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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Hanson outshines James

The only question is ... What took so long? Defensive backs coach John Harbaugh walked over to Joselio Hanson at halftime Sunday and told him he was going into the game at nickel cornerback, replacing the struggling William James.

Hanson responded with a solid second half, as the Eagles rallied from nine points down to beat the Redskins, 33-25.

James got beat twice for 31-yard catches by James Thrash, the former Eagle who had just 74 receiving yards in his 16 previous games over two seasons.

"He just told me, "Let's go,' so I went in and did what I always do — play the best I can,” Hanson said. "I always study and prepare like I'm going to start, so I was ready. I'm always ready to play.”

James wears No. 21 worn previously by Pro Bowl corners Eric Allen and Bobby Taylor, but he doesn't play like them.

It's rare for defensive coordinator Jim Johnson to bench somebody mid-game, but the way things were going, he had no choice.

How much of a difference did Hanson make? In the first half, the Redskins averaged 8.7 yards per pass attempt. In the second, they averaged 5.0.

"They just threw the ball downfield better than I thought they would (on James),” Johnson said. "We gave up some big plays downfield.”

We did? Or James did?

"I think he had one of those bad days,” Johnson said. "We'll see what happens next week. He competes hard. He let (Thrash) get outside and that was the biggest thing. We knew they were going to do that. Will knew that, too. He's an aggressive player. We've still got to get (pass) pressure. It comes down to pressure, too.”

Hanson certainly didn't do anything to warrant less playing time.

"I felt good out there,” said Hanson, who was the nickel in the four games Lito Sheppard missed earlier this year, when James started. "I feel like I can play with anybody in the league. Will's a good player, but when I'm out there, I'm always confident I can do a good job.”

>>Burlington Times

Eagles Fly Past the Jets 16-9

Ugly win, but the Birds will take it

Westbrook is Invaluable:

What a nice return for 36. He had 120 yards on 20 carries, and also chipped in with 36 receiving yards. He was consistently very good all game, and completely changed the Eagles offense. Even though the Eagles only managed to score one touchdown, they moved the ball very effectively.

With Westbrook, L.J. Smith, and Tra Thomas all returning, the offense seemed to be more normal, than it has been in the three losses. Brian's presence on the field, opens things up for the receivers, as defenses always have to account for him. He is such a threat to break a big play at any time in the game.

I was very worried about his abdominal injury, but it seemed to be ok today. It must not be as bad, as previously reported.

Lightning Strikes Again:

Kevin Curtis made the play of the game, when he took a quick slant 77 yards for a touchdown on the Eagles opening possession. It was 3rd down, and McNabb had a perfect strike to Curtis, who broke through 2 tackles, and sprinted to the end zone.

Give a lot of credit to Donovan to, for making the audible after reading the Jets defense.

It was a great play, and Curtis is showing that he is a quality starting NFL receiver.

What Can Brown Do For You?:

Not much so far this season, but Reggie Brown finally had a good game. He did not do anything spectacular, but he did play solid. He managed six catches for 89 yards. Many of those were third down catches, including his last big catch when the Jets desperately needed a stop. Hopefully as the offense gets healthy, Brown can continue to get involved more.

Bend Don't Break:

Overall the Eagles defense did a great job. They did give up some yards on the ground, but locked up the Jets in the red zone holding them to four FGs(1 missed). In the first half Thomas Jones was killing the Birds with cutback runs, but in the second half they fixed that.

Sheldon Brown was huge, as he was able to get a big interception off QB Chad Pennington, and Brown also batted down the crucial 4th, and 1 pass. WR Laverneous Coles was pretty much shut down, and give credit to Brown for his big game.

The defensive line is starting to get a nice rotation going, and they now added Lajaun Ramsey to the mix. I really think Ramsey was a great find by the front office, and he should be used more often. Trent Cole notched his team leading 6th sack of the year, and Jevon Kearse was also able to get a sack.

A few minor things that bugged me, are some missed tackles by Considine, Gocong, and James. Those three guys at times play well, and sometimes just look foolish.

The Eagles defense is not great, but they are playing very well. There is clearly a huge difference from last year to now. I think you have to credit the excellent play of the young DTs, and the linebacker overhaul. Many people ripped the Eagles for releasing Jeremiah Trotter, but now it is clear it was the right move. Omar Gaither has been playing very well, and deserves a lot of credit.

Akers Sucks In The Meadowlands:

The numbers don't lie. He has missed more FGs at Giants Stadium, than any where else in the NFL. He hooked two 41 yarders wide today(one might have been tipped).

I don't know if it is the wind, or the ugly New Yorkers, but Akers is not money there.

Normally I have complete confidence with Akers, but not today. Not in that windy stadium. I remember when he missed a chip shot FG there, that could have clinched home field in the playoffs years back. Maybe it is in his head?

I just hope that the Eagles season never comes down to a big kick up there.

Ugly Jets/Titans throwbacks:

Looks like the Rams uniforms a little. These are not as bad as the blue/yellow Eagles throwbacks, but these throwbacks make me wanna throw up.
Season Back On Track?:

Not yet. It is always important to gets Ws, but this is a bad Jets team the Eagles beat. They also did not do it very convincingly. The offense moved the ball well, but settled for too many FGs. The defense played very well, but there are still some mistakes being made.

Realistically the Eagles need to win about 3-4 in a row, before the ship is righted. With only 3 losses, they are clearly not out of it, but now they can't afford to lose many games from here on.

I was almost ready to give up on the team after the Giants loss, because I did not think Brian Westbrook would be able to come back from this injury. Well BWest is definitely back, and looking great, so now I still have some hope. They need to build off this win, and improve in some areas for next weeks match up with the Bears.

Johnson Backs Gaither

THE CLEAR message from Jim Johnson yesterday was that he is enthusiastic about having Omar Gaither as his starting middle linebacker.

Maybe it was a predictable message - you'd hardly expect the Eagles to release a player like Jeremiah Trotter without the defensive coordinator being on board with the decision - but it was revealing, nonetheless. As Trotter himself noted in his extraordinary farewell address, this wasn't something Andy Reid just woke up and decided to do one cloudy morning.

In fact, when Trotter said he knew Reid didn't want to release him, he might have been giving a bit of insight behind the scenes, over the 6 months or so since the coaching staff finished its review of 2006 game tape. Johnson wasn't going to say anything that would slight Trotter yesterday, but when he said such things as "[Gaither] is a playmaker, and we wanted to get him on the field; it's as simple as that," you can rest assured that it wasn't Reid, the head coach with the offensive background, who was pushing to get Gaither on the field.

The picture that has emerged over the past few days is of two things happening to produce Tuesday's surprise Trotter departure, one event leading directly to the other. Johnson decided, over the weekend, after watching film of the Carolina game, to make Gaither the starter. Gaither practiced in that role Monday, with Trotter as the backup.

Once that happened, Reid made the decision that it would be better to cut the cord cleanly than to try to fit Trotter's dominant, oversized personality into a reserve role, after four Pro Bowl invitations. Then Reid held his meeting with Trotter, and what occurred after that, everybody in Eagles Nation knows by now.

There are things we still don't know. If Trotter had said he really wanted to hang on as a backup, would Reid have allowed that? Were other players consulted, before the final decision was made? Is this just another minor bump in the road, like the departures of prominent leaders in the past (Troy Vincent, Duce Staley etc.), or have Johnson and Reid seriously overestimated the remaining defensive leadership and linebacking talent?

..Continue reading at the Daily News>>

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>>

Banjo Boy throws D-line under the bus

In a recent appearance on NFL Network's Total Access, former Eagles Dhani Jones blames the Eagles front four for the linebackers(his) poor play in 2006. Sounds like he is taking a page out of Trotter's book. The difference is Trotter is a three time pro-bowler, and has the right to speak.

I agree that the front four is clearly important, but could somebody tell this clown Dhani he almost never made a play in three seasons as an Eagle. This would include the 2004 Super Bowl team, that had Derrick Burgess, Corey Simon, Hollis Thomas, Jevon Kearse, Darwin Walker, and Sam Rayburn all playing at a high level.

When the clown actually made his one tackle a game, he would bust out the stupidest celebration ever, the air banjo. I know it is a flashy NFL these days, but players should try to act like they've been there before. All Dhani has ever done, is conduct orchestra's wear stupid bowties, play his "field guitar", and act like an NFL linebacker.

To view Banjo Boy video on Total Access, you must have Real Player.
>>Bow Tie Guy

Eagles Continuing Two Gap Technique

Written by Garry Cobb

I'm convinced now that Jim Johnson is a brilliant blitzer but on basic run defense he's below average. After talking to Eagles new defensive tackle Ian Scott, I learned that the Birds are foolishly continuing to play a two gap technique at times against the run.

The two-gap technique is utilized by bigger D-lines like the Patriots and the Cowboys. If a smaller defensive line like the Eagles gets caught sitting at the line of scrimmage and playing two-gap techniques, they will get worn down and lose their effectiveness like their defense did a year ago.

Ian said there was one major difference between what he was asked to do for the Bears and what he'll be asked to do for the Eagles. Scott said, Chicago played a one gap system all the time and asked their DT's to simply get off on the ball, attack, disrupt and get penetration into the backfield. He said the Birds ask for the same most of the time, but some of the time they want them to play a two-gap technique.

Let me break this down for you. On a one-gap technique, each player is asked to control a single gap along the line of scrimmage. A gap is the area in between offensive blockers on the line of scrimmage. Defensive linemen are asked to get off on the ball and get penetration upfield. They don't have to worry about anything other than controlling their particular gap. This technique is ideal for smaller defensive lines which have more speed and quickness than they have size. The Eagles qualify as one of these types of lines.

In a two-gap technique defense, you ask your defensive linemen to control the gaps on each side of their blocker. The defender has to be able to control the blocker then come off to either side of him. This takes a tremendoujs amount of size and strength. You're asking a defensive linemen to take on a 330 pound blocker, then control the opponent and be able to toss him either way before coming off and making a play on the ball.

Notice that Scott said the Bears smallish and speedy defensive line is never asked to play two-gap technique. Remember the Indy game, when the Eagles were asked to play two gap against the Colts. It was embarrassing.

The Bears had a much better run defense and never play two gap techniques. Don't think the Eagles should copy what the Bears are doing.*

I remember when G brought this issue up last year, and I think he has a valid point. These guys are too small to be 2 gappers. Let them do what they do best, rush upfield, be disruptive. Pete Jenkins is a very good defensive line coach, but I do not think he is a good fit for the Eagles defense.

Demotions for Trotter, S. Brown?

THE OFFSEASON addition of Takeo Spikes and the subtractions of Dhani Jones and Darwin Walker means the Eagles will open the season with at least three new defensive starters.
Spikes has been penciled in at weakside linebacker. Chris

Gocong is the front-runner to replace Jones on the strong side, and assuming he doesn't get lost on the way to Lehigh, 2006 first-round pick Brodrick Bunkley will be Walker's starting replacement at right defensive tackle.

But don't discount the possibility of that list of new starters growing by two before the Eagles check into their hotel in Green Bay for the Sept. 9 season opener against the Packers.

While defensive coordinator Jim Johnson said the other day that Jeremiah Trotter still is the team's starting middle linebacker, his inclusion of the words "right now" made it clear the four-time Pro Bowler is going to have to prove this summer that he still deserves the job.

With Spikes taking over at WILL, second-year man Omar Gaither, who did a solid job there after replacing Matt McCoy in early December, will move back to the middle. Johnson said
Gaither will be the team's MIKE linebacker in its nickel package, but also will be given a shot at beating Trotter out for the starting job.

Then there's the right cornerback position. Right now, that job belongs to Sheldon Brown, who has been the starter there the last three seasons. But keep your eye on William James, who is gaining ground on the outside.

Johnson is very high on James, a former Giant who was one of the league's better young corners before injuring his back 2 years ago. He called him the key to his secondary the other day. Not "a" key. "The" key.

Right now, James, who signed with the Eagles last November but played in just four of 10 games because of injuries, is listed as the team's third corner behind Brown and Lito Sheppard.
But Johnson has told both Brown and James, who signed a new 1-year deal with the Eagles in March, that this is going to be a may-the-best-man-win situation this year.

"William is a guy who can start," Johnson said. "When he played last year, he played well. We just didn't get enough out of him as far as being healthy on the field."

Asked whether James will be given an opportunity to beat out Brown this summer, Johnson said,

"I think [James] is a
starting [quality] cornerback. Anytime you get that
kind of
competition, sure, he's going to push the other guy.
"But
Sheldon's a good corner. We expect Sheldon to have a good year. But the best
players are going to play.''

Brown has had his ups and downs the last two seasons. Johnson moves him inside on passing downs and he has been very effective in that role, but he doesn't seem to be nearly as confident on the outside.

There has been speculation that the Eagles might consider moving him to safety at some point in the future, perhaps after Brian Dawkins retires. Last year, Johnson often had him playing deep in some of his coverage schemes. While he's only 5-10, Brown is solidly built and can
deliver a good blow, as Saints

running back Reggie Bush found out in the playoffs.

"I haven't thought that far down the road," Johnson said.

"I still think he has good corner ability right now. He might not be able to make that transition.

A year down the road, maybe I'll think about it. Right now, I'm not thinking about it."

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/columnists/20070502_Paul_Domowitch___Demotions_for_Trotter__S__Brown_.html