Kaspers Korner

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb will miss Sunday’s game, because of his rib injuries.

That opens the door for back up quarterback Kevin Kolb to redeem himself after last week’s performance.

Kolb last week threw for 391 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions.

The thing is that Kolb was up against the New Orleans Saints who scored 48 points on the Eagles defense.

That meant that Kolb had to put the ball in the air to try and catch up quicker, which usually leads to more interceptions.

This week the Eagles go up against the Kansas City Chiefs who are ranked 14th in passing defense.

In the end Kolb needs to show progress if he is going to remain the primary backup to Donovan McNabb.

Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Sheldon Brown was fined this week for wearing a Jason mask during introductions last Sunday.

The fine shows how ridiculous they are at times.

The National Football League has taken a hard stance on incidents like this to protect the integrity of the game.

The only thing it does is make the NFL look like an over protective parent as it is only introductions.

At some point you need to let people show their individualism as if you keep trying to bottle it will cause problems later

In the end the NFL really needs to just lighten up.

A clip of Michael Vick’s interview on 6o Minutes has been released by CBS.

After reviewing the clip Vick is genuinely remorseful.

As the saying goes a person’s eyes is the window to his soul and in Vicks you see remorse.

Vick went on to state that after he started the dog fighting ring he realized what he was doing was wrong, but due to anxiety and fear he couldn’t muster up the courage to stop it.

Vick has a legitament case there when it comes to fear as his partners being criminals could have turned on Vick and killed him.
Simply, Vick got sucked in by old friends and when he realized what he was doing it was too late
Vick did get lucky as the Surry County district attorney Gerald L. Poindexter could have levied more charges on him.
Still Vick has a long way to climb to get back to his status as one of the most hyped quarterbacks in the National Football League.

No matter how you look at it the courts had their final say and Vick has done what he has been asked of.

He now has a second chance that he can use to reshape his legacy.

In the end unlike other players that have had more chances Vick will not get a third as what he did is one of the worst things that any past or present NFL player has ever done.

The Philadelphia Eagles announce Tuesday that former defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away.  Johnson’s death is a huge loss that will be felt by the Eagles this year.

Johnson lost his battle to melanoma cancer, which he was previously treated for in 2001.

Johnson was up until this year has been the only defensive coordinator that Eagles head coach Andy Reid has ever had.

So, what does it mean for the Eagles defense?

New defensive coordiantor Sean McDermott mentored under Johnson and in his first press conference stated that he will continue to use Johnson’s system as he put in countless hours of research to find things that will work.

The only thing that will change is that McDermott stated he will add wrinkles to the system.

The thing is McDermott is not Johnson, which means there will be some kind of dropp off as this is his first ever time being a defensive coordinator.

As any position in the National Football League there is a learning curve as there are little things a person must learn.

In the end with the Eagles being in a tough division in the NFC East they will be lucky if they make the playoffs.

Philadelphia Eagles running back Brian Westbrook has been the main weapon for them for as he has 1,200 total yards or more the past five years.  However, it is the beginning of the end for Westbrook as an Eagle.

Even though Westbrook has been a critical asset to the Eagles offense he has one big problem in being able to play a whole year as he has never done that yet.

To help shoulder the load with Westbrook the Eagles drafted running back LeSean McCoy in the second round of this past year’s National Football League Draft.

The Eagles had no choice as they had to find some solution to keep Westbrook healthy as he will be 30 years old this September, which for running backs it means that their skill will start diminishing.

Also, the Eagles lost backup Correll Buckhalter to free agency as he signed with the Denver Broncos.

A precedent of this very exact situation has been set as the Jacksonville Jaguars went through the same thing, because running back Fred Taylor could not stay healthy.

The Jaguars drafted running back Maurice Jones-Drew in 2006 to help shoulder the load as well and then after the 2008 season the Jaguars cut Taylor.

With Westbrook’s contract having voidable years after the 2011 season, and Taylor being cut after three years from when Jones-Drew was drafted, he has at the most three years left with the team.

In the end as much as Eagles fans love Westbrook if he is still missing games to injury then the front office will eventually have no choice and will have to cut him.

The Philadelphia Eagles reached the NFC Conference Championship game for the fifth time behind quarterback Donovan McNabb, but like most of the other times they lost.  For the upcoming 2009 season the rookies will be the key.

The Eagles offense has several rookie starters that will make or break the season for them.  The two main players are tight end Brent Celek and rookie wide receiver Jeremy Maclin

Celek will be a rookie starting tight end next year for the Eagles.  That has happened, because in the 2008 post season Celek was a monster catching 19 passes for 151 yards with three touchdowns.  His performance in the post season then led the Eagles to let starting tight end LJ Smith walk in free agency.

Maclin carries all the hopes that Eagles have been waiting for.  That being a star wide receiver since wide receiver Terrell Owens left town, but even before that the Eagles have not had a wide reciever go to the Pro Bowl, besides Owens in 2005, since Fred Barnett in 1993.

The problem is that wide receivers usually take three years to develop, which may be too long since McNabb turns 33 in November.

Unfortunately, the 2009 season may be one where they come up just short again.  That is unless these two rookies turn in solid years.

The Philadelphia Eagles look like they have moved on past tight end LJ Smith.  The question is now can tight end Brent Celek fill his shoes.

Smith has been one of starting quarterback Donovan McNabb’s main targets.  However, Smith has missed games in the regular season the last two years.  That and Celek’s performance in the postseason allowed the Eagles to let Smith just walk.

Celek in his limited time during the regular season caught 27 passes for 318 yards and one touchdown.   It was his performance in the postseason that caught eyes as he caught 19 passes for 151 yards and three touchdowns in three postseason games.
Smith has been criticized by critics for not being that good of a blocker.  So, if Celek is going to be an upgrade, then he needs to show that he is better at that.

With rookie wide reciever Desean Jackson performing as well as he did last year the Eagles can now take a gamble and see if Celek is just as good.

More importantly for the Eagles is that Celek would cost less as he still has two years left on his rookie contract.

Simply, moving on to Celek was the right move for the Eagles no mater if it works out or not his performance in the postseason is something you cannot just ignore.

Hank Baskett WR restricted

Correll Buckhalter RB unrestricted signed with Broncos four years
Nick Cole OL restricted

Sean Considine S unrestricted signed with Jaguars two years three million.
Brian Dawkins S unrestricted signed with Broncos five years $17 million $7.2 guaranteed
Joselio Hanson CB unrestricted

Jon Runyan OT unrestricted

LJ Smith TE unrestricted signed with Ravens one year $1.5 million
Tra Thomas OT unrestricted signed with Jaguars three years

The Philadelphia Eagles reached the NFC title game after only a month ago was looking to be impossible.  Even though they made the NFC title game the Eagles are still going to have to make a tough call on quarterback Donovan McNabb.

McNabb had the Eagles in Arizona Cardinal territory with a little over two minutes left in the game.  The Eagles were driving to tie up the score.

On 2nd and 10 from the Cardinals 47 yard line McNabb over threw a wide open man in wide receiver Desean Jackson.   McNabb on the following play had a wide open man crossing the field in wide receiver Hank Baskett, but McNabb threw the ball behind him and Baskett could not catch it.

McNabb simply cannot get it done.  This is the fifth time that McNabb has been to the NFC title game and has only converted one of the games into an appearance in the Superbowl.

Now, is the time to make a quarterback change, which they will have to eventually do.  The reason being that backup quarterback Kevin Kolb was a second round pick in the 2007 draft.

Draft picks in the second round, and beyond, can only receive a contract as long as four years.  That means with Kolb serving two years as backup to McNabb he now has only two more years left.

That means either this year, or next, the Eagles will have to move on from McNabb and find out what they have in Kolb.

So, say goodbye Eagles fans, because you probably seen McNabb play his last game as a Eagle.

Philadelphia Eagles head coach Andy Reid is known for his grueling physical training camps.

However, for this year Reid is going to have to tone it down.

The reason being that for whatever reason people are falling like flies.

It first started with starting middle linebacker Stewart Bradley who tore his anteriot cruciate ligament and is now out for the year.

Also, out for the year is tight end Cornelius Ingram as he tore his knee and quarterback Kevin Kolb is out for awhile with a sprined medial collateral ligament.

The Eagles are getting a little luck as wide receivers DeSean Jackson and Hank Baskett suffered knee injuries, which later turned out to be just hyperextensions.

In the end if Reid doesn’t start to tone practices then another starter is going to be lost for the season soon.