Jevon Kearse Benched

He spent the first three years of his career as a backup to Jevon Kearse in Tennessee. For most of the past two-and-a-half seasons, he's been Kearse's backup in Philadelphia.

Now, Juqua Thomas replaces Kearse as the starter at left defensive end. Defensive coordinator Jim Johnson made the announcement at his press conference Thursday.

"Trent (Cole) is playing at a high caliber, no question about it. J.T. is playing very well. Those two right now they're two of our better ends in the pass rush. It's as simple as that and they're getting more time than (Darren) Howard and Jevon. No secret. J.T. is getting good pressure and so is Trent," Johnson said.

For all intents and purposes, the 29-year-old Thomas has been the unofficial starter for weeks. The Redskins opened in a two tight-end set last week, a formation which called for rookie Victor Abiamiri to start in only his second NFL game. However, Thomas took most of the snaps. He's totaled four sacks this season and since 2006 he is second among all undrafted players with 11.5 sacks (Chicago's Adewale Ogunleye, 16.5), according to Stats Inc.

"It's going to be a big challenge," said Thomas.

Kearse started the first eight games of the season. The three-time Pro Bowl end battled back from a left knee injury which sidelined him for all but two games last year. However, he is not 100 percent healthy. Kearse has had to have his knee drained twice this season, the last time was prior to the Dallas game.

"It's football. That's how it was when I came in. That's how it will be when I'm gone. It's a part of the game," Kearse said after Thursday's practice.

Thomas originally signed with the Titans as a rookie free agent in 2001. He accumulated five sacks over four years as the backup to Kearse, Carlos Hall and Kevin Carter. Thomas joined the Eagles during training camp in 2005 and had a phenomenal 10-tackle performance in the season finale. Thomas re-upped for one more season and had a career-high six sacks with another 1.5 in the two playoff games. On the first day of free agency in 2007, Thomas was re-signed by the Eagles to a five-year deal.

Johnson added that Howard, who has primarily played as a defensive tackle in the nickel package, is strictly a right defensive end and should see more snaps this week as Cole's backup. Howard made two big stops during the goal line stand in the fourth quarter of last Sunday's win that held the Redskins to a field goal and allowed the Eagles the opportunity to come back and win.

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A Stand To Save A Season

It was three plays to save a season. Yes, even if the Eagles had lost in Washington this weekend they would have had a chance to make the playoffs, but realistically, every member of the defense knew what was at stake.

With its back against its own end zone – and the wall – and the Redskins only seven yards away from all but putting the game out of reach, the Eagles defense had to make a stand.

Three plays to save a season.

Eventually, three plays turned to six. Six snaps from inside the 10-yard line. Six times the Redskins attacked the goal line, trying to put the game – and maybe the Eagles – away. Six times, the defense stood firm, setting up Philadelphia's dramatic 33-25 win on Sunday.

"When all of the odds are against you and you are still fighting, that's character. You develop that when nobody is looking," linebacker Takeo Spikes said. "When you look back at the film you'll see a whole lot of guys doing the little things right and that was the emphasis this week. Doing the little things."

When the Redskins got the ball back after a Donovan McNabb fumble with 8:03 remaining and two point lead, the Eagles defense hadn't been doing too many of the little things right.

Washington had physically imposed its will upon the Eagles for much of the afternoon, and when Clinton Portis gashed the defense twice to set up 1st and 10 from the Philadelphia 7-yard line, he moved past the 100-yard mark.

The Redskins were counting on him to get seven more, but the Eagles defense simply wouldn't allow it.

"I was proud of our goal line defense. I thought they did a heck of a job. You don't like being down there but if you are down there you really have to get it after them," head coach Andy Reid said.

First and goal from the seven. The Redskins tried a toss left to Portis that was strung out by defensive tackle Mike Patterson, gaining only one yard.

Second and goal from the 6-yard line. Portis bulls his way off of right tackle Todd Wade, but meets defensive end Trent Cole and defensive tackle Brodrick Bunkley after only a gain of 1 yard.

Third-and-goal from the 5-yard line. The Redskins tried their one and only pass of the entire series, and drew a defensive holding call which gave them a first down.

With a new set of downs and the ball on the 3-yard line, the Eagles defense had to do it all over again – with the pressure of a nasty running attack, a two-point deficit, a rapidly declining clock and a potential 3-6 record resting squarely on its shoulders.

"Everyone knew it. You could tell in guys' eyes," Bunkley said. "Even when they got the first down we knew that we could get back on the ball and make something happen and we did."

First and goal from the 3-yard line. Portis went off of left tackle Chris Samuels but is pulled down by Spikes and Darren Howard after only a gain of a yard. Timeout Eagles.

Second and goal from the 2-yard line. Howard and Jevon Kearse met Portis in the backfield for a loss of one. Timeout Eagles.

Third and goal from the 3-yard. A false start penalty on Chris Cooley was followed by a draw play that was snuffed out three yards short of the end zone by Spikes and cornerback Joselio Hanson. Third and final Eagles timeout.

Spikes said that he thought the timeouts, while called to leave as much time as possible for Donovan McNabb and the offense, actually helped the defense immensely.

"When you have a defense backed up against the goal you never want to give them a chance to breathe; get a chance to get together," he said. "We did, so we were able to kind of talk to each other and realize what was at hand."

What was at hand was a defining moment of the season so far. The Redskins settled for a 21-yard Shaun Suisham field goal. Two Brian Westbrook touchdowns later and the Eagles returned home to Philadelphia with a win, and hopefully much more.

"I hope that goal line stand will snowball for us," Spikes said. "I'm not just saying defensively but team-wise."

In the end, they could quite literally turn out to be, six plays to save a season.

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Kolb Inked

• All of the Eagles draft picks are in, now that Kevin Kolb has signed. Check out Kolb's interview. Great to have all the picks in before the start of Training camp.


• Sheldon Brown made the cover of Sports Illustrated.


• Sean Considine has been hitting the weight room hard.


• Micheal Gasperson hopes to make an impact in camp.


• There may be a roster spot open at WR.


• Brad Childress is content with his QBs. So much for that Kelly Holcumb trade.


• A new Holcumb destination rumor has surfaced. Pat Kirwan says Atlanta might be interested.


• Mike McMahon can't even cut it in the CFL. Why did the Eagles ever sign this bum?


• Will James is ready to start at CB. HUH?!?


• Reuben Frank has a lot of questions about the D. Ten of them to be exact.


• Takeo Spikes is ready to be a leader for the Birds.
  
  

Run Defense is Key to Success

I think more than any other area, the Eagles run defense will decide how successful they are this year.

Here's an interesting article by Dave Spadaro of PhiladelphiaEagles.com about Jim Johnson and the Eagles run defense .

The Eagles will run the football well if they choose to do so. If they run it well they will destroy teams on the ground and in the air. McNabb has an outstanding group of young recievers, who I think will turn heads this year. I've got a lot of confidence in the Eagles offense. But the defense I'm not as sure about. They will destroy teams on 3rd down with their coverage and pass rush but they'll struggle if they can't stop the run, so I consider the run defense, the key to their season.

Jim doesn't plan on making any major changes when it comes to stopping the run. He's going to rely on bigger, better players doing a better job of executing their defensive assignments in order to stop opposing running games. Jim plans on rotating his defensive linemen and he'd better follow through with it. The run defense went into the tank when Johnson stopped rotating his smallish defensive line. If the Eagles defensive line unit gets tired, they'll get destroyed because they're undersized. Andy needs to look over Jim's shoulder and make sure he rotates that line each and every game.
..Read More at GCobb.com>>

Camp Battles

Competition for jobs buoys Reid

Several spots, including defensive end, set for training camp battles

By GEOFF MOSHER, The News Journal

PHILADELPHIA -- The Eagles' first minicamp ended Monday, but don't try to figure out who has the inside track on jobs, especially at defensive end.

A depth chart? Forget it.

For most of the three-day camp, Jevon Kearse practiced only in the morning, while Trent Cole and Darren Howard traded spots on the first team between the morning and afternoon sessions.

Who knows where Juqua Thomas, Victor Abiamiri and Jerome McDougle will be when the season opens Sept. 9 at Green Bay?

Not coach Andy Reid. He has three more minicamps and training camp to figure that out.

"I think as long as the unanswered questions, you have good answers for when
it's all solved, then that's a good thing," he said. "I think we have good
players in competition with one another. I guess time will tell on that, but I
think that's the important part."

Reid craves this kind of competition -- good players pushing each other for playing time. It helps the team in the long run, he believes, even if the odd men out wind up elsewhere.

"I told the guys that it's open," Reid said. "They understand that there is
great competition that will do nothing but make us better. So, there are a few
different positions out there that will be challenged. I think that's healthy
for the football team"

The only lock is Kearse, at left end. The Eagles brought him here in 2004 to harass quarterbacks.

And though he hasn't registered a double-digit sack season in Philadelphia, he notched 3.5 in fewer than two games last season before sustaining a season-ending knee injury.

"I'm looking forward to getting back on the field," Kearse said Monday, "and back toward 100 percent."

Who starts opposite Kearse at right end is still undecided and won't be determined until training camp.

Reid said Howard, another big-money defensive end, played at a Pro Bowl level early in the season but wore down from tendinitis in both knees. Cole, who had five sacks after three games, fell off when he took Kearse's spot in the starting lineup and finished with eight sacks.

The Eagles Web site depth chart, which is unofficial, lists Cole ahead of Howard. When asked about the competition, Cole took it all in stride.

"You got to get in where you fit in," he said.

Howard isn't panicking.

"I think teams just do what they feel is best for the team at the point and time when they're making decisions," Howard said. "You try to make the best decisions for your team right now and let the chips fall where they may."

Besides, Howard added, snaps are generally divided equally among defensive linemen in the Eagles' frequent rotation. Each player gets a chance to make his case.

"Don't get me wrong; [there is] a difference between starting and not starting, but it's not as big as other teams," Howard said. "Everybody plays a lot of reps. I even get extra reps on the inside on the nickel and dime [defenses], so it's not as big of a deal here as it would be somewhere else."

The Eagles' best pass rusher in the second half of last season, Thomas, is unlikely to become a starter this season. Three of Thomas' career-high six sacks came in December, when the Eagles went 5-0 to win the NFC East. He twice sacked elusive Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, but he's earmarked for a reserve role.

As for Abiamiri, a second-round pick out of Notre Dame last month, defensive coordinator Jim Johnson said he's "picking up the system very quickly."

Where does that leave McDougle? The former 15th overall draft pick barely played last year after missing all of the 2005 season to recover from gunshot wounds he suffered during a robbery just before training camp began. His time is running out, and he knows it.

"My whole career has been pretty much filled with injuries," McDougle said. "I'm just trying to control what I can control. I really don't think about it [the competition]."
Contact Geoff Mosher at gemosher@delawareonline.com

Looks like it's Darren Howard vs Trent Cole. I think Cole wins here, because he just seems to play with hunger, and is a very high energy guy. I think Howard's best days are behind him, and less snaps would be helpfull for him.

If the Eagles can get back to that rotation they had early in the year, with the defensive line, then it really wont matter who the starter is. The run defense suffered, when they got away from that.

I see McDougle knows he is toast as well. I'm sure they can find a nice job for him handing out gatorade.