On in-patients and out-patients in Philadelphia

By Os Davis  |   Thursday, August 17, 2006  |  Comments( 0 )

Philadelphia Eagles
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"This is a Super Bowl team," Donovan McNabb emphatically stated this week of his Philadelphia Eagles, crafting visions of "possibly 13-3 or 14-2 possibly" to dance in the heads of his fans.

All right, all right, on one hand, observers can't fault McNabb's enthusiasm. The QB has got to be flying high after turning in a pair of excellent preseason performances. Wide receivers from the mostly no-name corps such as Darnerien McCants and rookie Hank Baskett have shown flashes of excellence, and the Eagles controlled throughout in last Thursday's win over the Cleveland Browns.

In all sobriety, though, perhaps someone should hand McNabb a sports page. A hospital registry might do the trick as well, for one tormenting fact shown during this preseason is that the Eagles continue to demonstrate the propensity for injuries that played no small part in last year's 2006 debacle.

Heck, didn't McNabb see to whom he and Jeff Garcia were handing the ball to against Cleveland? Roster members Brian Westbrook, Ryan Moats, Correll Buckhalter and Bruce Perry combined for exactly zero yards on zero carries; the latter three have officially been reported injured while Westbrook was reportedly merely resting up. To make matters worse, fourth-stringer Reno Mahe, thrust into a starting spot for the Cleveland game, racked up an anemic 10 yards on seven carries before exiting the game due to - get this - injury, specifically a concussion which will reportedly not shelve him for tonight's game against the Baltimore Ravens. The leading rusher on this would-be 14-2 team? Marty Johnson, released from the Denver Broncos two days previously, with 47 yards.

Heading into tonight's game, analysts assessing Philly's chances would do best to pursue the Eagles' in-patient/out-patient roll call, a list threatening to run up more casualties than a couple episodes of M*A*S*H plus half a season of Chicago Hope.

First, some good news. The nearly perpetually injured Buckhalter will be starting tonight, representing his first play since 2003 with the chronic knee injuries that have dogged his entire professional career. Buckhalter is absolutely critical to Eagle success in '06, as the probability of quality play from Westbrook remains a huge unknown.

Long time veteran TE Mike Bartrum will likely see time on the field, as media reports of his heart attack were greatly exaggerated. Bartrum missed a couple of practices last week and sat out the Browns game; apparently, missing his first game in 13 years caused a journalist or two to overdose on poetic license. Bartrum is considered one of the top deep snappers in the NFL and in his absence, the Eagles fielded a combination of DE Darren Howard, center Hank Fraley and TE Steve Spech against Cleveland.

And, though no question of injury surrounds rookie DT Brodrick Bunkley, Eagle backers were thrilled to see the end of the No. 14 pick's holdout, particularly given the level of play he demonstrated in the Browns game. Figure Bunkley to play a fair number of downs against Baltimore.

Then there are the wounded. In addition to the continual "no" for Westbrook, Eagle officials have stated that WR Todd Pinkston will not play tonight; the six-year-man missed all of '05 and has yet to see action in this preseason. Murmurs have begun that Pinkston, who averaged 44 catches for 659 yards and 3.5 TD's over four years as a Philly starter, might not even make the team.

Also sidelined tonight will be DE Jerome McDougle, one sad case on a tragic roster. McDougle was a first-round pick in '03 who suffered a pair of debilitating injuries before being shot by armed robbers in preseason 2005 to remove him from play all last year. Now McDougle has two broken ribs, incurred in practice two days after shining with three tackles and a sack against Cleveland. McDougle is out for at least three weeks.

Linebacker Greg Richmond, meanwhile, has now been scheduled for surgery on a herniated disc. This implies that Richmond will miss - that's right - the entire season. The third-year LB missed all of last season due to a lower back injury.

While optimistic bedside manner is necessary in the treatment of a 6-10 case, friendly ol' Dr. McNabb may be spending a bit too much time in the oxygen tent. This observer's slightly more realistic, but still optimistic diagnosis: Given the competition in the NFC East, McNabb and his team ought to be happy to attain a 9-7 record should the bandages hold out. That mark may in turn be enough to take the division. Should that happen, McNabb may be surprised when the Eagles' MVP award is presented to Peter DeLuca, the team's head physician.

Watch the changing conditions of the Philadelphia Eagles at Realfootball365.com.
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About Os Davis

Os Davis has taken a twisted route to get to RealFootball365.com in his nearly 17 years in professional writing, working in any number of capacities in the sportswriting, news reporting and film criticism worlds. In print media, Os has served as editor at a few publications, including Albuquerque's...
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