Eagles' injuries starting to add up

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - There was no Brian Dawkins, Brian Westbrook, Jeremiah Trotter, L.J. Smith, Shawn Andrews, Lito Sheppard or William Thomas at practice yesterday.

And that was just the Eagles' starters.

If you go down the depth chart, there was no Correll Buckhalter, Bill Sampy, Ian Scott, Montae Reagor or Dustin Fox, either.

That's one crowded trainer's room the Eagles have here at Lehigh University - but no cause for concern, at least according to head coach Andy Reid, who always seems to find his rose-colored spectacles before reading down his list of injuries.

"It's not a problem," Reid said. "This is the way it happens every year, so we're fine here."

In most cases, there is little reason for concern. Westbrook, who missed a couple practices earlier this week because of a swollen knee, was excused yesterday so he could tend to a personal matter. Reid said he did not know when his star running back would return.

Trotter, bothered by some knee soreness, and Thomas, who had off-season knee surgery, were both given the day off, something Reid has done with a number of his veteran players, including quarterback Donovan McNabb and defensive end Jevon Kearse.

"I think you need to look at the age. That is a factor," Reid said. "Then you need to look at if the aged guy has an injury or is coming off an injury. We've got a couple guys over that 30 mark that are coming off injuries, so I think you have to be smart with those guys."

Andrews, however, isn't one of those 30-somethings, which is why the news on him yesterday was a red flag that waved more briskly than any of the others.

"Shawn was sent back down to Philadelphia to see a specialist on his ankle," Reid said. "He should be OK. He has an ankle sprain as it sits right now. We're just going to have to double check."

Double checking always means there's cause for concern.

"That ankle is the one he had surgically repaired," Reid said. "These are all precautionary measures. We just wanted to make sure he saw an ankle specialist, and we didn't have that up here."

Andrews, during the first game of his NFL career back in 2004, suffered a fractured right fibula during a game against the New York Giants and missed the remainder of the Eagles' run to the Super Bowl.

"They put a plate in there originally," Reid said. "They're just checking the area. He does have some soreness there."

If another red flag is waving on Reid's injury report, it is probably attached to Dawkins, who has not practiced in a week and missed all of the spring minicamps. He is bothered by Achilles tendinitis; weakside linebacker Takeo Spikes had an interesting story to tell yesterday concerning that same injury.

Spikes suffered a torn Achilles tendon two seasons ago and missed all but three games. He traced the problem to the 2004 season.

"With me, it happened probably in all of 2004," Spikes said. "I tore it in September of 2005, but it was a whole year leading up to that. It started out as tendinitis and then it was something that kept nagging me all the time. In the beginning stages of 2004, I knew it was a simple case of tendinitis at the time. So as long as I continued to get it warmed up, then it went away, and I didn't feel it any more."

Spikes, who does not appear to have any lingering problems from his own Achilles injury, noted that everyone is different when it comes to injuries.

"There's no direct study that shows that a case of Achilles tendinitis will eventually lead to tearing," Spikes said. "I was just talking to a friend of mine, a guy who played here, Bobby Taylor. He tore his Achilles last week. He never had any problems before."

Spikes said he discussed Dawkins' injury with the safety and was encouraged by his response.

"The little talk that we did have, he seems to be getting better," Spikes said. "I think he'll be fine."

Dawkins provided some encouraging video yesterday when he was able to run sprints on a field by himself as the other players finished the morning practice. Still, it is not known when he will be back on the field, and it is highly unlikely he will play the exhibition opener against the Baltimore Ravens Monday night.

As for some of the others on the injury list, Smith did not go through a second straight day of contact. Reid said the starting tight end experienced soreness in the area where he underwent surgery to repair a sports hernia after participating in a contact scrimmage for the first time Tuesday.

Reid said Buckhalter (bruised knee) was improving, but Westbrook's backup has missed three straight days of practice, leaving rookie Tony Hunt running with the first-team offense. Sheppard, meanwhile, aggravated his strained oblique muscle while running in individual drills Tuesday afternoon.

Reagor said Tuesday that he was ready to return from a sore knee, but the Eagles decided he was not ready for yesterday's contact scrimmage.

There are 31 days until the season opener in Green Bay. There is no need to panic, but the lingering absence of several Eagles is at least some cause for mild concern.