Reggie Brown Benched

Remember 2006, when Reggie Brown was one of the brightest spots of the Eagles' stretch run to the playoffs?

Brown, then a second-year wideout, seemed like the sort of smooth, smart, solid player who would be an NFL starter for a long time.

Last season should have been Brown's coming-out party, but he looked pretty average, maybe even a little uninterested. This year started with nagging injuries, and has continued with a puzzling slip toward the margins of the roster by the 2005 second-round pick. That slide picked up momentum today when the inactives for this afternoon's game at the Giants were announced, and Brown was among them. An Eagles spokesman said Brown is not injured.

The Eagles have been activating six wideouts lately, which is a luxury, and last week, they whittled the number of wideouts given a primary pass-catching role down to four, to try to build some timing and rhythm. Brown was not one of those four. So, since he doesn't play special teams, the Eagles apparently decided they could use his spot more productively.  They have Lorenzo Booker and Kyle Eckel active at running back again, with Correll Buckhalter (knee) out, but that was also true in the last game. The difference this time is that they have starting corner Asante Samuel available; somebody had to be crossed off the list to get him back in, and that someone was Brown.

Meanwhile, fourth-round rookie Mike McGlynn is active for the first time, in the wake of the season-ending injury to Max Jean-Gilles.

The Giants decativated a couple of former Eagles defensive linemen, Jeremy Clark and Jerome McDougle.

Stay tuned for updates.