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Each morning during training camp, we’ll be bringing you the Eagles Wake-up Call with links and notes from Lehigh. Today, a report that Joe Banner and the Browns new ownership group are going to “blow the whole place up” once they land in Cleveland. Plus, the latest on an Eagles trade, injury updates and DeSean Jackson with some words of advice.
Pretty much every discussion about the 2012 Eagles involves a mention about Michael Vick’s ability to stay healthy and Mike Kafka’s ability to back him up.
Some will also throw in LeSean McCoy’s heavy 2011 workload and the competition between Dion Lewis, Bryce Brown and Chris Polk to back him up.
But what about the offensive line?
Jamar Chaney didn’t find out until he got to the practice field Thursday morning for the Eagles’ walk-through.
But when Juan Castillo asked for the first-team nickel defense, Chaney was the man called on to go in alongside DeMeco Ryans.
Up until today, Brian Rolle had been occupying that spot at Lehigh. And in the spring, it was rookie Mychal Kendricks.
“I don’t know what’s going on,” Chaney said when I asked him if he expected to be part of that package for the next few days. “I just do what they tell me to do. Whether I’m out there with the twos or the ones, I just go out there and do my best. My job is just to make the decision hard on them.”
When asked if he could see himself helping the Eagles in short yardage or goal-line situations, Bryce Brown didn’t hesitate to deliver a clear answer.
“I can see myself doing anything the coaches ask me to do,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what it is, I can see myself doing it.”
That’s the right attitude to take when you’re a seventh-round pick trying to make the 53-man roster.
Back in March, DeSean Jackson got a five-year, $47 million contract with $15 million guaranteed.
He’s made a pair of Pro Bowls and is only 25-years-old.
Cornerback Brandon Hughes is fighting for a job. He’s due $540,000 this year. He was a fifth-round pick by the Chargers in 2009, and the Eagles are the third organization he’s been with, even though he just turned 26.
But this is training camp, where guys like Jackson match up with guys like Hughes everyday. So far, Jackson has gotten the better of the cornerback with the first-team offense going up against the second-team defense.
Today, on one play where the ball wasn’t even thrown Jackson’s way, the two players mixed it up and exchanged punches before they were broken up by teammates and coaches.
In one breath, offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg was talking about the importance of the fullback position in the Eagles’ offense.
In the next, he seemed to think that the idea of not having one on the roster at all was at least possible.
“There aren’t all that many true fullbacks left in this league,” Mornhinweg said. “We’ve typically had one because they’re very valuable with some of the things that we do. Special teams count for that particular type of player, normally.”