Eagles Wake-Up Call


Training camp has really picked up over the past couple days. Hitting. Fighting. More Hitting. It is nice, from a spectator’s perspective, to see football look like football again after the summer camp that was held here last year.

But how much is Andy Reid playing with fire?

Sunday’s afternoon practice was as intense and physical as we have seen in some time – a three-hour slugfest that exhausted the players. Reid, known for maybe the toughest training camps in the league, is delivering on his promise to turn this puppy up a notch from last season.

To date, the main injuries that have occurred have not been a result of hitting. Riley Cooper fractured his collarbone during a one-on-one drill. Jason Babin suffered his calf strain on a one-on-one. And Ron Johnson’s ankle injury was of the non-contact variety.

Reid’s teams have had success with grueling camps in the past. But logic suggests that the more you thump, the greater the chance of injury. It’s a fine line between pushing and pushing too hard.

“You can think that if you’re going to start tackling and hitting that you’ll get a lot more injuries, but we haven’t gone through that and we’ve been doing it every day, almost every period,” said Nnamdi Asomugha. “So far, so good.”

WHAT YOU MISSED

More details on the troubling scene that unfolded during the afternoon session when Johnson landed awkwardly and suffered a dislocated ankle. DeSean Jackson said Johnson is like a little brother to him, and was one of many teammates and coaches that were upset over the incident. Sheil’s practice observations are here.

Dion Lewis is creating a little bit of a buzz in camp after a quiet rookie season. Marty Mornhinweg says that was his mistake.

Sheil checks in on Asante Samuel. The powers-that-be in Atlanta are quite impressed with what they’ve seen out of the veteran corner so far. Of course, he hasn’t accused them of playing fantasy football yet, either.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

Peter King has Lehigh ranked fourth on his list of top training camp sights.

If you like hills, you’ll love the campus of Lehigh University. And though the practice fields are just flat fields with no great view, the feel of many practices are perfect Philly — chants (“E-A-G-L-E-S! EAGLES!!!”) and catcalls that make it clear these fans are in midseason form in late July and early August.

A little love from PK. The Steelers, Cardinals and Bills camps are ranked ahead of the Eagles.

Don Banks checked out Eagles training camp and gave a thorough evaluation. He sees a determined Michael Vick, a question mark at backup running back and labels Demetress Bell as the player that needs to “Step On Up.”

COMING UP

Under the rules of the new CBA, players get three days off during training camp. The first is Tuesday, and there is no media availability. Practice resumes Wednesday at 8:15 (walkthrough) and 2:45 (the real stuff).