JIM JOHNSON loved Jeremiah Trotter. Loved the unique blend of athleticism and physicality he brought to the middle linebacker position. Loved his fearless downhill style, even if he occasionally went down the wrong hill. Loved his Ax Man work ethic. Loved the intensity and passion he brought to the game. Trotter was the kind of player Johnson wished he could have coached forever. But the Eagles’ late defensive coordinator saw 2 years ago that forever was knocking on the door. “Trot can’t play too many plays anymore,” he said outside the visitors’ locker room at the Louisiana Superdome following the Eagles’ 27-24 playoff loss to the Saints. “He’s getting up there in age and you’ve gotta …
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Eagles need to stop run, but is aging Trotter the answer?
IT ISN’T UNCOMMON for an athlete to believe he can still play, long after his final game is in the books. It is uncommon for an athlete to hold onto that notion so fiercely that he eventually gets someone to reconsider, to give him a chance to write a different final chapter. Jeremiah Trotter was always stubborn, strong-willed. That was one of the reasons the Eagles and their fans liked him so much. And it’s one of the reasons Trotter will be wearing his familiar No. 54 jersey for an amazing third tour of duty with the team, when practice resumes next Monday after the bye week. “At some points, like last year, when I was sitting at home . . . I was like, ‘Should I give it up and start …
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Trotter says return to Eagles is dream come true
Jeremiah Trotter did not come back after nearly two years away from football to be a backup. Apparently, the linebacker doesn’t think the Eagles had that in mind, either, when they signed one of the most popular players in team history to a one-year contract yesterday. “Listen, I don’t think they’d bring me back to play special teams,” Trotter said at the NovaCare Complex. “Put it that way.” To make room on their 53-man roster, the Eagles released quarterback Jeff Garcia, who was expendable with Donovan McNabb expected to return in time for the Tampa Bay game Oct. 11. Now that the shock of having Trotter back in Philadelphia for a third stint has worn off, the question remains: Why is the …
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Jeremiah Trotter returns to Eagles
The Eagles today signed linebacker Jeremiah Trotter to a one-year contract. To make room on the 53-man roster, the team released quarterback Jeff Garcia. “Jeremiah Trotter has always been one of my favorite players,” head coach Andy Reid said in a press release. “He has worked very hard to keep himself in shape and we are pleased with where he is physically.” A four-time Pro Bowler, Trotter is in his third stint with the Eagled. A third-round draft choice of the Eagles in 1998, Trotter racked up 100-or-more tackles and led the team in that category in five of his seven seasons in Philadelphia. He also became the fourth linebacker in team history with four-or-more Pro Bowls, joining Chuck …
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Eagles re-sign Trotter, release Garcia
We can only wonder if the Andy Reid who coaches the Eagles now would have won a Super Bowl if he’d been around from 2000 through 2004.That Andy Reid believed in a platoon of unspectacular but well-schooled wide receivers running his faithful version of the West Coast offense.This Andy Reid is so taken by DeSean Jackson’s electrifying skills that he chuckles when the second-year wideout risks his already injured (and drug-numbed) groin muscle with a somersault in the end zone.That Andy Reid wouldn’t let a running back as talented as Brian Westbrook play regularly until he had mastered the nuances of reading, reacting and blocking a blitz by a linebacker or safety.This Andy Reid all but …
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Eagles let it fly with the new-model Andy Reid
Andy Reid is ready to integrate another offensive trend into his game plan. One day after rookie LeSean McCoy carried the rushing load in the Eagles’ 34-14 blowout of the Kansas City Chiefs, the Eagles’ coach suggested McCoy and Brian Westbrook would share snaps when Westbrook returns from his sprained ankle. That would give the Eagles the running back tandem many teams use. With Westbrook out, McCoy rushed for 84 yards on 20 carries in his starting debut Sunday, including a 5-yard touchdown. “I think that will take place,” Reid said of the tandem. “(McCoy will) rotate in there. I don’t know exactly the rotation that we would do, but it would work him in there. We’ll just see how it goes.” …
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Eagles plan RB rotation
The Eagles won’t be seen at the NovaCare Complex again until Monday. That gives Donovan McNabb, Brian Westbrook, Kevin Curtis and the other Eagles nursing injuries an extra week to get healthy and prepared for their Oct. 11 game against Tampa Bay. Eagles coach Andy Reid followed tradition by giving his team the bye week off from practice. Reid didn’t have earth-shattering news Monday about any of his injured offensive players, including McNabb and Westbrook. He said McNabb still is mending and will spend the week off working with head trainer Rick Burkholder. “He’ll be working to get the soreness out, the muscles in between the ribs, tightness in there,” Reid said. “Rick has him on some …
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Treatments to continue for McNabb
THERE WAS a time when what Andy Reid said yesterday would have sent Eagle Nation into a panic. Maybe it still should; maybe, if the 2009 season disappoints, this will be remembered as a watershed moment.Reid was asked if he is concerned that even if Brian Westbrook’s ankle swelling goes away, as the coach expects, and Westbrook returns to action when the Eagles come back from the bye on Oct. 11, could this become a continuing pattern? Westbrook didn’t play at all in the preseason, as his ankle healed from surgery. He came out of the opener early, to guard against injury. Then he was less than 20 touches into Game 2 before he sprained his repaired right ankle – an injury Reid seemed fairly …
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McCoy provides insurance option for Eagles if Westbrook can’t go
The Eagles’ infatuation with Jeremiah Trotter continued yesterday when the team invited him in for a second workout at the NovaCare Complex.According to an ESPN report, Trotter was also given a physical and could be close to signing a contract, but a team spokesman said last night that coach Andy Reid was undecided on the matter.Attempts to reach Trotter last night were unsuccessful.Trotter also worked out for the Eagles Thursday, and Reid said the next day that the former Pro Bowl linebacker was moving well after not playing at all last season.The Eagles released Trotter just before the start of the 2007 season and made Omar Gaither the starting middle linebacker. Trotter signed with …
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Eagles give Trotter another look
Easy wins over awful teams can create confidence.In this case, it also generated some interesting questions.By relying so heavily on younger offensive players in their 34-14 win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, the Eagles may have ushered in a new era sooner than anticipated.With a week off, veteran running back Brian Westbrook should be recovered from a sprained right ankle and veteran wide receiver Kevin Curtis could be ready to return from a sprained left knee when the Eagles face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Oct. 11 at Lincoln Financial Field.The question: Will they have reduced roles when they are ready to play again?Rookies LeSean McCoy and Jeremy Maclin filled in as starters …
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Will Eagles rookies keep getting touches?
It was not as sexy as his statistics or as thrilling as his 35-yard touchdown catch, but Brent Celek’s blocking in the Eagles’ 34-14 flogging of Kansas City on Sunday illustrates best how he has become a complete tight end.Even though he started the final four games last season, critics suggested that Celek’s supposed deficiencies in run blocking warranted an upgrade at the position.It’s funny how three games can alter the discourse. The third-year player leads all NFL tight ends in receptions and receiving yards, and his blocking has improved dramatically.”He’s really worked on his run-game [blocking] also, and he’s doing a better job there than he did last year,” coach Andy Reid said. …
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Celek blocking was a big piece of a big win
You didn’t hear much about Kevin Kolb on the endless network pregame shows yesterday. You didn’t see his picture on the national sports Web sites, either. All the buzz was about that other Eagles quarterback, the dogman-turned-Wildcatter. The earnest young Texan, making the second start of his career, didn’t get enough attention to qualify as an afterthought. The actual game between the Eagles and the woe-woe-woeful Kansas City Chiefs was another matter. Kolb turned in a fine performance at quarterback, throwing for 327 yards and two touchdowns in a 34-14 victory. With his 391-yard performance last week, Kolb became the first quarterback in NFL history – as in not Montana or Elway, Marino …
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Kolb proves his quarterback chops
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