Eagles football blog

McNabb says shoulder is fine

Donovan McNabb said in his most recent blog on yardbarker.com that his "shoulder is fine" and he's been working out in Phoenix with teammate Brian Dawkins in preparation for the start of training camp.

The Eagles quarterback and some of his teammates, including all rookies, are scheduled to report to Lehigh University a week from today. The first workout will take place a week from tomorrow with the remaining veterans reporting July 24. McNabb, after providing an encouraging address on the state of Philadelphia sports, said he was working out in Arizona with Dawkins and will be joined by some of his receivers this week. Continue

Fans must act to stay on Eagles season-ticket wait list

Today, the Eagles are starting to notify legions of fans who signed up for the season-ticket waiting list: Act soon, or you could lose your spot. Those who do act will finally get questions answered they may have wondered for years: Where the heck am I on that list? And do I have a snowball's chance in a Saharan blast furnace of ever getting season tickets? Continue

Eagles sign third-round pick Bryan Smith

The Eagles signed third-round pick Bryan Smith to a 4-year contract yesterday. Smith is the eighth draft choice to come to terms with the Birds. Only their second-round picks, wide receiver DeSean Jackson and defensive tackle Trevor Laws, remain unsigned. Training camp opens on Monday, July 21. Continue

Donovan McNabb relates to Giants' Super distractions

Donovan McNabb knows how hard it is to make it back to the Super Bowl the season after playing in one. And he knows just how much more difficult that can be while dealing with super agent Drew Rosenhaus and one of his unhappy clients. If anyone knows the kind of potential drama the Giants face this summer with disgruntled Rosenhaus players Jeremy Shockey and Plaxico Burress, it's McNabb. Continue

McNabb grows weary of health talk

Donovan McNabb knows that some Eagles fans have questions about the quarterback's current ailment, his injury history, and his ability to lead the team to a Super Bowl title, which he and those fans want very badly. "I'm used to it," McNabb said yesterday. "I understand the position that I'm in. We had that early success and then things have gone the way they have the last four years and people are sitting back and saying, 'What's next?'

"I do think it gets blown way out of proportion. With the injury, if you don't say anything, then people think it's bigger than what it is and if you do say something, some people still think you're hiding something. It's a no-win situation and I've been part of them for a long time. I've heard people say, 'Donovan is fat,' I'm out of shape and I'm too big. I just don't get caught up in it." Continue

Eagles' Hanson, Graham enjoy chance to shine

When Kevin Kolb starts getting all the repetitions with the Eagles' first-team offense, it draws massive attention, even at these contact-free spring camps. That's the essence of playing quarterback in the NFL and being the backup to Donovan McNabb.

When Joselio Hanson and Nick Graham start working with the first-team defense, on the other hand, they can still pretty much go about their business without being questioned by a pack armed with notebooks, microphones and cameras.

That does not mean the first-team experience that cornerbacks Hanson and Graham have received during this eight-day camp, which concludes today, is not just as valuable as Kolb's throws to wide receivers Kevin Curtis and Reggie Brown. Continue

McNabb's shoulder tendinitis has Reid recalling 2004

The "Don't ask-don't tell" strategy for stemming controversy over Donovan McNabb's sore shoulder clearly wasn't working.

When the Eagles shut down McNabb again during Monday's workout, reporters noticed, and they really started sniffing the air when McNabb remained an observer yesterday. The team's chances of getting through tomorrow's end date for these last "organized team activities" before training camp, still insisting McNabb was fine - well, those chances weren't looking good. Continue

McNabb deflects concern over sore shoulder

The strange, little Donovan McNabb sore-shoulder saga seemed to be over when he threw extensively and well late last week, after Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg dismissed talk of a problem and McNabb took batting practice with the Phillies.

But McNabb's reps were limited yesterday, as another "organized team activity" took place on the sun-blasted NovaCare fields. The quarterback, enticed into talking to reporters about Michael Strahan's retirement and McNabb's trip to Boston for Game 2 of the NBA Finals with team chairman Jeffrey Lurie, Brian Dawkins and Brian Westbrook, wasn't eager to discuss his shoulder. Continue

With addition of Lawton, Eagles backfield gets crowded

As little as the Eagles tend to use their fullback, you would think they'd be less picky. Yesterday, the team announced it had acquired fullback Luke Lawton from the Colts for a conditional draft choice. That means the Birds now have a quartet of players vying to succeed Thomas Tapeh, who was allowed to depart for Minnesota in free agency, at least somewhat because he couldn't contribute on special teams.

Another ex-Colt, Dan Klecko, has spent much of his career as a defensive lineman and is playing offense full time for the first time. Jason Davis spent 2006 on injured reserve and last season on the Eagles' practice squad. And rookie free agent Jed Collins signed out of Washington State. Continue

Lito Sheppard skips Eagles' voluntary workout

The reporters were stacked deep into the NovaCare corridor, counting down the minutes until 1 p.m. Seldom has the start of a full-team Eagles minicamp in June provoked this much punctuality.

Unless you're there to take pictures or shoot video, which must be done early in the workout, the usual goal is to get to the field about half an hour before practice ends and the press conferences start. Watching players work out in short pants, with no pads, remains interesting just about that long. Yesterday, though, the interesting part came early. Word finally came down from the team's public relations department: "Release the hounds!" (Or words to that effect.) Continue