No Samuel; who's at CB?
Asante Samuel was absent from practice on Monday. So who filled in at cornerback? Plus other observations from the first day of this week's OTAs at the Novacare Complex.
As you likely know by now, Asante Samuel and DeSean Jackson were no-shows today at OTAs.
The guys over at Eagletarian and Birds' Eye View have some details explaining why.
It was interesting to see who filled in at cornerback with Samuel absent and Ellis Hobbs still not participating fully.
At one point, when the defense was in first-team nickel, it was Dimitri Patterson, Macho Harris and Joselio Hanson. Another time, it was Geoffrey Pope instead of Patterson.
When the Eagles were in the base defense, I saw Hanson and Patterson in there.
So what's the point?
Today gave us an indication of what the cornerback position would look like if Samuel were to go down with an injury. As the team continues OTAs this week, and as we head to Lehigh in late July, this will (in my mind) continue to be one of the biggest things to keep an eye on.
Other notes:
* On the offensive side of the ball, it was Hank Baskett getting first-team reps with Jackson absent.
* Over the weekend, I touched on the idea that the Eagles have several options in terms of tight ends and running backs to split out wide in the passing game. Today, we saw Brent Celek and Mike Bell each go out wide in different formations.
* Other Eagles not practicing were LeSean McCoy, Stewart Bradley and Todd Herremans. It was mostly Joe Mays, not Omar Gaither, getting reps at middle linebacker for Bradley. Bell continued to practice in McCoy's place with the first team, and Max Jean-Gilles continued to fill in for Herremans.
* At the end of practice, Bradley, McCoy, Jamaal Jackson and Fenuki Tupuo came out and ran on the one side field. We'll see if any return tomorrow or at any time this week (except for Jackson, of course).
* Former NFL executive Charley Casserly, who currently works as an analyst on NFL Network and CBS, was at practice today.
* Ellis Hobbs, Quintin Demps, Macho Harris and Jeremy Maclin all took turns returning kicks during the special teams portion of practice.
* Earlier today, I rounded up some links, including one that caught up with ex-Eagle Reggie Brown.
* And finally, here is today's video report.
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