Thoughts on the Preseason

Well, this has been an unusual off season for the Eagles. A team that usually builds through the draft has been picking up free agents like You-Two-Calm-Down-or-I'm-Turning-Off-the-TV Dad picks up free mints after dinner out.

On the one hand, I keep thinking: "Andy has his problems as a coach, but he's a personnel genius. He sees potential in players no one else does." Not that a whole lot of people are confused about Nnamdi Asomugha's potential.

On the other hand, I keep thinking: "The team that wins the off season rarely does well during the actual season."  See below RE: Snyder, Dan, and Redskins, The.

On the third hand - yes, I'm borrowing one of yours - Andy's not randomly adding any old anyone. And he's not paying guys ridiculous amounts of money over many, many years. Steve Smith, for instance, is getting a 1 year deal for $2 million.

So I'm hoping that the Front Office figured they had some cash to spend, there were some guys available, and they could give the whole "free agency fire sale" thing a try for a year or two, and see if any of the gambles work out.

I hope.

The real worry right now, I think, is injury. That's always the worry in the preseason, but this year's worse. None of these guys from any team have been in camp very long, and they're starting to pummel each other, well, now. I know a bunch of guys on a bunch of teams are trying to make teams, and they should definitely get a chance to play and make their cases. But keep the starters OFF the field, yo.

Oh - and pay DeSean already.

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It's a Madhouse! A madhouse, I tell you!

As I predicted (What you don't follow me on Twitter? What are you waiting for? An invitation? Consider yourself invited), free agency is now pretty much spinning into barely controlled chaos. I quite literally can't even keep up with what's going on with the Eagles, much less the entire league. I have a day job, here, people. So I'm cheating and sending you other places for free agency news.

• Tommy Lawlor is covering all the trades at Iggles Blitz and all the rumors on Twitter (yes, you should follow him, too)
• Bleeding Green Nation is blogging at a blistering pace, covering all the rumors and including periodic open threads where you can share your thoughts on who's going to end up where - they also have a sidebar ticker of news from the other teams' SportsBlogNation blogs
• Bird's Fan is also doing a good job of periodically (like "multiple times a day") summarizing all the trades and rumors of trades (seriously, am I the only one who works here?)
• Even The 700 Level has taken a time-out from Phillies coverage to talk Kolb, Cromartie and McNabb (and while we're on the subject, two SIXTH ROUND picks?!? C'mon man!)
• Inside the Iggles wants us to pick up Albert Haynesworth, which just...no. No. A thousand times no, Fat Albert.
• At least the Favre rumor looks to have been bogus. Thank God.

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Lockout Ends

But now what?

Before we bust out the champagne, cupcakes, and 8-foot inflatable LeSean McCoys for the lawn, remember a few things:

• The players' union has to reform and approve the deal. Now, that's likely, but it's not guaranteed.
• Free agency is about to take place, in about 10 minutes. It's going to be a mess.
• Rookies will need to be signed, also in about 10 minutes. And there are new rules for their contracts. Also likely a mess.
• The salary cap has been lowered. That's going to mean trouble for some teams.
• The Hall of Fame game has already been canceled. Who knows what's going to happen with the rest of the pre-season. 
• The teams have to get ready for the full season in 6 weeks. As the WaPo pointed out this morning, the teams that are in particular trouble include those with rookie QBs, those that plan to pick up a lot of free agents, and those that rely heavily on a passing game and timing routes. That's definitely our Eagles on at least that last count, and possibly on the free agent issue too. As Bleeding Green Nation has pointed out more than once, the Eagles front office has at least been making noise about having a big free agency push this year. Guess we'll know soon.

In short, I'm not yet convinced that all will be well for the 2011 season, but I am at least now fairly hopeful that there will BE a 2011 season.

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Tick...Tick...Tick

Well, the owners and the players are meeting - again - to try to work out their differences. Meanwhile, training camps are scheduled to open mid-month (and given that everyone missed all the mini camps, they're going to need every minute of prep time), and the pre-season opening Hall of Fame game is supposed to go down one month from today.

Time's running out, y'all. I don't think we want a repeat of the 1987 season, not least of which because the Redskins won the Super Bowl that year, and if the Skins win a Super Bowl under their current front office before my beloved Eagles win their FIRST EVER, I will seriously go postal.

So, sports fans, who do you think will blink first?

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Trade Rumors

I don't usually post about these because it's mostly just a waste of time, but there are two I can't ignore:

1. It's looking like Kevin Kolb might be headed to the Cardinals - I KNEW it!
2. Plax might be coming to the Eagles. Are they trying to corner the market on ex-cons? Of course it's all "if the price is right" talk. The Eagles don't need receivers, but ever since they dumped Hank Baskett, they don't really have anyone good for end zone fade routes, since all their excellent receivers are four feet tall. As long as they can get him for used DVDs of the Waterboy and The Longest Yard, plus two packs of smokes, I figure why not take a chance?

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Welcome to the Eagles, Danny Watkins

I don't usually write much about the draft. I don't follow college ball, so I generally don't have anything original to say. I could recap scouting notes and combine results, but why would I add myself as a middleman? Waste of time.

But last night I saw something truly unexpected: the Eagles took a 26 year old ex-fireman and ex-hockey player who's only played football for about 5 years with their #1 pick.

Reasons why I'm not freaking out this morning:

• Andy Reid picked up someone to protect Mike Vick's blindside. Thank God, because Max Jean-Gilles wasn't getting it done.
• Danny may be 26, but he's regular 26 not football 26 thanks to his relatively short career to date.
• I quote Fellow Eagles Maniac: "Love this quote about Watkins: 'Watkins is a mature, physical player with a nasty disposition.'" That'll work.
• How fun was watching his fire fighter posse go nuts when he was picked?

Yes, I know we still need a CB opposite Asante Samuel. Yes, I know Jimmy Smith was still on the board when we picked. You think after the T.O. mess Big Red will EVER voluntarily take a hot mess player again? Because I don't. I figure Andy's got a plan that involves Kevin Kolb and a team that needs a QB like the Raiders or the Cardinals.


In the meantime, I'm looking forward to the presser at 4 today.

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My First Day as an Eagle...

And I'm already on IR.

This past Sunday, Life-Long Eagles Fan Mom and I went to the Philadelphia Eagles Academy for Women at the NovaCare Complex.

Let me get the "IR" part of the story out of the way immediately.

Part of the day included on the field time in the bubble. I managed to severely strain my left calf about 10 minutes into it. After which I texted Chef Spouse: "My first day as an Eagle, and I'm already on IR."

The day opened with registration of what I would estimate to be 250-300 attendees. Life-Long Eagles Fan Mom and I were assigned to Team Maclin. Sadly, that did not mean that we spent the day with Jeremy Maclin.

A team rep welcomed us to the day in the auditorium of the NovaCare Complex, then introduced Kevin Reilly, former Eagle, cancer survivor and motivational speaker. He told a little of his life story, an old but funny joke about a parrot, and basically siked us up with "never underestimate the power of the human spirit." Little did I know how useful that tip would come later in the day.

Then it was Team Maclin's turn in the practice bubble. We did some warm ups, during which I did the damage to the leg, then met rookie Austin Howard. He was really sweet and called everyone "ma'am" and was the biggest human being I'd ever actually stood next to. He seriously could comfortably rest a drink on my head, and I'm not that short.

We moved on to a little 3 on 3. Team reps were on defense and at QB, and we were supposed to be going out to catch passes. Which Life-Long Eagles Fan Mom did, for a TD! I found that, while I couldn't really run forward, I could go backwards, so I played a little D, too.

Then it was on to passing, the obstacle course, and receiving drills. Oh, I still did the rest of the on-field activities. Eagles are tough, and we play injured. You know who else did all the on-field activities? Life-Long Eagles Fan Mom. I'm not going to tattle on her age here, but my first significant football memory was when Dick Vermeil came to Philly. That was 1976, I was 5 and she's my mom, so you do the math.

Then it was time to hit the cafeteria for lunch, followed by touring the complex and classroom time.

Chef Spouse was a little worried about the concept of the classroom time going into the day. He was all: "If they're like, 'This is a football. Now, you get FOUR tries to go TEN yards or you have to give the ball to the other team...' you're going to bust a cap in somebody's ass." He needn't have worried. The Eagles know their fans, and they know that even the ladies don't screw around.

We started with a tour of the training room and the locker room (where I noticed that David Akers' locker was completely cleaned out, not a good sign), then had a sit-down with special teams coach Bobby April where he broke down how they set up punt coverage. My one complaint with all the classroom sessions was that there wasn't enough time for Q&A. I really wanted to ask Coach April how he was able to take Sav Rocca from one of the most inconsistent punters in the league to one of the best in just two seasons, and what his take is on whether or not David Akers will be back next year (that one, he probably wouldn't have answered), but there wasn't time.

Then it was through the workout room, where I got that great photo of the weights above, and on to defense with former defensive tackle Darwin Walker.  He walked us through film, talking through how the defensive line sets up to blitz and stop the run. Favorite Darwin Walker comment? "I would give it everything out there. I would pretty much die out there."

After that, Tra Thomas, the guy who protected Big 5's blindside for a decade, walked us through film on how the offensive line sets up big runs or big-time protection to give the receivers time to go long. Favorite Tra Thomas comment? In response to my question about his best memory as an Eagle: "The day I was drafted. I didn't want to go anywhere else."

We wrapped the classroom portion of the day back in the auditorium, with Merrill Reese talking about everything that goes into calling the play-by-play (it's a lot more than you might think). It's good to know that in the heat of a play, Merrill sometimes has as much trouble as I do determining whether the guy with the ball is DeSean or Jeremy Maclin. An 8 and a 0 can look a lot alike, and neither of them is very big.

And then on to the gift bags, which included a BIG blowup of DJax scoring at the Miracle at the New Meadowlands, with Tom Coughlin throwing his clipboard to the turf in the background. Good times.

Check out my photos from the day on Flickr.

Oh, and if your mom or sister or wife or girlfriend or daughter or whoever loves the Eagles? Send her to this event next year.

E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES!

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