Eagles Notes: Rookie Allen set for surgery; season is done

Rookie safety Nate Allen is expected to have surgery Tuesday to repair a torn patellar tendon, Eagles coach Andy Reid said.

Head team physician Pete DeLuca will perform the surgery. The injury is a significant one that will end Allen's rookie year. A complete recovery takes about six months, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Allen was taken 37th overall in April's draft and seen as the long-term answer at safety.

Rookie Kurt Coleman will fill in for Allen, with special teams ace Colt Anderson expected to play a more prominent role. The Eagles will likely need to add someone to provide depth.

Reid briefly sparked intrigue Monday when he said his assistants did not get to see replays of DeSean Jackson's controversial fourth quarter fumble, but he later backed away from some of his comments.

Reid again took the blame for not challenging the referees' call when replays showed a Giant had touched Jackson on his way to the ground. "That's my responsibility. That was ridiculous so I should have cut that thing loose," he said. But he added that "we weren't getting the replays so I'll look into that part, too."

After his news conference, Reid declined to answer more detailed questions about not seeing replays. Fox's television broadcast showed several reviews of the play before the next snap.

Both home and road teams have 32-inch screens in their booths and get to see the same replays, NFL head referee Carl Johnson said in a recent appearance on the NFL Network.

The replays shown on the stadium big screens are up to the home teams, and each can choose what to show, even using that to their advantage, Johnson said.

Reid later tempered his comments on not seeing the reviews.

"We didn't really have a good replay of that," Reid said in his regular appearance on WIP-AM (610).

He added, "The Giants did the right thing. ... It was the right thing to do and probably no different than we would handle it in our stadium."

After a giddy postgame news conference, Reid added touches of concern to his comments Monday.

"For three-plus quarters it wasn't very pretty and that part bothers me as a head football coach," Reid said. "We will go back and learn from our mistakes and get the things that we need to do better, we will get those better."

He said the early struggles Sunday will prevent the team from getting complacent.

"I'm not sure that any of us can sit there and say that we painted a beautiful picture. So that's not where we will be at," Reid said.

Like a perfectly rolled bowling ball, Omar Gaither's strike of a block in which he knocked down three Giants helped pave the way for Jackson's winning punt return.

As Jackson was gearing to run upfield, Gaither pushed the Giants' Chase Blackburn, who knocked down teammate Phillip Dillard and also Deon Grant.

"I realized I hit the guy, but I didn't know I knocked them all over," Gaither said.

Jackson ran through the seam and needed just one more block - from Jason Avant - before he had an unimpeded path into the end zone.

Reid said defensive tackle Mike Patterson had a sore knee that would need an MRI exam. Tackle Winston Justice (knee) is "continuing to make progress," but Reid wants to see how he does against a bull rush in practice. Linebacker Stewart Bradley (elbow) "most likely" will be out again this week.

Eli Manning reminds Giants to stay focused for playoff push. D2.

Was DeSean Jackson showboating during winning TD? D4.

Jason Avant suffers concussion while making key block. D4.

Season ends for rookie safety Nate Allen. D5.