by Joe Tailgate on August 6, 2009
in NFL News
Brian Westbrook is spending his time doing drills with trainer Rick Burkholder. Instead of just stretching and running, this workout consisted of real, honest-to-goodness football activities. Westbrook took handoffs, caught passes, and made sharp cuts, both left and right.
“Yeah, (we are) just trying to get him involved with some football drills,” head coach Andy Reid said. “Rick has done a handful of conditioning and rehab drills with him. We brought a quarterback over to throw him the ball, throw him some routes just to see how he’s cutting. I needed to get a little feel on it, just see where he’s at.” “He looked good,” Reid said. “He’s still working through some things with his ankle, but he looked good. I thought he moved around well. He was further ahead than what I anticipated going over there, so we’ll just see how he does tomorrow.”
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by Joe Tailgate on July 30, 2009
in NFL News
Contract talks between the Eagles and Jeremy Maclin heated up yesterday afternoon, according to a high-ranking team official familiar with the negotiations. The team official said that although little significant progress was made, the Eagles were encouraged by the fact that at least communication with Maclin’s agent picked up. Maclin, the 19th pick in the draft, has missed the first five practices of training camp at Lehigh and offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg said the missed time could be costly for Maclin, a wide receiver out of Missouri.
“I’d normally talk about the players that are here,” Mornhinweg said. “However, in general, it’s my experience with rookies that help a ball club – or helped the club that I’ve been on – they’ve missed very, very little. It’s just a big advantage to be at every practice.”
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by Joe Tailgate on June 19, 2009
in NFL News
- Eagles QB Donovan McNabb’s future with the team beyond 2009 will be determined by how he and the team do this season and his reworked deal doesn’t change that. While McNabb can pocket an extra $1.2 million in the final year of the reworked deal, just $3.5 million of his 2010 money is guaranteed, which is hardly enough to make the Eagles think twice about getting rid of him. Just as the Eagles did with Terrell Owens, when they released him before he was due a sizeable offseason roster bonus, they can release McNabb prior to next May and won’t be on the hook for a penny of that $6.2 million and will only owe him the $3.5 million guaranteed portion of his salary.
- WR Kevin Curtis has proclaimed himself 100 percent healthy. Curtis missed the beginning of last season following sports hernia surgery and then missed the post-draft minicamp because of a followup surgery in April. He was a limited participant in the last group of OTAs, saying he felt strong at the start of practices but the area would get fatigued. “I’m 100 percent this year,” Curtis said. “I’m feeling good. I should be ready to roll.”
- Andy Reid’s agent, Bob LaMonte, said yesterday that no talks have taken place so far, but agreed that it seems unlikely the man who has coached and won more Eagles games than anyone will get into the final year of his contract without an extension. So something definitely could, maybe likely will, happen this summer. “It’s been a fabulous relationship, ongoing with the Eagles, and I’d expect it to continue,” LaMonte said. He said he anticipated that a new deal for Reid would be “one of the easier things to get done.”
- The Eagles already have signed six of their eight draft choices. The only two still unsigned are first-round wide receiver Jeremy Maclin and second-round running back LeSean McCoy. The team seems confident that both will be signed before rookies are scheduled to report to training camp on July 26.
Plaxico Burress is deathly afraid of going to jail. Bob Papa, one of the hosts of Sirius NFL Radio’s The Opening Drive, spoke on the subject today. “This is what I’ve been told and what I’ve heard,” Papa said on the air. “They worked out something where they had it down to about a three-month jail term with actually only two months served and about 1,500 hours of community service. And I think his lawyers felt that they had a pretty good deal. He doesn’t want to go to jail at all. He shot down the deal. He does not want to go to jail at all. So now coming up in another couple of weeks we’re gonna find out what’s gonna happen. But my guess is that the city of New York is not gonna back off any kind of jail time. “Evidently, he’s gonna have to go to Ryker’s Island,” Papa added. “He’s deathly afraid of going. If he would have just taken the deal when it originally was offered it would all be over with by now. But supposedly the community service hours and the jail time are not appealing to him. He does not understand that he is not in any kind of position of leverage. He has no leverage. He, not his representatives, he thinks he has leverage.”
Cardinals WR Anquan Boldin, who has been at odds with the team regarding his contract and had expressed a desire to be traded, did not attend Wednesday’s voluntary organized team activities at the club’s Tempe training facility, and coach Ken Whisenhunt said it was unclear whether anything has changed.
Eagles WR Jeremy Maclin was working at both the X and Z receiver positions. During the post-draft mini-camp, he primarily played the X spot but his repertoire is increasing as the camps go on. He has also spent some time inside at the slot as well.
Packers WR Donald Driver has been MIA lately because he wants the team to sweeten his contract. Driver, 34, has two years remaining on his contract, which calls for a $3.9 million base salary this season and a $4 million base salary in 2010.
Colts CB Marlin Jackson remains on the fast track to recover from a knee injury that ended his 2008 season. “I’ve been blessed so far being able to heal up faster than everybody thought I would,” said Jackson, who tore two ligaments in his right knee, during an Oct. 29 practice.
