Nick Cole gets the nod against the Steelers

With All-Pro Right Guard Shawn Andrews still on the shelf with an ankle injury (official reports: High Ankle Sprain) the Eagles have been auditioning just about every back-up lineman they have in his slot. Last year's "6th man" Scott Young played game 1 (granted all of a couple series), last year's 4th round behemoth Max Jean-Gilles played game 2 (and played pretty well), and now, last year's undrafted free agent find Nick Cole has been given the nod to start game 3 with the first unit offense.

Some folks don't know what to make of this. The basic reason: lingering speculation about the status of Shawn Andrews. The team says its a high ankle sprain on his surgically repaired right ankle (an injury he sustained in his rookie year - 2004). Some suspect its worse than that and that Andrews could miss significant time this year (if not all of 2007). I haven't seen the Eagles conduct themselves as if they expect the "Big Kid" to miss the 2007 season, but there are two ways to analyze coach Reid's decision to start Nick Cole at RG this week against the Steelers:

Glass half-empty: It is an indication Big Red realizes the Big Kid is not going to be available to start the season. High ankle sprains (no, not buying into the "he's done!" crapola) are tough injuries, especially for a guy on a repaired ankle who weighs well in excess of 300 lbs...So, with the realization that Andrews could very well miss some meaningful time (September perhaps?) - Andy Reid wants to find the best replacement. Period. End of story. The coaching staff knows what Scott Young can do, they've had a good long look at Max Jean-Gilles, and now they decided its time to give Cole gets his shot.

Glass half-full: Andy Reid expects Andrews will return on time and is not planning on the Big Kid missing half the season or whatever. So, instead of focusing on O-line unit cohesion with a guy who's not going to be in there, AR and Juan Castillo see game 3 as a way to find out what Nick Cole has got. Can he be a starting caliber player? Its a question that needs to be answered. I mean, given injuries, back-up linemen are just like everyone else - one play away from being the starter. This is a chance for the Eagles to find out if a guy they think of as perhaps a deep reserve guy has the chalks to be a starting O-lineman in the NFL, or maybe just a top back-up.

We Eagles fans like to think that we've got one of the deepest, most talented Offensive lines in team history, and certainly one the deepest in the NFL this season. But how did we get that impression? Mostly because we drafted two big linemen in 2006 (and we're lauded for getting them as "steals" when we chose them in the draft) and because two undrafted rookie free agents (Nick Cole and Pat McCoy) made the team. That's it. These guys didn't PLAY last year. Cole got on the field as short-yardage "fullback" (giving new meaning to the term actually) blocker last year, but aside from the "Frig" impersonation, the coaches really didn't see him play along the line.

We've basically anointed the Eagles O-Line as incredibly deep and talented because the coaches selected 5 guys to be the back-ups to a really talented group of STARTERS....Maybe its high time we saw them play before making such a confident declaration.

Eagles' Subs Stepping Up

With Friday night dispelling most of the angst I had concerning Donovan's knee, I thought it would be appropriate to look at some other players who are filling in for star Eagles players currently "on the shelf"

Quintin Mikell - None bigger here folks. Little "Q" is filling in for my all-time favorite Eagle - Brian Dawkins. Our All-Pro safety is experiencing some Achilles tendinitis and I'll be damned if that doesn't concern me some. Concern NOT worry. I am not declaring his career over. Personally I would like to see him able to suit up and get in a little bit of action, just to get in a some live game prior to the start of the season. But if he can't....Well look, I don't want to start thinking about life after "#20" just yet, alright...With that out of the way - I think the Eagles' F.O. decision to retain the services of Quintin Mikell could pay off this season. Q has done well. True, its not the same, but as Bob Brookover writes - Mikell, entering his fifth season, is a player whose stock has steadily risen with the Eagles. Not only has he emerged as the most valuable player on the special teams; he also has become valuable enough that defensive coordinator Jim Johnson will create packages to get the safety on the field this season. Mikell will likely play the same hybrid linebacker role safety Michael Lewis had in passing situations last season.

Juqua Thomas - Filling in for Jevon Kearse, Juqua Thomas had himself a heckuva game the other night. Kearse's absence may have been merely precautionary (and I believe it was), but the man is still coming off a serious knee injury. Setbacks are a way-of-life with those sorts of things, but I couldn't help but notice - Juqua brought the same motor he had last year - it looks like he going to try and make it hard for J.J. to keep him off the field. He probably won't start, but a more-than-solid year might make a fellow, pricier vet like Darren Howard or Kearse expendable in 2008.

Brent Celek - Who knows how long L.J. will be hampered by this nagging "sports hernia" thing. I hope its not very, but I have to say this - I am very encouraged by the play of rookie TE Brent Celek. I mean this dude has some skills. He's caught almost everything thrown his way (something with which L.J. still shows occasional signs of trouble) and has been able to hit some deeper passes over the middle (talking 16-20 yard range). Will this team be better offensively with L.J. - no doubt. Will we be even more dangerous lining up Celek a few times and zapping unwary defenses - hell yeah.

Max Jean-Gilles - I saved the worst for last. We fans simply do not know what exactly is wrong with All-Pro Guard Shawn Andrews. He gave a very cryptic response the other day, with has led to a slew of worrying about whether or not Andrews availability for the 2007 season (and beyond) is in doubt. Big Red says he expects Andrews back to start the season. I hope so. Max Jean is a big boy in his own right - but the Eagles line has NOT run-blocked well this preseason. And at some point, we are going to need to run the ball. For a variety of well-documented reasons: protect McNabb's knee/health by not passing so much, protect McNabb's knee/health by not passing so much, and protect McNabb's knee/health by not passing so much. Perhaps, more importantly, the Eagles surge last year was led by Brian Westbrook and a renewed emphasis on offensive BALANCE. To keep that going, we need to run....These preseason games have shown we can pass, I'd like to see us show we can run. This is the question mark - if Andrews misses more time than any of us would like - can Jean-Gilles step up. Will it be Scott Young?? We fans have lauded the Eagles O-line for its depth...so far the run-game results have not been encouraging. Hmmmm, come back soon Shawn.

Now I think we'd all agree: Philly fans would/are going to be a LOT more positive about the Eagles' prospects for 2007 once we have Andres, Dawk, Kearse and L.J. back on the field, but I have to give the front office credit - we made the right moves to assure the team has the depth not to collapse without them.

Should we be Concerned about the Eagles Injury-bug?

There's one thing guaranteed to turn the near-endless optimism of training camp into an hand-wringing experience. That thing: injuries

And in recent days, as the first pre-season game versus the Ravens approaches, the list of Birds with clipped wings is getting alarmingly long. Stalwarts like L.J. Smith, Jon Runyan, Brian Dawkins, and Shawn Andrews are all currently out. Heck, these guys have gotten all the recognition but another key defender, CB Lito Sheppard, seems to have missed a lot of time with an oblique problem. He only returned to practice on the final day (He had been sidelined with an oblique strain for most of camp). Ok, so he's a key player and probably doesn't need camp to learn anything, but it'd still be comforting to see him out there.

So should we start worrying? hmmm, Rich Hoffman just ran down a few key injuries. He says, worry about LJ, but don't start about Andrews or Dawk.

A bit of good news to report. Runyan and Guard Scott Young (who had a knee scare yesterday) both returned to practice on Saturday. (whew) Not sure if the bullet is truly dodged with those two, but, I'll say this, with our All-Pro Andrews resting a sprained ankle, I do not want his top replacement RG AND our stalwart RT both out....give them time to rest, I want Andrews and Runyan starting in Green Bay in September.

The injury I am most concerned about at this point is L.J.'s recent groin injury, which when coupled with his return from "sports hernia" surgery in May, tells me we might be minus a major offensive weapon for a significant portion of the '07 season. Without L.J., we simply won't have a deep-threat at TE. We might get a surprise deep pass with Schobel or rookie Brent Celek, but not a consistent threat that defenses must respect like we have with Smith on the line.

Second is Shawn Andrews. We want to run the ball more this year. And big Shawn is a world-class road-grader. I mean, he annihilates linebackers, DTs, DEs, anybody......Last year the Eagles kept their O-line together the entire year, and while I have faith that the coaches have ready back-ups, I would like to see us repeat the feat.

Finally there is Brian Dawkins. Normally I'd be quite worried that my all-time favorite Eagle was injured and having Dawk out with Achilles tendinitis (which harkens back to the sort of devastating injury suffered by new LB Takeo Spikes). But unlike a few (now on "timeout") posters on my favorite board (Philly.com's) I am not ready to declare Dawkins' career "over" or declare him as good as "done". The Eagles are going to be cautious with their key players. Stressing them out now serves no one. Better to let them rest. The season is long. Let the new guys take the beating vs the Ravens....I don't need to see any of our rehabbing guys until pre-season game 3.....