Philadelphia Eagles

*Head coach Andy Reid revealed that Brian Westbrook is suffering from a bone bruise in his right knee.  In a worst case scenario, he'll need to have the knee scoped to clean out the cartridge damage.  In that case he could be out 2-6 weeks.  In a best case scenario, he has the knee drained and continues to play.

*Donte Stallworth struggled his first 2 years in the NFL with hamstring issues.  They're back.  As good as he looked early, he could struggle to stay healthy all season.

*Brian Westbrook missed practice on Wednesday with more swelling in his knee.  I don't want to alarm anyone, but why is Domanick Davis out for the season?  Oh, yeah...

*Jevon Kearse will miss the remainder of the 2006 season after spraining multiple ligaments in his left knee.  The Eagles have 13 sacks in 2 games.  This injury will definitely have a negative impact on the Eagles defense. 

*Both Brian Westbrook and Reno Mahe showed up on the injury report this weekend.  Westbrook was taken out of practice due to swelling in his knee.  It's not considered serious at this point - the Eagles are being overly cautious.  Look for Correll Buckhalter's role to increase slightly to help keep Westbrook healthy.  Look for Ryan Moats to get some carries as well.

*For the first time in years, Correll Buckhalter is healthy and according to Andy Reid he'll see a lot of action.  What that means, we're not sure yet, but look for him to start if Westbrook goes down.

*Donte Stallworth will move into the #1 receiver position in Philadelphia, with Reggie Brown moving to #2 and Hank Baskett to #3.  With the acquisition of Stallworth, it was just a matter of time before Todd Pinkston became Todd Pinkslip.  Koy Detmer was also released.  They should have NO bearing on your fantasy team.

*The Eagles acquired troubled but talented Donte Stallworth from the Saints.  This tells you what the Eagles think of their receiving depth.  Whether or not Reid rocks the boat and inserts Stallworth as a starter immediately is unknown, but more than likely he will supplant Hank Baskett as he #2 with Reggie Brown staying #1 for now. This certainly helps McNabb as he now has more weapons, but makes the Eagles already cloudy receiver situation a little more cloudy.  Move Basket down a notch and Stallworth up just a bit.

*For those of you who were worried, Brian Westbrook has returned to practice.  He'll be fine for week 1 against the Texans.

*Donovan McNabb has a 100+ qb rating in each appearance this summer.  He's back.

*Correll Buckhalter and Todd Pinkston will get the start Friday against the Steelers.  Both will be evaluated against the Steelers 1st team defense.  Pinkston is battling for a starting job while Buckhalter wants to regain his #2 RB position.  Buckhalter looked good in limited action against the Ravens, and if his rehab continues going well, he could very well take the job from Ryan Moats - the Westbrook clone.

*I'm on the Hank Baskett bandwagon, but I have to admit that I don't have both feet on.  While McNabb continues to look sharp in the preseason, ALL of the Eagles receivers are looking less than adequate.  The local NBC affiliate in Philly reported that interest in Lelie has increased and to look for the Eagles to make some sort of move within a week.  Porter is ruled out because after the TO issues last year, they don't need another head case breaking the team apart.  But if a veteran like Lelie is brought in, Baskett's value drops.

*The Eagles have announced that Brian Westbrook will miss the preseason due to his sprained foot.  Our insiders say that the Eagles are just being cautious and Westbrook should be fine when the bell rings.

*Reggie Brown is hobbled with a strained calf and his status right now is unknown for the immediate future.  Expect him to sit for about a week.  In the meantime, look for FA rookie Hank Baskett to make the most of his opportunity.

*Brian Westbrook is wearing a protective boot on his sprained foot.  This is not the same foot he sprained last year, but the site of the boot is concerning.  The Eagles are just being precautious and you'll probably not see much of Westbrook the rest of preseason ala LaDainian Tomlinson.

*More bad injury news from Lehigh University.  2nd year running back Ryan Moats left practice with a sprained knee ligament.  We had Moats listed as a potential sleeper this year as injury-prone Brian Westbrook's backup.

*Todd Pinkston is emerging as the starter opposite Reggie Brown.  However he has been held out due to a sore Achilles tendon.  This is the other tendon - not the one he tore last year.  Sounds like bad news, especially considering he was separating himself from the pack. 

*Todd Pinkston, Greg Lewis or Jabbar Gaffney.  One of these 3 will be the starting receiver opposite Reggie Brown.  You need to know this only for trivia purposes.

*Look for Brian Westbrook to return to his old duties of lining up all over the field, making mismatches with linebackers and corners.  If you remember, this is how the Eagles used him prior to Owens coming to town and he was most successful.  The only question remaining is who will handle the rest of the running back duty.  Corell Buckhalter can't stay healthy or even get healthy right now.  He's not the answer.

*David Akers is a guy who disappeared last year due to injury.  He's healthy now and booting 60 yarders in practice.  He should be back to a top 5 kicker, especially without the threat that Owens will put them in the end zone too often.

*If you're planning to draft Westbrook or already have him in a keeper league, Ryan Moats should be a nice insurance policy.  Moats is virtually a carbon copy of Westbrook and if given the full time role, should be able to produce. 

*Although Todd Pinkston is the most experienced receiver on the roster, the Eagles are hoping Reggie Brown can step into the #1 receiver position vacated by TO.  Brown is good, but he's no TO.

http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/default.jsp - Official Site

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/football/

http://www.nj.com/eagles/

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/section.cfm?id=66&tmpl=sports

http://www.pennlive.com/eagles/ - news site

http://football.espn.go.com/nfl/roster?team=phi

http://www.ourlads.com/secure/depthchart.cfm?index1=PHI

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/eagles/stats.htm - stats

http://www.nfl.com/freeagency/nfc-signings - free agency