Camp tour: Eagles will keep rolling with D, not T.O.
Eagles: Five things to know
BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- Terrell Owens is missing, Todd Pinkston is gone, and you wonder how in the world the Philadelphia Eagles can manage.
Then you remember: They can manage because they always manage. Every year, it seems, there's a crisis to overcome, and every year the Philadelphia Eagles wind up in the NFC Championship Game.
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| Big-hitting safety Brian Dawkins is one of many defensive weapons in Philly. (Getty Images) |
You'd better believe.
This is the team that won in 2000 after losing star running back Duce Staley. It's the team that overcame the loss of Pro Bowl quarterback Donovan McNabb two years later to win the NFC East. It's the team that played without its star-studded secondary for much of 2003 and wound up in the NFC Championship Game.
Most important, it's the team that lost Owens for the conference playoffs in 2004 and reached the Super Bowl.
The Philadelphia Eagles are one of the NFC's elite teams with or without Owens. Yes, I know they lost Pinkston for the year and that the chances of reconciling with Owens are not exactly promising. And, yes, I understand that the wide receivers they have now -- Greg Lewis, Billy McMullen and rookie Reggie Brown -- have 27 catches combined for their NFL careers.
So what's the problem? The Eagles won with Torrance Small, Charles Johnson and James Thrash as their chief outside threats, and they will win again whether Owens comes to his senses or not. The reason: It's not so much what the Eagles are missing on offense that matters here; it's what they're missing on defense.
| Philadelphia Eagles |
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| Out of Nowhere Man |
| S Sean Considine The Eagles may have scored a direct hit with the fourth-round pick, a safety out of Iowa who is a big hit -- and hitter -- at this year's camp. Considine isn't expected to challenge for a starting job -- and why would he with Brian Dawkins and Michael Lewis ahead of him? -- but defensive coordinator Jim Johnson might have to find a spot to fit him because the guy always seems to be around the ball. For the moment, look for him to make an impact on special teams. He did at Iowa, where he blocked five kicks, four of which were returned for touchdowns. |
| Five things you should know |
Nothing.
The Eagles return 10 of 11 starters -- assuming Corey Simon ends his holdout -- and that's only because defensive end Derrick Burgess, now with the Raiders, had to step in after N.D. Kalu tore a knee ligament during last year's training camp. Now Kalu is back, and like it or not, so are the Eagles.
"As good as our offense is and can be," said linebacker Jeremiah Trotter, "this team and this organization has been built on defense. From the first time Andy (coach Andy Reid) and those guys got here we always had a great defense.
"That statement that defense wins championships is true; I know that everybody wants to see touchdowns. But for us to get back to the Super Bowl, it's going to be on the back of the defense."
And that's why the Eagles aren't -- and should not be -- worried. Their practices, Reid said, have been more "intense" than any he can remember. Their defense, said one assistant, looks stronger than ever. And their special teams -- how can we forget David Akers and Co.? -- seem solid again.
People outside the organization wonder how the Eagles can return to the Super Bowl if Owens isn't around; people within the locker room know better.
"T.O. is definitely a guy we want to go to war with," said Trotter, "but my motto is: One guy can't stop a train, but he can slow it down."
The lesson is crucial to critics wary of life after T.O. The system works, and no one or two individuals shut it down. They demonstrated that last year when they sacrificed Staley, linebacker Carlos Emmons and cornerbacks Bobby Taylor and Troy Vincent to free agency ... and wound up in the Super Bowl.
And they demonstrated it two years earlier when they stared down Trotter, their leading tackler, cutting him after he demanded more money than the Eagles were willing to offer. Critics called the decision stupid and predicted that it would sabotage the club. Then the Eagles returned to the NFC Championship Game, and Trotter returned to the Eagles last season.
The message is loud and clear, if only we would pay attention.
"I hate to use this analogy, but I will," said Dawkins. "You know how, if you're on an airplane and you see people start sitting down -- I mean everybody sitting down -- you know that something's wrong? And how, if they're still in the aisle serving drinks or serving casually and taking their time, you know you're OK? But when they start really buckling down, you're like, 'Uh-oh, this is serious?' Well, we're still serving drinks."
