Eagles News

"Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid's son was sent to state prison after admitting he smuggled 89 prescription pills into a county jail. Garrett Reid pleaded guilty to drug smuggling charges on Wednesday and faces a minimum of two years in state prison. The 25-year-old Reid, however, could be released earlier to a less restrictive facility if he is accepted into a drug-treatment program, Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said."

"Brian Westbrook said the conversation he had with Eagles coach Andy Reid about newly acquired backup running back Lorenzo Booker was a quickie. But just the fact it happened is an indication of the scheming the Birds' brains are doing on the second floor of the team's practice facility. ''We talked briefly about using both of us in the passing game,'' Westbrook said. ''I think if you put Reggie [Brown], Kevin [Curtis] and DeSean [Jackson] in the wide receiver positions and me and Lorenzo in the backfield, it would be tough for any team to match up with the speed that we put on the field. I think it's tough for a defense to match up with us. I think that's what Coach Reid was thinking when we added him.''"

"Lito Sheppard broke his silence and spoke to reporters Monday after the Eagles wrapped up their first minicamp. He didn't say much to clarify his awkward status on the team. Sheppard, who apparently has lost his starting left cornerback job to free agent signee Asante Samuel and is considered trade bait, was evasive when asked if those issues had been settled. "Next question," he said, at least twice. "Any questions about football?" he also said."

"They play the same position and saw their first NFL action under the same circumstances, so it stands to reason that Todd Herremans and Max Jean-Gilles view their competition at left guard through similar lenses. Herremans, a two-year starter whose play slipped a bit last season, cracked the Eagles starting lineup as a rookie in 2005 in place of injured left tackle Tra Thomas. Herremans parlayed that into a starting job at left guard the following season."

"Eagles head coach Andy Reid reprimanded the media for negativity Monday. Then he overlooked the most positive story at minicamp — the story that the media found so intriguing. If anyone had an ax to grind at the concluded camp, it was cornerback Lito Sheppard. Instead of ripping Reid and the organization for their awkward and unsuccessful attempts to trade him, Sheppard behaved like a professional. Instead of telling the country that he’s underpaid, he declined comment."

"Andy Reid denied that arm or shoulder soreness kept Eagles franchise quarterback Donovan McNabb out of the last minicamp practice Monday. But McNabb was clutching his right shoulder for a while as if experiencing difficulty, according to an eyewitness. “We try to track the numbers (of throws) and you have to be careful at this time of year,” Reid said. “With that No. 1 group, you have a tendency to get a lot of throws in, and that’s what it is.” By that reasoning, McNabb may have reached his limit of throws Saturday, for he was held out of the last portion of the afternoon practice. Those first-team snaps were given to second-year quarterback Kevin Kolb."

"Head coach Andy Reid -- in the middle of one of his more boring, even for him, press conferences -- took time to scold the media for being too negative about his 8-8 team that missed the playoffs for the second time in three years. "I thought you guys struggled to find a positive story," Reid said when asked what the atmosphere was like at this year's minicamp compared to last year's when he was in the middle of a family crisis and quarterback Donovan McNabb was in the middle of rehabbing a torn ACL. "You did a good job finding the negative ones, but there are plenty of positive ones that you could find out there." Hey, this time it wasn't even me. Yesterday was my first appearance at this year's minicamp. But if Reid wants positive, let's give him positive. "

"Lito Sheppard could have turned the past four days at the NovaCare Complex into the type of fiasco the Eagles have not seen since Terrell Owens took his driveway workout routine national in 2005. Sheppard not only showed up at the team's mandatory post-draft minicamp, but the two-time Pro Bowler took the high road. "

"Sometimes a great game is just a great game, but Stewart Bradley's made him the Eagles' starting middle linebacker. A third-round draft pick out of Nebraska in 2007, he flew under the radar for most of his rookie season, contributing mostly on special teams. Then, in the second-to-last game, he went from prospect to present. In a victory at New Orleans, Stewart became the first player in Eagles' history to record his first career sack and his first career interception in his first career start."

"His minicamp obligation fulfilled, Eagles cornerback Lito Sheppard left the NovaCare Complex on Monday without a promise of returning. Asked if he'd be in attendance for the team's optional Organized Team Activities in June, he smiled his Lito smile and said, "Can't think that far ahead." Sheppard wasn't planning on taking questions Monday. To be more precise, the Eagles' dissatisfied two-time Pro Bowl cornerback fended off media pressure Saturday by saying he would talk Monday, before reconsidering Sunday. Then, physically hemmed in at his locker by cameras and microphones, he reconsidered."

" What was missing from the Eagles' red-zone equation last year was production from the tight end position, particularly from starter L.J. Smith. Smith was hurt almost the entire season. Hampered by groin and knee injuries, he missed six games, wasn't anywhere close to 100 percent in the other 10 and caught a career-low 22 passes and one touchdown. "I basically played half a season last year," Smith said. "The year before [in '06] all [five] of my touchdowns were in the red zone. The red zone is a chance for offensive coordinators to find that [coverage] mismatch when the defense brings in that extra linebacker or that extra defensive lineman in goal-line situations."

"Eagles rookies and selected veterans will report to training camp at Lehigh University on July 21. The remainder of the team is due on July 24. The Eagles will be in training camp for only 3 weeks, breaking camp on Aug. 13. The preseason opens Aug. 8 at Pittsburgh. The home preseason opener is Aug. 14 against Carolina. "

"THE REPORTERS waited through the buckling of the belt that held up the elaborately embroidered jeans. Then came the donning of the white T-shirt, the vigorous brushing of the close-cropped hair, the applying of the lip balm, and the accessorizing (Tanzanite earrings and a large silver necklace). Finally, Lito Sheppard turned to face the cameras and microphones. Minutes earlier, an Eagles spokesman had dispersed the pack in front of Sheppard's locker stall, with the news that Sheppard did not plan to speak with reporters - even though in his brief remarks on Friday, when he reported for mandatory minicamp, Sheppard had said he would speak at the end of the 3 days of workouts."

"Todd Herremans was looking sleek yesterday. Not quite as sleek as Rasheed Wallace, the Detroit Piston whose jersey Herremans was wearing as he departed the season's first minicamp, but then again, 'Sheed's build might not be optimal for slamming an NFL defensive tackle. Lito Sheppard is the endangered starter who has gotten most of the attention, the way the Eagles gave away his left cornerback job to Asante Samuel, leaving Sheppard and Sheldon Brown to fight it out for the right side spot, so far. But Herremans, the Birds' starter at left guard the past two seasons, also faces a challenge. The coaching staff made it plain at the end of 2007 that they weren't overwhelmed by his play, and that gargantuan Max Jean-Gilles would get every opportunity to unseat Herremans this year."

"The real test of cornerback Lito Sheppard's view of things will likely come next month when the Eagles' full squad is scheduled to return for eight camp days at the NovaCare Complex. The first day of that camp is June 3. Asked if he'd be there, Sheppard responded by asking if there were "any other questions." Asked if he thought the current situation could work, the cornerback again asked if there were "any other questions." And then Sheppard showed he still has a sense of a humor. "What are we going to do?" he asked. "Like Drew said, 'Next question.' ""

"During the three days of minicamp just concluded by the Eagles, cornerback Lito Sheppard deftly avoided two things as if they were downfield blockers coming to drive him out of bounds. He showed up, thereby avoiding a substantial fine for missing the mandatory sessions, and he also avoided sharing his true feelings about the current starting lineup, which, you might have heard, does not include him. "I just play football," Sheppard said yesterday. "I don't have any expectations." And with that, and a few other non-answers, he was out of the locker room unscathed. When he will come back - if he will ever come back - is fodder for another time."

"Nobody was more thrilled with the Eagles' offseason moves than Jim Johnson, who got more presents than a rich kid on Christmas morning. The biggest present, gift-wrapped with a $57 million contract, was All-Pro cornerback Asante Samuel. Next was defensive end Chris Clemons, who should help a weak pass rush. Also placed under Johnson's tree were most of the Eagles' top draft picks. Ho, ho, ho! No wonder Johnson, the Eagles' defensive coordinator, had a big smile on his face on Sunday while discussing his side of the ball."

"The Eagles have a cornerback controversy. They don’t have a quarterback controversy, despite the sudden emergence of Kevin Kolb. Kolb quietly has been given the backup quarterback job that formerly was the domain of veteran A.J. Feeley, gauging by the quality of repetitions at minicamp. Though offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg suggested that there was a competition for the No. 2 job, it appears the job is Kolb’s to lose and Feeley could be on the move for the fourth time in his career."

"Going from bewildered rookie to the Eagles' primary defensive signal caller in the span of less than a year has been the wildest and most fulfilling ride of Stewart Bradley's football career. "You're swimming, and the water's murky," is how he described his first minicamp 12 months ago. "And you're just trying to stay afloat. There are so many things they put in and the terminology is new and you're in a new place." Bradley is in a new place again after being installed as the starting middle linebacker following the surprising offseason release of Takeo Spikes."

"Second-round draft pick DeSean Jackson may be penciled in as the Eagles' primary returner on punts and kickoffs, but no one is going to simply hand him the job. Jackson is just one of a crowd of players working on returns during the team's first minicamp, which continued Sunday. Jackson and safety Quintin Demps, a fourth-round draft pick out of UTEP, got most of the reps, but special teams coordinator Rory Segrest said the field of candidates for those jobs is large and varied."

"Donovan McNabb made offseason news by campaigning for more playmakers, and the Eagles did little, at least outwardly, to fill that void. L.J. Smith and Reggie Brown say the team is merely hiring from within. As the team concluded its second day of minicamp practices Sunday,Philadelphia's sixth-year tight end and fourth-year wideout said the Eagles have all the playmakers they need at receiver. "You don't need a big-time receiver," Smith said. "People just have to stay healthy, and guys just have to know what they're doing and make plays consistently.""

"Logic suggests that Kevin Kolb will be the Eagles' No. 2 quarterback come September. So does the fact that he's taking the snaps with No. 2 offense this weekend at the team's postdraft minicamp. "We'll see," offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg said yesterday when asked whether the team's '07 second-round pick is ready to leapfrog over A.J. Feeley and serve as Donovan McNabb's understudy next season."

"No one questions the level of their talent. Sheppard has been to two Pro Bowls. Samuel has been to one and has notched 16 interceptions over the last two seasons. Brown is a solid 4-year starter who hasn't missed a game in six NFL seasons. Throw in underrated Joselio Hanson and you may have the best cornerback foursome in the league. The multimillion dollar question is, how do you keep them all happy, particularly Sheppard, whose starting job on the left side was handed to Samuel and who either a) wants to have his contract fire-bombed; or b) be traded? Johnson can't do anything about Sheppard's contract situation. But he indicated yesterday at the team's postdraft minicamp that he may have a way to keep all three cornerbacks happy with respect to playing time."

"DONOVAN McNABB could have responded the way former Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre did when he blasted management for not pursuing Pro Bowl receiver Randy Moss to help him in his swan-song campaign. McNabb isn't Favre and Philadelphia isn't Green Bay. After nearly a decade as the lightning rod of Philly's most popular team, McNabb is smart enough to know how publicly lamenting the Eagles' "oh, well" approach to upgrading the offense would play out. Few would understand his point, even fewer would want to hear it, and virtually none would sympathize with him."

"If Asante Samuel, Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown are going to be a three's-company cornerback story, then it's up to Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson to make it work. The plan? "There are going to be times where all three of them are on the field," Johnson said. "There is no question about that. It might be 60 percent of the time, it might be 70 percent of the time. We are going to get our best football players on the field. It might not be just against three wideouts, you never know." Johnson insisted that the situation is not a distraction."

"No, they did not add Chad Johnson, Roy Williams, Randy Moss, or any of the other star wide receivers that this team's fans have craved since Terrell Owens' temperamental departure. But the fact that a healthy Donovan McNabb showed up for this minicamp is reason enough to believe that the offense will be better than it was last season. "There's no comparison," offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg said when asked about McNabb's physical condition compared to a year ago at this time, when the quarterback was recovering from surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee."

" The reviews are in, and as usual, they are mixed. Here are what several different scouts had to say about the players the Eagles selected dur ing last weekend's draft. Keep in mind these quotes were compiled in the weeks before the draft before anyone knew who was being selected by any team. Trevor Laws, DT, Notre Dame: According to one scout he was probably Notre Dame's best performer in 2007 and followed it up with a superb week at the Senior Bowl. "

" From the minute the first conference call to Quintin Demps was placed, everyone knew the Eagles' newest safety could talk the talk. What he said minutes after the Eagles selected him out of Texas El-Paso in the fourth round of last weekend's draft made him an instant favorite to watch and find out if he can walk the walk. "

"Lito Sheppard almost always talks to the media. When he doesn't, it usually means something is up. Sheppard refused to talk to a small army of reporters huddled around his locker Saturday morning after the team's first full-squad minicamp practice. "I'm not gonna talk to y'all -- you can stand there all you want," Sheppard said. "I'll answer a couple questions on Monday.""

"It was all rolled eyes, shrugged shoulders and sideways glances at Eagles minicamp Saturday. There's plainly a level of discomfort around the Eagles these days. A good number of high-profile players are walking around unhappy -- from Lito Sheppard losing his job, to Brian Westbrook and his contract, to Donovan McNabb's plea for more playmakers going more or less unheeded. It's there. There's no denying it. Unless, of course, you are the people who run the Eagles -- in which case, everything is fine."

"The gesture was vague, but it might have revealed more about Donovan McNabb's opinion of the Eagles' offseason than anything the quarterback actually said. The question: Did the Eagles try hard enough to better the offense? Or, more specifically, did they do their best to pair their franchise quarterback with some playmakers? "I think they did a great job," McNabb said. His sincerity, though, wasn't completely believable. And he smirked. Was the look because of the loaded question? Or was it his ambiguous answer? Only McNabb knows."

"It was awkward at best and certainly not the final solution to the Eagles' muddled situation at cornerback. As the team went through its first practice at a post-draft minicamp yesterday, all eyes were on Lito Sheppard, the two-time Pro Bowler who isn't happy about his contract situation and seemingly has lost his starting job to Asante Samuel, an all-pro who was the team's most expensive free-agent addition in the off-season. What the Eagles did on this day was rotate Sheppard in at both left cornerback and right cornerback. Sometimes Samuel would be on the field with the first-team defense and sometimes Sheppard would replace him. One time, the two even slapped hands as Sheppard returned to the field and Samuel left. Other times, Sheppard went in for his close friend Sheldon Brown at right cornerback and shared the field with Samuel."

"This was a forum for the Eagles to express their views about what has transpired in the off-season, and neither Donovan McNabb nor running back Brian Westbrook was critical. McNabb was asked after the team's morning workout yesterday whether he thought the Eagles could have been more aggressive in getting those playmakers he blogged about shortly after the end of the 2007 season. He smiled at the loaded question and said, "I think they did a great job." The Eagles, who finished 17th in scoring offense and 24th at scoring inside the 20-yard line, did not make any major offensive additions in free agency, but McNabb said at one point that "we can win the Super Bowl with this team.""

""It didn't really end the way I wanted it to," Dunlap said. "I had some injuries and personal issues off the field. But there really is no excuse for the bad play. You've got to go out there and get it done. And I didn't do that." Dunlap is a blot-out-the-sun giant, but his disappointing play last year at Auburn poisoned his chances of being an early-round draft pick. He fell all the way to the seventh round, where the Eagles took him with the 230th pick. Thirty-four offensive linemen were claimed before him."

"A little past 6 o'clock last evening, Lito Sheppard walked up the hill in front of the NovaCare Complex. The mystery over whether the two-time Pro Bowl cornerback would show up for the team's mandatory minicamp this weekend is over. Now, the big question is, "What happens next?" "We all know the situation at hand," Sheppard told reporters before going in for a team meeting. "It still stands unresolved. But I'm here. I'm here to practice and that's what I'm focused on right now.""

"It would be difficult to find an NFL scout or team that believed Eagles second-round pick DeSean Jackson lacked the talent to play at the next level. Some teams, however, shied away from him because they thought he could be an attitude problem. "I just feel like I'm a passionate person and I'm a guy that likes winning," Jackson said yesterday when asked about that impression. "It's hard for me to lose coming from Long Beach Poly, and I just have the will to go out and make great things happen for the organization. "

"Not only did Lito Sheppard show up last night, he was early. The Eagles cornerback arrived at 6 p.m. at the NovaCare Complex, a half-hour before coach Andy Reid's scheduled team meeting that preceded the start of this morning's post-draft minicamp. It's no secret that Sheppard is not happy with his contract. Exactly what his decision to attend this camp means is not known, and it certainly wasn't clarified by Sheppard's brief comments before the meeting."

"There was plenty of tension the last time Andy Reid had a trio of Pro Bowl-caliber cornerbacks. Troy Vincent, Bobby Taylor and the young Al Harris all were talented players, but there were only two premier jobs available... The great communicator Reid isn't, but he must do better this time or else the cornerback situation with Lito Sheppard, Sheldon Brown and Asante Samuel will ruin the Eagles' 2008 season before it begins. If you think off-season turmoil can't carry over to the regular season, just look back to those educational T.O. days."

"I suggested that Sheppard ultimately would keep his mouth shut and play hard out of respect for his good friend, free safety Brian Dawkins, who, at 34, is running out of Super Bowl opportunities. In retrospect, that probably was a little naive of me. Cut through all the bullbleep and the truth is, football is first and foremost a business for players. And in business, money trumps everything, including friendships and Super Bowls. "

"One little R. That's all that differentiates the words daft and draft. Once again, the Eagles proved it's impossible to predict their first-round pick. Even two minutes before the team was due to make it. Saturday, the Birds' big surprise was swapping their No. 1 to Carolina for a first next year, and second- and fourth-rounders this year. So if guessing the almost-here-and-now is impossible, what you call predicting the picks next year? About as accurate as flinging Frisbees during a tornado. But, believe it or not, sports fans, that's just what some draftniks do."

"A year ago this weekend, Brian Dawkins, a six-time Pro Bowl safety, was supposed to join Eagles veterans, free-agent signees and draft picks for a post-draft minicamp. But Dawkins had an excused absence from all minicamps last spring. The man who prides himself on helping young players adapt to life in the NFL had a more important mission at his home in Florida. "

"This weekend's camp, which includes two practices each day Saturday and Sunday and one Monday, will provide the first glimpse of how Asante Samuel, Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown could be used by defensive coordinator Jim Johnson if they are all still around when the season begins. It also could provide the first public comments from Sheppard, who is unhappy with his contract situation but has chosen to remain silent since the Eagles signed Samuel. Sheppard did not return a phone call yesterday."

"The trade talk about Sheppard probably is not going away anytime soon. The Daily News reported yesterday that Sheppard's agent, Lamont Smith, was trying to shop the two-time Pro Bowl cornerback to the Jacksonville Jaguars for a package of 2009 draft picks."

"There's still a good possibility that Eagles cornerback Lito Sheppard will be traded before this weekend, when the Eagles will hold their postdraft minicamp. According to league sources, Sheppard's agent, Lamont Smith, has had extensive conversations with the Jacksonville Jaguars about a possible offer for his client. "

"The call caught Shaheer McBride a little by surprise yesterday. His agent, Tony Paige, had some interesting news for the 2003 Chester High grad: McBride had just been signed as a free agent by the Eagles."

"The Eagles' never-ending saga with wide receiver Terrell Owens now has another chapter. According to Bloomberg News, the team has sued the wide receiver in an attempt to recover the bonus money Owens never paid after being suspended for the final seven games of the 2005 season."

"What does Donovan think? It is not the only question that matters, but it is among them. It has to be. Donovan McNabb is your quarterback, and you cannot win a Super Bowl this year without him being good, and if you aren't trying to win a Super Bowl this year, then he shouldn't be your quarterback anymore. So you have to care about his reaction, at least a little."

"There will be Asante Samuel, the $57 million free-agent signee, whom Eagles coach Andy Reid already has designated as the starter on the left side. There will be incumbent starter Sheldon Brown, who felt he deserved a Pro Bowl berth last season. And there will be Lito Sheppard, a two-time Pro Bowler who felt he was underpaid and wanted to be traded even before Samuel came aboard."

"Quintin Demps declared that the Eagles got just what quarterback Donovan McNabb was looking for when they selected him with their second pick of the fourth round yesterday."

"On the second day of the draft, the same Eagles spent a fourth-round selection on a cornerback, Jack Ikegwuonu, who is recovering from a major knee injury and won't be able to play this season."