Bye-bye, Lehigh; Dunking Vick
Philly.com, Inquirer, and Daily News coverage of the Eagles
Bye-bye, Lehigh; Dunking Vick
Jeff McLane
BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- "Bye-bye, Lehigh."
Those were the parting words from Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson as he and several other teammates darted off the field following the final training camp practice at Lehigh.
After a long camp -- one of the longest of coach Andy Reid's tenure -- many of the players raced into the locker room, showered and sped back to Philadelphia. The team reconvenes Thursday for a walk-through and then travels to Cincinnati for its second preseason game. But when the Eagles return, practices will be held at the friendly confines of the NovaCare Complex.
Camp was a success in many regards, according to Reid and the players, but the most important result may be the lack of major injuries. Last year, linebacker Stewart Bradley, tight end Cornelius Ingram and tackle Shawn Andrews suffered injuries that ended their seasons. This year, the Eagles had an assortment of injuries -- some to significant players -- but nothing that at this point would cut into the regular season.
"It's always good when guys are healthy coming out of camp," said Bradley, who is returning from a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
Reid said that there were an extra 200 plays this camp as a result of the extra week of practices. With 13 drafted rookies, more than a dozen undrafted rookies and plenty of other new faces, the extra time allowed all the newbies to get acquainted with the Eagles' ways. And that meant enduring Reid's brutal two-a-days.
“I think that built a foundation," Reid said. "In particular, a young group, and I think they need to be introduced to what the National Football League is all about. It’s faster, there’s more pressure put on you mentally and physically than what you had at the college level, and there’s no better place to figure all that out than right here."
According to Reid, camp also showed that quarterback Kevin Kolb could handle all the responsibilities that come with the job and examplified further that the Eagles weren't misguided when they traded away Donovan McNabb.
"I think he showed that he’s very capable of doing this thing," Reid said. "It’s way more stress than he’s ever had on his arm or asked to do from a throwing standpoint. I thought he did a very good job with that. His command and the intangible part of it he maintained what we thought he would do and what he did last year."
-- While many of the players jetted out of Lehigh, a few lingered in the parking lot and played some basketball. In maybe the worst wager ever made, running back LeSean McCoy bet quarterback Michael Vick that he could not dunk. The 6-foot-1 Vick then stood under the hoop, elevated several feet and threw the ball through the hoop with two hands.
"I'm a schooled veteran," Vick said.
Wide receivers Jason Avant, Jeremy Maclin, Jordan Norwood and Kelley Washington watched with amusement.
"Hey, I got nothing to do with money," Avant said. There didn't appear to be any exchange between Vick and McCoy.
The four receivers played a game of H-O-R-S-E that Avant won.
-- In a note unrelated to football, and for those that would gain considerable enjoyment in seeing me suffer in any way, I was pulled over by a Lehigh University cop Wednesday night. The young policeman said that I had rolled through two stop signs without coming to a complete stop.
As I was apologizing, he noticed my credentials in the passenger seat and asked if I was here with the Eagles for training camp. I said I was not and that I was a sportswriter. He then left for an extended period of time.
When he came back, he said, "I put up with a lot from the Eagles players," and handed me a $109 ticket.
Bye-bye, Lehigh.
Lower Saucon police make a fortune at that corner. Lehigh students are usually the targets.— mick314- Get a life "moron"...pretty apropo— Phillies1120
I would fight those tickets. Both of which should be moving violations and will raise your insurance as well.For a cop to make a statement like that, and hand you 2 tickets, sounds like biased judgment on his part, your word against his, however.- Sorry Jeff, but that was darn funny!!! HA HA HA HA HA HA!
- @morondopenitwit: I have to admit between your rant about the story about the woman that was harrassed by TSA agents at PHL and your post here, you sure exposed your 'antimedia' bias. What's wrong, are you some kind of media wannabe?— drbob1
Comment removed.- Tsk Tsk Jeff....you didn't 'splain yerself well enough. Shoulda told the flatfoot that 'nless he burned those coupons see, yez wez gonna make a fedral case outta it...yah, Muggsy...see?— TBear
- Avant is clearly well versed on what to say and what not to say.— davekrieg
Alot of injuries in this years camp but no major ones. You have to love the beautiful Lehigh.— briandawkins20- Andy Reid is the Dumbest Coach in the NFL, not only that he also is a horrible parent.... The Egals will never win or be successful enough with him and the Dumbest Draft pick ever, Klob boy....— WeWantDMACBACKRIGHTNOW
- WeWantDMACBACKRIGHTNOW, what is your understanding of the proper use of capital letters?— DSqd
- Comment removed.
- Fight it Sheil! I'm just happy there were no major season changing injuires. Love Avant as a player and a person, just seems like a good guy, sort of an offesnive version of Ike!
- Vick is a better football player than BABYARM.— BooDuhBud
- Oh. I thought this was an article about someone dunking Vick in a bucket of water for turning the ball over too much. Paint me disappointed.— jtj06
