him after our meetings" at training camp.
That was three seasons ago, and before the preseason was over, Trotter was released by the Eagles. He signed with Tampa Bay and played little for a Buccaneers team that lost a first-round playoff game to the New York Giants.
Before that game, Trotter asked a visiting reporter from Philadelphia about the Eagles' young linebackers. The Eagles were excited about Stewart Bradley, who had taken over as the middle linebacker in the final two weeks of the 2007 regular season.
Trotter was excited about Jordan.
"I noticed him his rookie year in training camp," Trotter said. "Like myself, he was from a small school and he hadn't learned how to play the position. He just had raw ability. I saw him getting interceptions in one-on-one drills on every play. I was like, 'OK, this guy can cover.' And then I watched him on running plays and he has a natural nose for the football. This guy is a football player."
Going into today's game against the Giants at Lincoln Financial Field, Jordan, 24, leads the Eagles in tackles and also has two interceptions and a sack. Trotter calls him "Akeem the Beast."
"He's going to be in the Pro Bowl, man," Trotter said. "I'm telling you that right now. You give him another year and he's going to be in the Pro Bowl."
Trotter truly wants to help Jordan reach that goal.
"With his experience, he's like a coach that has played before," Jordan said. "He knows the tricks of the trade. He can tell me what to look for and what not to look for. When he came back this season, I learned a lot right away just watching film with him. I learned a lot about how he goes about preparing for a game."
Jordan said he sits in the film room with Trotter looking for indicators that reveal what play is coming.
"Every team runs their plays, but we're looking at the indicators of what might show you that play is coming," Jordan said.
While Trotter barely got on the field in the Monday night win at Washington, he still got satisfaction out of watching Jordan making plays. He particularly liked a first-quarter hit the third-year linebacker put on running back Clinton Portis.
"He hit Portis coming across the middle and, wow, I saw dust coming off the ground," Trotter said.
Defensive coordinator Sean McDermott said Jordan's physical play was impossible not to notice, and he was impressed with his instincts, too.
McDermott said Jordan "reacts well to those things that we haven't necessarily talked about. He loves to be nasty and physical, and that's what we love on defense."
Jordan said he still had a lot to learn.
"I'm not that player I want to be yet," he said.
Trotter is convinced he will be someday soon.
"He can do it all," the veteran linebacker said. "I'm telling you, the Pro Bowl."
Contact staff writer Bob Brookover at 215-854-2577 or bbrookover@phillynews.com.
