Eagles cautious on Herremans injury

Todd Herremans walked out of the NovaCare Complex sans crutches, cast, boot or any sort of indicator that would suggest the Eagles guard was seriously injured.

But as he walked to his white SUV, he cautiously descended a flight of stairs, favoring the left foot he had had examined in Charlotte, N.C., a day earlier.

While Andy Reid said Friday that his starting left guard had checked out OK upon his visit with foot specialist Robert Anderson, the Eagles' coach is likely to shelve Herremans for the rest of spring workouts.

"There's no problems. He's fine to practice," Reid said. "He's got a little pain in the arch, and we've got to get that settled down.

"His pain was on top of his foot [last year]. This is on the bottom, and it's more muscular than anything else. We'll just see how he does here. There's a chance he misses next week, but he'll be back and ready for training camp if he does."

The Eagles are taking a cautious approach, likely because of precedent. Herremans suffered a stress fracture in the same foot a year ago at training camp, had surgery shortly after and was forced to miss the first five games of last season.

As he recovered, Herremans was required to scoot around for weeks on a tailor-made cart that kept his left foot off the ground and elevated. He admitted several times that he loathed the apparatus.

Herremans wasn't the only player to sit out Friday's practice at the NovaCare Complex.

Linebacker Stewart Bradley and running back LeSean McCoy were held out for the second straight day with calf and ankle injuries, respectively. Reid called Bradley's injury a "cramp" - as the linebacker did the day before - and said that McCoy "tweaked" his ankle.

But will they be able to practice next week before the team breaks until training camp in late July?

"I've just got to see how they feel," Reid said. "If they're OK, we'll bring them out and let them go."

Center of attention. Reid was more optimistic on center Jamaal Jackson's return from a December torn anterior cruciate ligament than he had been in recent months.

At the owners' meetings in March, Reid said that Jackson would miss all of training camp and likely most of the preseason. On Friday, though, he backtracked some on that estimation.

"Right now, I'll say you won't see him at the beginning of training camp," he said.

Asked if Jackson was a long shot to be back by the start of the season, Reid said, "Not necessarily. We'll see how it goes. I'm just kind of playing that by ear. I know I got Nick [Cole] that can step in and do it."

Because of Cole, who filled in for Jackson in the last two games of the season, Reid said that it wasn't necessary to rush his starting center back. Cole still has some competition for the job, with Mike McGlynn, Dallas Reynolds and A.Q. Shipley as rivals. Reynolds, though, has been at guard for this camp.

On Wednesday, the 30-year-old Jackson said that he recently resumed running. Reid ultimately said that it's too early to give an accurate timetable for a return.

"These next couple of months will be important," Reid said. "We'll see how he does. He's doing very well right now. Sometimes you can plateau - he hasn't hit that part - but maybe it happens."

Extra points. The Eagles announced the signings of three more rookies - cornerback Trevard Lindley, linebacker Jamar Chaney and defensive tackles Jeff Owens - to four-year deals. . . . Lindley, a fourth-round pick, had a solid week of practice working with the third team. He intercepted a bomb from quarterback Michael Vick on Friday. "He's a talented young player," defensive coordinator Sean McDermott said. "He's got a long way to go, and he's a hard worker and that's what you look for. He's got speed and he's got size [5-foot-11, 183 pounds]. At the corner position, long arms and length go a long way."