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Starting over Eagles trying to plug void left by departures, Bucs letdownPosted: Friday May 02, 2003 6:47 PM
PHILADELPHIA -- When Donovan McNabb reported to work Friday for the first day of his team's three-day post-draft minicamp, he liked most everything he saw. It's what the Eagles franchise quarterback didn't see that left him unusually willing to speak his mind in his first extensive critique of Philadelphia's offseason decision-making. He didn't see former Eagles defensive end Hugh Douglas, one of the team leaders in recent seasons. He didn't see return specialist Brian Mitchell. He didn't see linebacker Shawn Barber. Or receiver Antonio Freeman, running back Dorsey Levens or punter Sean Landeta, for that matter. In an uncharacteristically forthcoming session with the media on Friday afternoon, McNabb reacted to the Eagles' loss of those veterans in free agency, terming the exodus of productive and proven players "tough to swallow." Like middle linebacker Jeremiah Trotter last year, the popular and outgoing Douglas was the centerpiece defection from Philadelphia's roster this spring, and his absence on Friday was a prevailing theme among several key Eagles veterans as they began the process of preparing for the 2003 season. In what may be an indication that Eagles management still has something to prove to its own locker room, McNabb reflected the opinions of several of his fellow veterans, who are still grappling with how the team that has lost the past two NFC Championship games will replace so many key players. This much is certain: McNabb's words will reverberate the loudest, given his unquestioned role of team leadership. Asked about the subtraction of key veterans like Trotter, Douglas and Mitchell in the past two years and the potential toll those losses would take on the Eagles in 2003, McNabb launched into a wide-ranging answer that showed just how much thought he had given to the subject in recent months. "Any time you lose 12 players, or however many we lost, it takes a toll from the very beginning," he said. "You lose a guy who gives you 14, 15, 16 sacks a year [Douglas], that's hard to fill, and that's putting a lot of pressure on the guy you bring in. Any time you lose a weakside linebacker who is very athletic and played well against running backs and tight ends [Barber], that's tough. "Any time you lose a Hall of Fame kick returner and punt returner [Mitchell], those are shoes that are hard to fill. You lose a Hall of Fame punter [Landeta], again those are shoes that are hard to fill. The list goes on, but I think as a player and being in this league going on five years now, obviously you realize the situation as far as the financial aspect is concerned and the needs that the team may have. "But these are guys who have been doing it for a while. These aren't guys who just did it for one year; they did it consistently. So it's tough, tough to swallow. But you want nothing but the best for those guys, because you know that they can play for more years." McNabb didn't bristle when he talked on Friday, and nothing he said came close to giving the impression that he longed to go on a tirade against the Eagles' well-respected front office. But it didn't take a mind reader to see that he was less than thrilled with some of the team's moves, and would very much prefer to still have Douglas, Mitchell and Barber wearing Eagles green. After all, this was McNabb, the man who usually redefines bland in such news conference settings. On Friday, as we sat in the Eagles' team complex auditorium, we were all expecting more of the same. I didn't think anything would get more colorful than the black and red Chunky's Soup hat that McNabb -- ever the pitch man -- shrewdly wore for the cameras. One local reporter, sensing that McNabb wanted to address the free-agency issue, prefaced a question about whether the quarterback had made his views known to the front office with ,"You're obviously upset," and got no disagreement from McNabb. "No, I sort of stay out of that," McNabb said. "As the years continue on, you try to just sit back and learn from it, because you never know, in a couple years it could be you. "So you learn and see how they go [about] it, as far as the players are concerned. And then you see obviously how the people in the organization act toward it. Again, it's tough to swallow, to know you're losing guys like that. But those guys are moving on and continuing on with their careers." Rest assured, McNabb, with the $113 million contract extension he signed last year, isn't in any danger of becoming the next Eagles star veteran to be allowed to walk. But the "it-could-be-me" message was one he had to send on behalf of his less-secure teammates, and Philadelphia's hierarchy no doubt will get his point. Though the Eagles and their management have endured a wave of offseason criticism sparked by the team's upset loss to Tampa Bay in the NFC title game and the ensuing free-agency losses, the talent flow has not been a one-way street. Philadelphia moved up in the first round from 30th to 15th to draft University of Miami defensive end Jerome McDougle, who ostensibly will be Douglas' replacement, at least in a rotation that also features Derrick Burgess and N.D. Kalu. The Eagles signed Nate Wayne away from Green Bay to play Barber's spot, with linebacker Mark Simoneau acquired from Atlanta to take over in the middle for veteran Levon Kirkland. On special teams, second-year running back Brian Westbrook will get the first shot to earn Mitchell's return man role, and Dirk Johnson is the heir apparent for the ageless Landeta. Does it all add up to at least breaking even for the Eagles? It sounds like McNabb and some other key veterans still harbor a few doubts. "The questions you have are the things we just have to go play through," said free safety Brian Dawkins, who, in the most universally applauded move of the Eagles' rocky offseason, was re-signed last week to a seven-year contract extension. "I don't make any decisions. All I can do is control what I can control, and that's on the playing field. Hopefully the guys we brought in can give us what those other guys brought to the table. "When you replace a Jeremiah a year ago and try to replace Hugh this year, we would never ask those guys to be those players. We just ask them to bring what they bring to the table, and hopefully it'll add to what we already have. But I would never say anybody could replace what we lost in Hugh. No one person could ever do that for us. Because what he brought wasn't just on the field, but in the locker room also." The twin headlines that Dawkins and McDougle inspired last weekend finally gave the Eagles some much-needed positive momentum to build on after three months of post-Tampa Bay fallout. The best thing the Eagles have going for them is that almost three more months remain before training camp is in full swing at Lehigh University. "We've lost a lot of people," Pro Bowl cornerback Bobby Taylor said. "It's going to be hard replacing Hugh Douglas. Not taking anything away from Jerome McDougle, he can definitely help us. But I think N.D. Kalu is going to do great for us, given the opportunity." Despite his apparent misgivings about the Eagles' offseason, McNabb was quick to point out that Philadelphia is not devoid of talent or team leaders. Even without Douglas, Mitchell and Barber. "It changes the atmosphere, but it doesn't change the expectations," McNabb said. "We all know the guys that we lost were key guys, character guys. And it all started with Hugh Douglas. But the expectation is still the same. "I think the guys that we have here, the veterans, we have to be the guys who step up and be big leaders and make sure the guys follow behind us. Set the tone." Right now the tone in Philly is still a bit touchy. That's always the way it is when the losses outnumber the wins. With fans and players alike. No matter the playing field. It's up to McNabb and Co. to change that tone, and on Friday they went back to work. These Eagles still have everything to gain, if they can just get past what was lost. Don Banks covers pro football for SI.com |
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