Enough with all this off the field talk about Lito Sheppard, Shawn Andrews, Brian Westbrook’s contract or whatever else occupied us most of training camp. It’s all about football now. Here are some tidbits about this Sunday’s season opener against St. Louis:
· DeSean Jackson is going to start Sunday against the Rams. Can you believe it, a rookie wide receiver starting for the Eagles? That’s right. The Cal product is definitely going to be the Birds’ starting flanker on Sunday, according to offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg. As for Reggie Brown and his hamstring problem, it’s not looking good. Brown did not practice Thursday and the Eagles don’t seem so certain anymore he will be ready for the contest. “Reggie is day to day,” Mornhinweg said.
· Defensive end Chris Clemons says he’s “100 percent healthy.” But that doesn’t mean he’s ready to play. The Eagles have not yet made a decision whether he is ready to dress for the game because they are not sure if he knows all the nickel and dime blitzes. If Clemons doesn’t play, rookie Bryan Smith will dress and probably take the snaps in some pass-rushing situations. The Birds’ coaching staff has a lot more confidence in Smith after his performance in the final preseason game.
· Lito Sheppard will be on the field with starting cornerbacks Asante Samuel and Sheldon Brown for about 60-70 percent of the defensive snaps with NFL teams using so many three or four wide receiver sets.
· It would be a shock to see Omar Gaither picking off any passes on Sunday. Gaither has been nursing a minor wrist injury the last few weeks and will be wearing a cast to protect it against the Rams. It’s not something that should be too unusual though. The Eagles’ weakside linebacker has been wearing the protective cast in practice the last two weeks.
· The Eagles defense should be very familiar with the offense that the Rams run. St. Louis’ offensive coordinator, Al Saunders, used to be with the Redskins. Saunders worked with Joe Gibbs the past two seasons in Washington, meaning the Birds shouldn’t be confused with all the shifting and motioning since they’ve seen it before.
· It’s possible the Eagles will bring in a backup offensive linemen (possibly Nick Cole?) for blocking purposes in goal-line or short-yardage situations. Defensive tackle Dan Klecko, who was originally brought in this offseason to play fullback, also has an outside chance of being used in this role later this season.
