Les Bowen: Missing pieces have Eagles scrambling going into Chargers game

IT HAS BEEN an interesting week for the Eagles' defense, and life figures to remain chock full of surprises, right on through Sunday's game against San Diego and the NFL's seventh-ranked passing game.

"I feel like every week, there's always something going on," Chris Gocong said after yesterday's practice. "There's always a minisoap opera. You've just got to stay alive and adjust. Every week, there's stuff to adjust to. Guys are going to get hurt."

They certainly have this year. Gocong, the Eagles' strongside linebacker, is preparing to start at middle linebacker this week, for the first time since high school. He's also returning from missing last week's Dallas game with quad and hamstring injuries that still require treatment. Will Witherspoon, just getting comfortable at middle linebacker after arriving last month in a trade with the Rams, will move over to the weakside, where usual starter Akeem Jordan is not expected to play with a knee injury suffered last Sunday against Dallas.

The nickel corner will be Dimitri Patterson, still being treated for quad and hand injuries that have kept him out since Oct. 11. Patterson and the starters, Sheldon Brown and Asante Samuel, will be the only corners on the field who have ever played that position for the Eagles in a regular-season game. Something happens to one of them, next guy up is Jack Ikegwuonu, fresh from the practice squad. After him there's Ramzee Robinson, who will have been an Eagle all of 4 days by game time.

"This Monday was not like every other Monday," said defensive coordinator Sean McDermott. "Every Monday you come in and you see who's available, who's healthy, in order to formulate your defensive package . . . it's just the number of injuries we had and the timing of everything. When it rains, it pours, so to speak.

"We're going ahead with who we have available to use, and we look forward to seeing those players execute, and to playing at a high level, like we've done to this point."

When you have injuries, McDermott said, "instead of sitting down Monday morning to watch the opponent, you have to get a new feel for the complexion of your roster, and how you want to attack."

McDermott's frantic adjustments weren't confined to Monday. The Eagles knew then that Jordan was hurt and they knew corner Ellis Hobbs' neck injury might be a season-ender, but they didn't learn until Tuesday night that corner Joselio Hanson was being suspended 4 weeks by the NFL for taking a pill that turned out to be a diuretic before last January's NFC Championship Game. Hanson had lost an appeal back on Oct. 27. The team was puzzled and a bit ticked off by the league's timing, which really threw this week's defensive preparation into a scramble.

Gocong (6,2, 263) at least was able to come in Monday and start cramming for the middle linebacking exam.

"I saw it as a challenge. Obviously, I've been studying a lot," he said. "I think my natural body type, it's kind of natural for me . . . Monday I got in, and I've been basically living here ever since."

Gocong doesn't seem to be playing in the nickel. Given the Chargers' use of extra wideouts, which would put the Birds in nickel, he actually might not be on the field all that much. Patterson sure figures to be out there a lot, though.

"Pressure's what you make of it. I have high expectations," said Patterson, who has played mostly special teams in the three games he has been healthy for as an Eagle. He said he has learned a lot watching Samuel and Brown.

"Whatever [the Chargers] throw at me, I'm prepared for it," he said.

McDermott knows his secondary faces a formidable challenge in that the Chargers have a tall wideout corps.

"It's important that we attack the football when it's in the air," McDermott said. "They do a great job down the field, No. 1, with the wide receiver position, of going up. They have some tall receivers . . . that like to play above the rim, so to speak. It's important that we go up with them and challenge for the ball."

Despite the presence of LaDainian Tomlinson and Darren Sproules, the Chargers rank 32nd in the league in rushing. Their backs can do some damage catching and running, though.

Witherspoon will wear the main headset helmet to communicate with the coaches, since he's in the nickel, as well, supplemented by secondary headset wearer and strong safety Quintin Mikell. Witherspoon was a weakside linebacker in St. Louis, in a similar defense, so his adjustment might not be drastic, unless you factor in that he hasn't ever played weakside next to Gocong and rookie Moise Fokou. How long does it take to get comfortable in a new grouping?

"About 4 days," Witherspoon said, facetiously.

With Gocong changing positions, Fokou will start again at strongside linebacker, despite battling the flu. Against the Cowboys, Fokou showed the physicality the coaches like. He also took a cut-blocking penalty that wiped out a 54-yard interception return by Brown. And on special teams, a Fokou hold brought back Hobbs' 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

"You live and you learn," Fokou said. "I write my penalties down [in a notebook]. You write 'em down, read 'em over, you don't commit them ever again."

Mikell said that while communication is important, when you are fitting new parts into the defense on the fly, not a lot of that conversation can take place during the game.

"As far as the secondary, I've always been the type of guy to talk through things in meetings and make sure we're all on the same page in meetings. I try not to do it on the field, because it's too late to do it on the field. We've done a good job with that so far, but like I said, I believe, we all believe in Dimitri. He's a very, very smart guy, studies film, does all the dirty work that he needs to do, and I know he's going to be fine."

For more Eagles coverage and opinion, read the Daily News' Eagles blog, Eagletarian, at www.eagletarian.com.