Asante: Getting Better, but No Practice

Well, it sure seemed Asante Samuel was going to practice today. Had his full uni on, and his helmet. But after lightly jogging upfield in the NovaCare bubble, Samuel turned around, gathered assistant athletic trainer Steve Condon, and exited Eagles practice, presumably for more treatment on his MCL sprain.

Later, Eagles coach Andy Reid classified Samuel as questionable, and said he'll see how Samuel feels tomorrow before deciding if he'll travel to Dallas. Reid said Samuel is feeling better than he felt Wednesday, when Reid said Samuel tried to practice and didn't feel good.

What does this mean? Well, I get to rewrite the same "uh-oh" stuff I wrote for today's paper. Expect teammates to stoutly assert that No. 22's presence or absence will not be the determining factor against Dallas Sunday -- even though when it seemed likely Samuel would play, they thought that was plenty significant.

"It's a day-to-day thing," Samuel said. "Every day, progress is being made. We just gotta see."

Samuel said he wouldn't call his Wednesday practice experience a setback, but "it was uncomfortable."

Right tackle Winston Justice, who has asserted several times that he intends to play, again watched practice and also is questionable. Generally, if you don't practice all week, you don't play, and Justice hasn't practiced. That would put King Dunlap on Michael Vick's blindside. Might be a good time for the Eagles to reiterate their concerns about the hits Vick is taking to the league office.

Justice said he, too, still hopes to play and that his knee also is better than it was earlier in the week
"I still have another day. it's feeling a lot better than it was," Justice said.