L.J. Smith Likely Gone Next Season

Looks like L.J. Smith is still unhappy about not having a new contract. He has not held out, but he has voiced his displeasure several times with his contract situation. Today he gave his latest thoughts about it:

If you think tight end L.J. Smith will re-sign with the Eagles after the season, you might want to think again.

“Am I optimistic about being here again? No. I’m not optimistic about it,” said Smith, who is eligible to be a free agent after the season. “Right now I’m looking at possibly being on another team.”

Asked if there have been discussions regarding a new deal, Smith said there has been “nothing significant.”

After spending much of the season recovering from a sports hernia/groin injury, Smith scored his first touchdown of the season Sunday. His goals for the rest of the season?

“I think No. 1 finish up healthy. And secondly perform well when I’m out there,” he said.

“It’s really important for me personally, I’m going to help the team obviously – but for me personally it’s very important for me to finish up strong.”

>>ComcastSportsNet

Well sounds like the front office has made up their mind, and L.J. knows it. Guess everybody can expect another big name player to leave next season. The Eagles offense really seemed to take off against Washington, when L.J. started to get involved. I thought it opened up everybody else, and kept Washington off balance. Will Matt Schobel, and Brent Celek bring the same thing? I doubt it.

Pretty selfish of Smith to be saying this publicly though. He could at least pretend to be concerned about the team, and not so wrapped up in his contract matters. I wonder if he will even get the money he thinks he is worth. It is always a risk to test free agency. It worked out great for Michael Lewis, and Jeff Garcia. Not so well for Rod Hood, and Donte Stallworth.

Just expect L.J. to be gone either way.

Smith suffers another setback

Another day at the NovaCare Complex, another setback for L.J. Smith.

Smith, who returned to action Sunday against the Jets after undergoing his second operation on his sports hernia, didn't practice yesterday after experiencing significant soreness in his groin area following the Jets game.

Paging Chad Lewis.

“Right now, he's sore,” head coach Andy Reid said. “We have to let that thing calm down and see how he does here in the next couple days.”

This season is turning into a nightmare for Smith, who caught 172 passes for 1,991 yards and 14 touchdowns in his first four NFL seasons but has been hobbled since April and has just five catches for 34 yards in limited action so far this fall.

..Continue reading at the Burlington Times>>

L.J. Smith Out Sunday

L.J. Smith underwent surgery Friday to clean out some scar tissue surrounding his injured groin. The tight end has been ruled out for Sunday's game, and his recovery and rehab is said to be week-to-week.

Smith, who had offseason sports hernia surgery, strained his groin in training camp and has been fighting the injury since. This week, however, it reached a point where Smith was unable to participate in practice.

"He seemed like he was getting a little bit worse, so we referred him to Dr. (William) Meyers, who did the sports hernia surgery on him and Dr. Meyers suggested last night that he have a procedure this morning to free up some of the space there in his groin," explained Eagles head athletic trainer Rick Burkholder.

"It was a 20-minute procedure in which he opened up the sheath around the muscle, which gives him a little bit more room. It allowed fluid to drain out of the muscle that was injured back in training camp. It had a collection of fluid in there. And he also cleaned out a bunch of scar tissue which was around the muscle and also around the nerve, which was probably what was causing him pain."

The injury has certainly limited his productivity as evidenced by his numbers through two games -- 26 yards on four receptions.

Burkholder would not put a timetable on Smith's return, but did point out the positives about the situation.

"The one good thing about this surgery is they didn't have to fix anything," Burkholder said. "You don't have to wait for anything to really heal. You just have to wait for all that swelling and everything to go down and let him get back to function where he can play football at a normal level.

"We're going to take it week-to-week. We'll see how he does next week."

Veteran Matt Schobel and rookie Brent Celek will play in place of Smith against the Lions.

On defense, free safety Brian Dawkins did not practice Friday due to neck spasms, while Pro Bowl cornerback Lito Sheppard did some conditioning work.

Dawkins' status will likely be determined at game time, while Sheppard's return was termed a "longshot" by head coach Andy Reid.

On offense, running back Brian Westbrook practiced fully Friday and is expected to start

Quarterback Donovan McNabb practiced without a brace on his surgically-repaired right knee. He wore a sleeve over the knee, but no brace. It's uncertain what protection he will wear on Sunday.

>>PhiladelphiaEagles.com

Special Teams Cost Birds

After a long wait, opening day turned out to be a disaster for the Birds.

The game started, and ended with two key special teams gaffs, and in between there was an ugly defensive battle.

Early in the first quarter, Greg Lewis muffed a punt that bounced around into the end zone recovered by Greenbay for a touchdown. Lewis clearly can not field punts, as he made two more near disasters on punts later in the game. He was replaced by J.R. Reed, who muffed a punt himself in the games final minute. A play that setup the game winning field goal.

Lewis, who last year got Ex-Packers CB Ahmad Carroll cut by beating him for two touchdowns, should probably be cut for this terrible performance. That might sound harsh, but maybe making an example out of him could wake this group up.

Donovan McNabb was just ok today. He moved fairly well, and did make some plays that resembled classic Super Five. He also threw a terrible interception, and had a few others that were luckily dropped.

I don't know if the Packers defense is really that good, or if the Eagles offense is just not all that great. There were only two big plays to speak of. A 37 yard strike to Kevin Curtis, and a 31 yard catch and run by Jason Avant. Outside of those 2 plays, there was very little offense to speak of.

The pass protection was very poor, and the running game was not much better. Credit the Fudge Packers for doing a good job on Brian Westbrook. The play calling was not very creative, and it seemed to really hurt them.

The biggest thing I noticed, was that the Packers were not respecting the Eagles play action at all. Almost every time they tried to hit a big play off play action, it actually gave the defense an extra second to get to McNabb.

L.J. Smith did play, but was very limited. Brent Celek saw a lot of playing time, but he did not catch one ball. Probably because he was kept in to pass protect a lot, which he did a bad job of. Andrews also played, but I did not notice any great blocks by Shawn. He usually has at least two or three of them a game.

The only silver lining in this dissapoiting loss, is the play of the defense. The scoreboard might say 17, but really they only gave up 3 points. The only Packers touchdown came off the Lewis muffed punt, one field goal was dude to a McNabb interception, and the final fg was due to J.R. Reed's muffed punt.

The defense did a really good job for the most part, but the Packers offense is not exactly a big test. Hopefully they can keep it up all season. The run defense was especially good, as they held rookie RB Brandon Jackson to only 40 yards on 15 carries. They also got after Favre, sacking him 5 times. Sheldon Brown had a great game, and got a nice interception. Sean Considine made a really nice play breaking up a deep pass.

One thing is for sure about this team. They certainly do not look like a Super Bowl contender. I know it is only week one, but I know every Eagles fan had this game circled as a W when they went over the schedule. This game was a very frustrating start, to what could be a frustrating season.

L.J. Smith Not Likely to Play

The uncertain condition of L.J. Smith's highly publicized groin became a little more uncertain yesterday.

After the Eagles went through their walk-through in preparation for today's season opener against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field, an e-mail was sent out by the team saying that Smith's condition on the injury report had been downgraded from probable (a 75 percent chance that he would play) to questionable.

That means there is only a 50-50 chance that Smith will play today, which is far more in line with what the veteran tight end was saying after practice Friday. Smith did participate in yesterday's walk-through, which is typically a 30-minute half-speed refresher of the game plan.

Smith, a potential free agent after this season, did not play in the preseason after suffering a groin injury early in training camp. He had sat out the first few days of contact at Lehigh University because he was recovering from May 31 surgery to repair a sports hernia.

Eagles coach Andy Reid and Smith both have said the groin injury was unrelated to the sports hernia, but even if that is the case, it's obvious that the tight end is not entirely healthy as the team approaches the starting line.

If Smith is unable to go today, veteran Matt Schobel will be the starter at tight end and rookie Brent Celek, who had an impressive preseason, is likely to see quite a bit of playing time.

>>PhiladelphiaInquirer

Thoughts on the Pre Season

The pre-season is winding down, and I thought I would give some of my honest opinions about some players on the team. Outside of the two turnovers forced, the Eagles defense did almost nothing right against Pittsburgh. Jim Johnson's aggressive blitzes, seemed to get destroyed by screen plays. Overall I think the team has been average during the pre-season, and they need a lot of things to come together for this season to be a success.

Things that worry me:

Chris Gocong- He had a terrible game against the Steelers. He took bad angles, missed tackles, did not move well laterally, and just seemed very lost at linebacker. This is very disturbing to see, because he is expected to be a starter, and Jim Johnson has praised him all camp. Maybe he just had a bad game, and he can work some things out for the regular season, but right now he is making me very nervous. I also don't like the fact that his backup is a rookie. They could move Takeo Spikes to SAM, and possibly start Matt McCoy at WILL.

Sean Considine- Did anybody ever explain to Sean how to wrap up, and tackle? I keep seeing this guy jumping on opponents backs, and be taken for a ride. That was terrible, and so was that wimpy hit on tight end Heath Miller. It looked like he hurt himself, more than he did Miller. To his credit, he did have two nice blitzes, one that caused an interception, and the he tipped a pass on the other. I heard all this talk, of Sean bulking up, but it does not seem to make a difference on the field. Every time I even look at him out there, I remember Duece McAlister running him over in the playoffs.

Mike Patterson- Mike got pancaked on that Willie Parker touchdown run. A lot of guys were at fault for Parker to go untouched into the end zone, but it all starts up front, and you can't get pushed around that easily. They paid Patterson a lot of money last year, and I think they may have jumped the gun on this one. Not only has he been a liability against the run, but I have not seen much pressure on the QBs from him. Time to step it up.

Jeremy Bloom- After a good game at Baltimore, Bloom has not played well since. Reports are that he is slowed by a toe injury, and John Madden proclaimed that Bloom "did not belong on the field". Ouch. Rumor is that Andy Reid is fed up with Bloom, and he is on the way out. It was a very bad sign for him, to see Greg Lewis returning punts, and Correll Buckhalter returning kickoffs for the entire first half. Bloom had better do something great on Thursday, or he is out of here.

Deep Threat?- Where is it on this team? Kevin Curtis has looked fairly good so far, but he, and McNabb have not hooked up deep yet. I also have not seen Curtis get any big separation, on any of the deep routes he has run. Reggie Brown has had a very poor pre-season. It almost seems to me like he is disinterested. Jason Avant has done a good job, but he is a possession receiver. The only deep pass, has been that big play to Matt Schobel. I wonder if maybe losing Stallworth is a huge loss for this team. Even though he was injured some of the time, and caught only 37 balls, you always had to respect his speed on the outside. So far I have not seen anybody on the team show they can do that.

Shawn Andrews- How bad is this injury? Are the Eagles just taking the cautious approach? I definitely know that the offensive line has looked really bad without him. Scott Young has looked really bad, and Nick Cole did not seem much better. Right now if Andrews could not go, I would feel best with Max Jean-Gilles in his spot.

Things I am glad to see:

Donovan McNabb- Five is healthy. I don't care if he says he is 75%, or 85%, he looks fine to me. He is throwing fairly well, he is moving fairly well, and most importantly he seems to have no problem planting that right leg. It was also good to see him bounce right back up from getting hit. While the national media may focus in on Donovan's health being a major issue, I think there is nothing to worry about.

Brodrick Bunkley- Despite the defensive woes, Bunk has been impressive. He made yet another tackle for a loss, and got passed All Pro Guard Alan Faneca. I think now that he has his head on straight, we will start to see a big impact from Bunkley on this defensive line.

Takeo Spikes- Some People have ripped Takeo Spikes, but I think he has played really well. I've seen him shed blocks to make tackles, he forced a fumble at the goal line, and has been the best linebacker the Eagles have so far. It is also great to see that he looks 100% healthy, and is running full speed all over the field. I think Spikes is going to be a play maker for this team.

Young Guys Who Have Impressed:

Kevin Kolb- He has really come a long way in such a short time. The kid is accurate, seems very poised, makes smart decisions, goes through all of his reads well, and spreads the ball around. I have have come a full 180 with Kolb. At first I hated the pick, and did not understand. Now I see that whenever Donovan McNabb's time comes, they will have a good QB follow him. I would like to see Kolb connect with somebody deep, but really no receivers have been able to do that so far this pre-season.

Brent Celek- This guy seems for real. Every game he makes some nice grabs, and he has now been running with the first team offense. Celek has made the team, and should be rotating in every now and then with the starting unit this season. This pick falls into the Eagles history of taking risks on late round draft picks, on guys who have a lot of potential. Well this pick looks like it will be paying off big time. I wonder how this will affect L.J. Smith's contract negotiations. Will this be the leverage the Eagles need to get him signed, or is Celek good enough to make the front office just let Smith walk?

Punting Dual:

I am officially on the Sav Rocca bandwagon. The Aussie can just flat out boom the football. Dirk has played very well this pre-season, but Rocca has just been better. He barely even knows the rules, and he seems to be learning very fast. I heard that the winner of the punting job, will get all of the punting duties this Thursday. So if you see Sav out there, then you know he won. I feel bad for Dirk, because no matter how great he does, it seems like fans will hate him, if he wins this job. Andy Reid said it the other day, that no matter what Rocca will have a job in the NFL. If the Eagles cut him, somebody will definitely pick him up.

Shaky Start For Birds

Not much went right in the Eagles 29-3 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. The starting offense stalled on their only two drives, and the defense gave up a touchdown on the Ravens first possession.

The backups did not fair much better, as poor play, and mistakes filled the rest of the game. The team just appeared flat, and got their butts whipped repeatedly. Luckily it is only the pre-season, because there are many things for the Eagles to improve on.

The Good:

Brent Celek- The rookie tight end was impressive in his Eagles debut, catching 4 balls for 59 yards, including a nice 30 yard catch and run. It was nice to see some good play from the tight end position, because of the questions about L.J. Smith's health. Celek did have one drop on a short pass from Kevin Kolb.

Brodrick Bunkley- While the Eagles defense overall was poor, Bunkley made a few nice plays, and that was good to see. He deflected a pass, made a tackle for a loss, and clogged up the middle on a run play.

Matt McCoy- A guy who is considered by many to be on the bubble, made a statement, by putting together a solid effort. He had five tackles, and one nice hit on QB Kyle Boller. You can see that he is really going to fight for his spot on the team.

Jeremy Bloom- Did a pretty good job in the return game. Fielded every punt, and got every kick return past the 20. He also made a few good grabs at WR, Including one for a first down. He did leave the game to get his toe x-rayed, but the results were negative.

Rashad Barksdale- Made some really nice open field tackles, and helped out well against the run. Had a near interception, and came up with 6 total tackles.

Stewart Bradley- Lead the team with 8 tackles, and played a lot yesterday. He made a very nice play in the run game, and was visibly very vocal on the field. He did have a penalty on punt coverage.

Brian Westbrook- Westbrook looks to be in mid season form, as he made an exciting 23 yard catch, and run.

The Bad:

Jeremiah Trotter- Trotter whiffed on a tackle he should have made on Ravens RB Willis McGahee. Trott has talked a lot this off season, but that play reminded me of the Colts game last year. It was a stretch run, and Trotter has to be able to move better than that, as he was late getting to the ball carrier.

Will James- Another big talker this off season, James got turned around by Ravens receiver Derrick Mason. A critical third down play that a starting NFL CB must not give up so easily.

Tony Hunt- Hunt had 5 carries for no yards. The offensive line did not help at all, as many times the Ravens defense got into the backfield untouched. Hunt also got Kelly Holcomb sacked, with a very weak block on a DB. He did have two catches for 11 yards.

Kevin Kolb- Very rough start for Kolb. His receivers did not help out very much, with a number of drops, but Kolb looked very much like a rookie in his debut. He completed 11 of 20 passes, for 77 yards. Kolb fumbled the ball, on a pass play that he thought was a run.

Tank Daniels- Got sucked into a block by the Ravens FB, which sprung RB Willis McGahee for 16 yards. If you want to make the team, you have to do a better job of shedding that blocker, and containing the back.

David Akers- Missed a 43 yard FG, and has been inconsistent since 2004. I think a lot has to do with Akers not being comfortable with a new holder, and long time long snapper Mike Bartrum has retired.

Offensive Line- From the starters, to the backups, to the third stringers, this group played poorly all game long. They did not get much push in the running game, and had many break downs in protection. The backups especially seemed lost vs the Ravens 3-4 front. Trying to pick up the right guys in pass protection was an adventure the entire game.

The Ugly:

Ryan Moats- Broke his ankle on his second carry during the third quarter. Moats will be placed on the Injured Reserve ending his season. A tough break for Moats, as he really wanted a chance to prove himself this pre-season. He had been considered by many, to be another "bubble guy", and has been having fumbling issues in Training Camp.

Sav Rocca- The Aussie punter welcomed to the NFL in a rude way, as he was the recipient of a violent hit from Ravens LB Antwan Barnes. Sav showed his toughness, as he jumped right off, shook it off, and smiled.

Overall it was a very weak showing from the team, and I am sure the Eagles coaching staff is not very thrilled. The Birds were missing a lot of key players, including Donovan McNabb, Brian Dawkins, Shawn Andrews, L.J. Smith, Lito Sheppard, and others. Not making any excuses for the terrible play, but getting these guys back for the regular season will make a huge difference.

Celek Catches Reid's Eye

Andy Reid admitted he doesn't like doing it, but then did it any way.

Asked to name some players who have exceeded his expectations, the head coach listed three names, starting with rookie tight end Brent Celek.

"I hate picking guys out," Reid said. "But obviously you guys have seen the tight-end situation with Celek. It looks like he's done a nice job."

That may not be much of a quote, but it's quite a compliment for Celek, a fifth-round pick out of Cincinnati who has run with the starting offense because of L.J. Smith's delayed return from sports-hernia surgery.

"It's a good feeling, but I can't sit here and dwell on it," Celek said after special-teams practice yesterday. "I know, and I know [Reid] knows, that I need to get a lot better. . . . I have to keep working hard."

Celek has run solid routes and shown good hands during the first two weeks of training camp, but now he wants to see how he measures up in a preseason game. He probably will run with the first-team offense Monday night against the Baltimore Ravens. It seems unlikely that Smith will play.
..Continue reading from the Philadelphia Inquirer>>

Meet the Draft Picks

• Kevin Kolb- QB Houston (36) [Draft Spotlight][Highlights]


• Victor Abiamiri- DE Notre Dame (57) [Draft Spotlight][Highlights]


• Stewart Bradley- OLB Nebraska (87) [Draft Spotlight][Highlights]


• Tony Hunt- RB Penn State (90) [Draft Spotlight][Highlights]


• C.J. Gaddis- CB Celmson (159) [Draft Spotlight][Highlights]


• Brent Celek- TE Cincinatti (162) [Draft Spotlight][Highlights]


• Rashad Barksdale- CB Albany (201) [Draft Spotlight]


• Nate Ilaoa- RB Hawaii (236) [Draft Spotlight][Highlights]

TE Celek Hurt

Eagles Celek leaves practice
John Nalbone, of the Trenton Times, reports Philadelphia Eagles TE Brent Celek (undisclosed) left practice early Thursday, June 7, because of an undisclosed reason.

Eagles K. Hunt signed
Les Bowen, of the Philadelphia Daily News, reports the Philadelphia Eagles have signed undrafted free-agent TE Kyle Hunt (Southeast Missouri State). Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Eagles P. Patterson released
Les Bowen, of the Philadelphia Daily News, reports the Philadelphia Eagles have released QB Perry Patterson. *

Just add Celek to the list of injured tight ends. They are very thing there now. I never even heard of Kyle Hunt, but I guess they need some bodies at this point. The fact that they signed a tight end, also means that Celek's injury could be serious. We'll find out soon enough. Perry Patterson sure lasted long didn't he?

Celek on board too

Celek Agrees To Terms, Barksdale Signs 4-Year Deal

By CHRIS McPHERSON

At this rate, the Eagles could have their draft picks all signed and accounted for before the veterans report next week for organized training activities (OTAs) let alone training camp.

The Eagles are making quick work of signing their draft picks as tight end Brent Celek agreed to a four-year deal and cornerback Rashad Barksdale signed a four-year deal on Wednesday. Celek, a fifth-round pick out of Cincinnati, and Barksdale, a sixth-round pick out of Albany, are the fourth and fifth of the Eagles draft picks to agree to terms on or sign a contact. Linebacker Stewart Bradley and running back Tony Hunt, both third-round picks, and safety C.J. Gaddis, a fifth-round pick, were the other members of the Class of 2007 to sign their rookie contracts.

CB Rashad Barksdale The only remaining players left for the Eagles to do business with are both their second-round picks - quarterback Kevin Kolb and defensive end Victor Abiamiri - and seventh-round pick, running back Nate Ilaoa.

The 6-foot-4, 261-pound Celek led all Big East tight ends as a senior in receptions (35) and yards (481), while adding three touchdowns, including an 83 yarder which helped upset previously-undefeated seventh-ranked Rutgers. A two-year Big East All-Academic team selection, the 22-year-old Celek finished his career ranked third on the school's all-time list among tight ends in receptions (91) and touchdowns (14), while amassing 1,135 yards. A second-team All-Conference USA recipient as a sophomore, he set a Bearcat single-season record for touchdowns (8) by a tight end.

Draft Review: TE Brent Celek

Celek is not very fast, a hard worker, and good receiver. A very big kid, who reminds me of Chad Lewis. If he plays well, then maybe the Eagles have a backup plan, in case LJ Smith walks next year.