Odds & Ends (9/17)

Of course they have:

The Eagles have done studies that show that players who do not report to training camp on time are significantly more prone to injury. Andrews missed the Lehigh University portion of training camp because he was battling depression.

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Three points on this one:

You might have noticed Dallas tight end Jason Witten catching seven passes for 110 yards against the Eagles Monday night, including a 32-yarder that set up the winning touchdown. You might not have noticed St. Louis' Randy McMichael catching five passes for 77 yards in the opener, even while the Eagles were blowing out the Rams.

The Eagles are 0-for-2 trying to cover tight ends this season, and Monday night, it probably cost them a winnable game.

1)  Saying you have a tight end coverage problem because you couldn't shut down Jason Witten is like saying you have a quarterback containment problem because you couldn't keep McNabb in the pocket.  These guys are sort of the best of the best.

2)  The Eagles would have no problem covering Witten if he played for, say, the Washington Redskins.  The problem with that offense is that they have weapons at all three levels.

3)  Randy McMichael lined up all over the formation against the Eagles and was the team's only reliable receiving threat.  Five catches in that situation, meh.

With that said, we're hearing a lot less from the young linebackers these days about their plans for walking into Canton together.

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Not that anyone's been ignoring the guy, but I'm not sure we're making a big enough deal about DeSean Jackson.  The guy already has 12 / 216 / 1 and he's averaging 18.0 yards a reception.  Check out the league comparison.

Yes, it's early, but guys, we could be looking at the best Eagles offensive player since Brian Westbrook.

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Ordinarily, this would have driven me nuts:

By comparison, the Eagles called 18 runs and 46 passes. McNabb scrambled five of those pass calls into runs and he was sacked four times. Brian Westbrook handled all the other rushes and gained 58 yards on his 18 carries.

On Monday, though, that was perfectly acceptable play-calling.  That game was a shootout from the word 'go' and it was obvious that whichever team backed off the throttle first would lose. 

Ironic, of course, given the discussion around here for years, that the Eagles probably lost this game on a running play where they were trying to control the clock.  Ouch.