EAGLES: Who’s In The Spotlight?

It’s amazing what one week can do to a team.

Heading into the Washington Redskins game, the Eagles were riding high after back to back wins against the Lions and Jaguars. Michael Vick was the MVP of the NFL during that two week span and it seemed like the 2010 season wasn’t going to be a complete bust. In a season full of turnarounds, Andy Reid named Michael Vick the starter before the Redskins game and the Eagles went into the game with their chins held high.

Kolb will start Sunday for the second time this year

Similar to what happened to open the season, a season that was held to shockingly high expectations with the Kevin Kolb era beginning, Michael Vick (who was now the Eagles guy) got hit. And he got hit hard. Now Andy Reid and the Eagles are back to square one with Kevin Kolb. However this time it wasn’t by choice and both the fans and the players fully understand just how different of a start this will be for Kevin Kolb.

Kolb will be making his fourth career start for the Eagles. Just a week after the organization was quick to rid him of his starting job, he is back in the hot seat. But with an Eagles team that is certainly more than just a quarterback, who is the pressure really on—Kolb or Andy Reid?

It was Andy Reid who was confident enough in Kolb’s future to let go of Donovan McNabb and welcome a new beginning. And just over a week ago it was Andy Reid who gave up on Kolb without really giving him a chance to defend himself. Also, the Eagles have a lot more problems than the quarterbacking debacle. Andy Reid is not the quarterbacks coach—he is the head coach and is responsible for all aspects of the team. The Eagles defense has been pretty horrendous and the offensive line even worse than that.

On the flip side, Kevin Kolb has yet to prove that he deserves to be the starting quarterback for the Eagles. Before getting knocked out of the Packers game, he was a mere 5 for 10 and couldn’t get anything going on offense. This past Sunday, he looked even worse when he came in for the injured Michael Vick. How do the Eagles run an effective offense when 20 of his 27 completed passes went for five yards or less? The Texan who was born to run the west coast offense has been running the Eagles offense into the ground. Can he not handle the pressure of the big stage? Is he just not as good as people thought he was?

The most terrifying part of this debacle is that the Eagles are in the easy part of their schedule right now. The San Francisco 49ers were supposed to be the best team in the NFC West (which isn’t saying much). Even though they are 0-4, they still have a lot of options on offense in Frank Gore, Vernon Davis and Michael Crabtree. After this weekend, the Eagles face Atlanta (3-1) and Tennesee (2-2) before the bye week. After that, every team they play is either .500 or better right now. With Vick most likely out until after the bye week with his rib injury, this stretch of games coming up before the bye week are must-wins for the Eagles. So with all that said it goes back to the question of who is under a brighter spotlight—Kevin Kolb or Andy Reid?

Is Andy Reid on the hot seat?

As close as it is considering it’s easy to blame everything on the head coach, I am going to go with Kevin Kolb. If he wants to be the Eagles starter one day (or a starter anywhere in the NFL), he needs to start winning some games. What happened to the Kevin Kolb who became the first player to ever throw back to back 300 yard games in his first two career starts? Was that a fluke? I thought I saw a future after watching him in training camp in August. There seemed to be chemistry with his receivers that day that has seemed to fade since the start of preseason. He is afraid to make plays. When he finally does decide to go after those plays (which happened a few times against Washington), he was far from accurate. If there is any position in the NFL that requires confidence, it is the quarterback. He does not look like he is trusting his receivers or himself every time he drops back.

Andy Reid is a winner. There’s no denying the amount of success he has brought the franchise in his long year tenure with the organization. Even though he has yet to get a ring, he has created one of the most consistent franchises in sports. However, there’s an overwhelming amount of fear and questioning with this Eagles team that I haven’t seen in the past. Most of it has to do with the lack of a stable quarterback, but every aspect of the team seems to have its own set of question marks. Maybe the Eagles aren’t as good this year as people thought they were. There’s something, and I would argue a lot of things, that are off about the team that Andy needs to fix.

Something needs to change. The Eagles can’t go into games every week with skepticism about their different units. They are playing was too inconsistently to compete at the top level, a level that I think they have the ability to be at when clicking on all cylinders. Whether it’s Kolb or Reid, something needs to change and something needs to change fast.

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Other News and Notes for Sunday’s game:

-According to ESPN.com, Andy Reid said that LeSean McCoy is a “full-go” for Sunday night’s game against the Niners. He has a cracked rib and is expected to split time with Mike Bell. Bell has struggled all year on short-yardage opportunities, but should see more action this week than in past games.

-Moise Fokou was announced the starter at linebacker instead of Akeem Jordan. Defensive coordinator Sean McDermott said that Fokou’s size should be a nice compliment to a speedy defense. The Eagles have struggled against the run and it doesn’t help that they will face Frank Gore and former Eagle Brian Westbrook.

EAGLES: The Injury Bug Strikes Early

It was only a matter of time before the injury bug decided to come back for the 2010 season and infect the Eagles. While there have not been any season-ending injuries thus far (knock on wood), there have been multiple nagging injuries reported over the last few days.

DeSean Jackson getting carted off the field with a back injury (courtesy of Philly.com)

On Saturday the main injury headline was with wide receiver DeSean Jackson. He strained his back during the morning session of practice and was carted off for precautionary reasons. Since the back is a serious case for concern, it is likely that he will be taking it easy for the next few days. Linebacker Stewart Bradley also did not practice because he is trying to keep as much pressure off his surgically repaired knee as possible. Both are listed as day-to-day.

Today’s practice resulted in three different players being carted off the field. Cornerback Asante Samuel and backup running back Mike Bell both strained their hamstrings during light workouts. Similar to Jackson, they are not expected to be serious and Samuel even mentioned that he could be on the field starting Monday morning.

With Bell out, the door opened for recently acquired running back J.J. Arrington. He was signed the other day as another experienced running back, despite missing all of last season from microfracture surgery on his knee. The Eagles also called back Martell Mallett after releasing him after the Arrington signing.

Finally, center A.Q. Shipley suffered an ankle injury and is listed as day-to-day.

It is not a good feeling for Eagles fans when the injury bug strikes just as the pads are coming on and the hitting is just starting up. For the next few weeks, the probability of injuries is going to skyrocket with all the position battles and rookies trying to prove themselves to the veterans. As long as these injuries stay minimal there is no problem. The young Eagles lineup cannot afford to lose another leader like they did last season with Stewart Bradley.

In other news, defensive specialist Akeem Jordan practiced with the first team defense on Sunday at the strong side linebacker position. The move knocked Moises Fokou out of the starting spot, hence creating a highly anticipated position battle for the rest of camp.

EAGLES: Preparing for Training Camp; Linebackers and the Secondary

Linebackers: Stewart Bradley, Ernie Sims, Moise Fokou, Omar Gaither, Akeem Jordan, Joe Mays, Alex Hall, Jamar Chaney (R), Keenan Clayton (R), Simoni Lawence (R)

Bradley missed all of the 2009 season with a torn ACL

There is one question when addressing the linebacker core…will Stewart Bradley be the Stewart Bradley that Eagles fans are hoping for? He was sidelined all of 2009 with a torn ACL and was expected to be the leader on a highly anticipated defense. Instead the defense finished the year ranked 19^th in total points allowed (21.1 per game), 12^th in yards given up (321 per game), and couldn’t tackle a person for the life of them. All reports indicate that Bradley is back to his old form, so let’s just hope he doesn’t partake in this years’ Flight Night. If for some reason Bradley is not in full form, his projected backup is Omar Gaither. He spent a majority of last season battling injuries and getting playing time shuffling between middle and outside linebacker.

In one of their biggest offseason acquisitions, the Eagles signed former Detroit Lion Ernie Sims. He was the captain of the defense and recorded 100+ tackles during his first three seasons with the Lions. Sims is expected to be the favorite for the weakside linebacker position. Behind him on the depth charts is Akeem Jordan, who continues to improve each season. He was third on the team in tackles last year and also grabbed two interceptions, becoming the first Eagles linebacker with two interceptions since Ike Reese in 2004.

Finally, the most talked about linebacker position is at the strong side. Everything I have read indicates that Moise Fokou is the leading candidate for the job after his success at the position to close out the 2009 season. He was mostly used on special teams but filled in for Chris Gocong while he was injured. The main reason why Fokou is probably the favorite is because two rookies sit behind him on the depth chart—Keenan Clayton and Ricky Sapp. Clayton is recognized for his speed and coverage skills, which makes sense considering he started his college career at safety. Similarly, Sapp was a sprinter in high school and will most likely be used in nickel formations at defensive end or linebacker as a speed rusher or “joker”/hybrid position.

Even though there are three clear favorites for the starting positions, don’t be surprised if there is a lot of swapping at Lehigh. Reid and defensive coordinator Sean McDermott love to shuffle around their linemen and linebackers depending on defensive matchups and to throw off opposing quarterbacks.

Cornerbacks: Asante Samuel, Ellis Hobbs, Joselio Hanson, Macho Harris, Trevard Lindley (R), Dmitri Patterson, David Pender (R), Geoff Pope

Everyone agrees that the cornerback position is the biggest question mark heading into training camp. More specifically, who will fill the role of Sheldon Brown? Clearly Asante Samuel is the Eagles top cornerback, but Sheldon Brown was the most consistent player in the secondary last season and he will be very tough to replace. Many people believe that Ellis Hobbs has the advantage despite still rehabbing neck and back problems that could keep him sidelines for some of training camp. The Eagles only drafted one substantial cornerback in Trevard Lindley, who doesn’t seem to have the talent to start come opening day.

Hobbs' starting job will not come easy

The main position battle is going to be between Hobbs, Joselio Hanson and Macho Harris. Hobbs’ injury really concerns me because it is to his neck (anterior cervical decompression and fusion for a herniated disk  to be exact) and he plays a physical position (not to mention he gets beat up as the Eagles kick returner too). Hanson finished the season with two interceptions despite really only playing in nickel formations. Harris spent all of last season at free safety, but played cornerback in college and will most likely see action at corner considering how thin the depth chart is right now.

There is no definite player (other than Samuel) that the Eagles can rely on at this point during the season. However, changes need to be made during training camp so that the Eagles secondary can avoid allowing 27 passing touchdowns and ranking 17^th in pass defense like they did in 2009.

Safeties: Quintin Mikell, Quintin Demps, Nate Allen (R), Macho Harris, Kurt Coleman (R), Ryan Hamilton (R), Brett Johnson (R)

Quintin Mikell is coming off a Pro-Bowl caliber season where he led the team in tackles (122) and had two interceptions. He is definitely a lock again to start at strong safety in his eight season, but the Eagles are still hoping that he continues to breakout and be the “Brian Dawkins-like” safety they were hoping for.

Can Nate Allen handle the pressure of starting as a rookie?

The guy with the most pressure starting Monday is Nate Allen, the Eagles second round draft pick from South Florida. Often regarded as the “Donovan McNabb pick” since he was the Redskins second round pick, Allen is already listed as the starting free safety on the depth charts. He finished his collegiate tenure with 224 tackles, nine interceptions, and four defensive touchdowns. Reid and McDermott believe that he has what it takes to start as a rookie and have been working hard with him to learn the playbook before the regular season.

Similar to the rest of the secondary, there are a lot of questions still lingering behind the projected starters. Kurt Coleman, Ryan Hamilton, and Brett Johnson are all rookies and have nothing to prove other than their collegiate statistics. Quintin Demps, who has been with the Eagles for the last few seasons, has been a huge bust and failed on several attempts to contribute to the starting defense.

Now we sit back, somewhat relax and watch as the 2010 Eagles training camp unfolds…hopefully with limited or no injuries.