Training Camp Reports by Jordan Raanan of www.eaglesville.com
7/25/2008
Lito Sheppard is upset he’s not a starter, Brian Westbrook is not content with his contract, Shawn Andrews is mad at something and Andy Reid is angry at Shawn Andrews. Got that? Well, that’s where we stand after the first full team practice of Eagles Training Camp 2008.
Andrews was the only player missing when the team went through conditioning drills in the morning and the season’s maiden practice (without pads) on Friday afternoon. Sheppard was there on the sidelines when full-team drills began. He worked into a three-man rotation with Sheldon Brown and key newcomer Asante Samuel. Get used to the term “rotation,” it’s going to be a common theme this camp. There happens to be a “rotation” at some other positions as well. (More about that below.)
Similar to Westbrook, Sheppard couldn’t commit to being in training camp the whole time. “That’s not up to me,” the diminutive corner said. Since that most likely means it’s up to new agent Drew Rosenhaus, there could be trouble. Sheppard is clearly not happy with both his contract and status as the third cornerback right now.
“Of course [I’m] not [happy],” Sheppard said. “I feel like I’m a Pro Bowl-caliber player. Why shouldn’t I start?”
It’s hard to argue that fact. With the dearth of quality cornerbacks around the NFL, there aren’t many — if any — Pro Bowl corners on the bench. It still doesn’t look like Sheppard is going to be a disruptive force. He’s always one of the most jovial players on the team. He even had a huge smile across his face as he addressed the media horde following practice.
All this drama might be getting to Reid. He seemed a bit perturbed during his press conference and practice. At one point during practice he snapped, “You’re walking around. Get in the huddle!” Later, when pressed about Andrews’ mysterious absence, Reid offered an “it is what it is … that’s as far as I’m going with it.” He then refuted a report that the Eagles had discussed internally the possibility of trading the All-Pro guard.
“I don’t know where people get all this stuff,” Reid said.
Oh yeah, there was an actual practice that took place too. Some things we noticed:
· Victor Abiamiri and Juqua Parker (formerly Juqua Thomas) split time with the first-team defense. Free-agent signing Chris Clemmons worked with the third team.
· Sheppard spent time playing right and left cornerback. Samuel played exclusively on the left and Brown only on the right.
· Donovan McNabb’s passes had plenty of zip on them. His shoulder didn’t look tight.
· Brian Westbrook practiced in long sleeves despite temperatures in the 80s. For some reason, he almost always wears long sleeves.
· Winston Justice worked at tackle and will remain there throughout camp. The Eagles experimented with Justice at guard during the final voluntary minicamp.
· The Eagles worked in a decent amount of two tight-end sets and 3-4 defense.
