There's a lot of bending and breaking in the red-zone.


Bend, but don't break.

That used to be the mantra for the Philadelphia Eagles' defense when Jim Johnson was roaming the sidelines. Johnson would strike fear into opposing offenses with exotic blitzes and a ferocity he instilled in his defensive players.

He would draw up blitzes on napkins or make them up as he went along. It worked most of the time, but there were the times when the blitz bit him. That happens. But once the offense got into the red-zone, they went no further.

For an offense, scoring becomes difficult in the red-zone because the field shrinks. With it, their options shrink. Understanding that, Johnson would send the blitz and force the opposing quarterback to make a quick decision.

When quarterbacks are forced to make a decision, there's a good chance it's the wrong one. Or, if they don't make a decision at all, they go down with the ball in their hands. After a few plays of that, they're forced to kick a field goal.

And, as we all know, trading touchdowns for field goals is always a huge win for a defense.

Unfortunately, for all the time he spent around Johnson, Sean McDermott has yet to figure this all out, and we're seeing his defense break more often than not.

McDermott won't blitz between the 20s, and he refuses to blitz when teams get into the red-zone. As a result, quarterbacks are left with an inordinate amount of time, the entire offense is able to find a comfort level, and the defense is usually caught flat-footed -- which has led to the worst red-zone percentage (about 77 percent) since the 1988 Houston Oilers.

When a defense is repeatedly asked to move backward, the fire and intensity it takes to play defense -- especially in the red-zone -- is tough to find. When it's time to really lock things down and start getting after people, the players can't turn it on.

Johnson instilled that sort of fire in guys like Jeremiah Trotter and Brian Dawkins. Right now, there's no one like that on this defense because McDermott doesn't carry that same sort of passion and swagger that Johnson was able to infuse in his squads.

McDermott calls games not to lose rather than to win. He's afraid of taking a chance and being beaten. But what he's not realizing is that his soft gameplans are hurting a lot more than they're helping.

Instead of getting beat because the blitz didn't get there in time, he's getting beat because his players don't know how to play the zone defense with which he's so enamored. Sure, we don't see many big plays against his defense, but that's because he's got everyone dropping 10-20 yards deep.

So instead, offenses and able to dink and dunk their way into the red-zone.

And based on the number mentioned earlier, the Eagles' 20 is essentially the goal-line.

This is a speed defense built to come after the quarterback. And until Brandon Graham hits his potential as a pass-rusher, it's a defense that will need the blitz to create pressure.

And until head coach Andy Reid goes out and finds a defensive coordinator who understands that, this is a defense that will continue to be more of a liability than an asset.
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Rest in peace Jim, you will be missed.


Some incredibly sad news today as Jim Johnson, former defensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles, passed away today at the age of 68. He had been battling cancer for a few months now.

There's too much to be said of Jim Johnson. He was a stand-up man as well as an unbelievable football coach. His defense will leave an impact on the NFL that coaches for generations to come will look at and study.

Johnson is survived by his wife, two children, and four grandchildren.

His family, as well as the entire football world, grieve today as the passing of a great man is always a day of overwhelming sadness.

I'm sure tomorrow will be the most quiet and somber practice that the Eagles have ever had under coach Reid, and the entire Philadelphia fanbase is reeling after one of the worst tragedies to hit their football team since the passing of Jerome Brown.

As far as football is concerned, I hope that the Eagles, and especially the defense use this as a motivator for themselves throughout the entire year.

As I've written about before, I had the unfortunate experience of losing a friend right before a football season.

What happens when men play for each other, and for someone's memory, is unfathomable to those who have not experienced it for themselves. When you're tired and you don't want to go for that next snap, the memory of that man pushes you forward. When you're hurt and feel like there's no way you can go on, that memory pushes you.

When you're down by 10 points in the fourth quarter and you feel broken and defeated, that memory pushes you to incredible heights of fortitude and toughness that the sheer will to win just cannot match on its own.

The human spirit is an incredible one, especially when it's playing for a spirit other than its own.

The Eagles, and the world, have lost a great man. However in his place they find a new reason to push forward and even in death Jim Johnson will remain a part of this team all the way to Miami and beyond.
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McDermott has large shoes to fill, but should be just fine.


Andy Reid will be holding a press conference at 1PM on Saturday over at philadelphiaeagles.com in which he will officially name Sean McDermott the defensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles.

This isn't exactly a surprise move by any means, but it certainly is a disappointing one.

The obvious secondary story to this is that Jim Johnson is not feeling well enough to come back and coach this season.

The Eagles had already announced that Johnson would not be taking part in training camp, but had not officially ruled him out for the season. This move effectively does just that.

On a purely football level, this move may not be as detrimental to the defense as everyone seems to think, but in fact could be a good thing.

While we all love J.J., it seemed as though his blitzes were becoming just a bit predictable. The Cardinals were able to pick up all of his blitzes in last year's championship game, which led to Kurt Warner being able to pick the secondary apart.

With Johnson, other teams knew what to expect. With McDermott, no one will have any idea how to gameplan for him.

In situations where Johnson might have run the zone, McDermott may run man. In situations where Johnson might have only rushed four, McDermott might bring the house. The point is that we don't know, and other teams especially have no idea.

Questions about Johnson are sure to be asked and answered at the press conference, so make sure to check back after 1PM tomorrow.
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Asante Samuel drops into coverage.


Right now, all of Philadelphia is holding their breath to find out the true extent of Westbrook's injury, how the surgery goes, and what the Eagles plan to do about it.
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Matt Mosley of ESPN.com has confirmed that the Eagles have indeed brought in former Cowboys' defensive coordinator Brian Stewart in an "undetermined role."

As of now, his role with the team is undefined. However, this could mean that Jim Johnson's chemotherapy and attempt to beat his cancer is not going so well.

The Eagles do not have an opening for a coach on their staff, which makes this move all the more puzzling, and frightening.

If the Eagles do not believe that Johnson's recovery is going so well and that he will be out for an extended period of time, they may be bringing in Stewart to help McDermott in his transition into becoming the defensive coordinator for longer than first thought.

Perhaps, for good.

Johnson has been battling cancer for a few months now, and had seemed to be fighting it off pretty well. He was at the NovaCare complex every day, working late, coaching up his players, and just going about his normal day.

Unfortunately he was forced to take an indefinite leave of absence in order to continue his fight against the cancer.

In his absence, McDermott has been running the defense as the interim defensive coordinator. Even though the leave of absence had no ending date, it was widely assumed that Johnson would be back for the season, if not Training Camp.

That may no longer be the case.

Bringing in Stewart shows that the Eagles are at least worried that they will be without the services of Jim Johnson for a good portion, if not all, of the 2009-2010 season. Stewart would serve as a kind of consultant for McDermott, helping him set a schedule for his defense and helping with meetings among other things.

Stewart was a defensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys for two seasons before being fired this past offseason. Former defensive coordinators are not brought in without reason.

Stewart was scheduled to join the UFL's San Francisco franchise with Dennis Green before his recent hire to the Eagles.

If Johnson's health has taken a turn for the worse, or perhaps has just not shown improvement, the defense could be in for a drastic change. Or, perhaps not.

The point is that no one knows how McDermott will react or run this defense. If Johnson is not on the sidelines, or at least in the coaches' box, the defense all of a sudden because a huge question mark.

Let's hope this is only a precaution.

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Over the past decade, no coach has been as successful in the NFC than Andy Reid and his Philadelphia Eagles.

Throughout the years, Reid has put together a staff of tremendous assistants, three of whom have gone on to become NFL head coaches.Another has become one of the NFL's elite defensive coordinators.

But what of the staff of today? Reid's coaching staff is regarded throughout the NFL as one of the best.

We begin at the top.

Andy Reid: Head Coach (1999-Present)

Who?!?

That was the reaction that reverberated around the city of Philadelphia when the news broke that the Eagles had hired little known assistant coach Andy Reid to be the new leader of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Reid's road to Philadelphia began at his alma mater, Bringham Young University. Reid was hired as a graduate assistant to LaVell Edwards. He then spent the 1983-85 seasons at San Francisco State as the team's offensive line coach and helped them lead the nation in passing each year.

Following his successful stint at SFSU, Reid floated around as the offensive line coach for: Northern Arizona (1986), University of Texas El-Paso (1987-88) and Missouri (1989-91).

In 1992, Reid was hired by a former colleague from BYU and then head coach of the Green Bay Packers, Mike Holmgren. Holmgren hired Reid as the teams tight end/offensive line assistant.
Thanks to some urging from Holmgren early on, Reid became more familiar with the Packers offense, "It was his curiosity, the questions he asked, his note taking," said Holmgren, "He was just a sponge."

In 1997, Reid began a two-year stint as the Packers quarterbacks coach. In that first year, the Packers won their second consecutive Conference Championship, and Brett Favre had been crowned as the league's Most Valuable Player for the third consecutive season.

Following an early exit from the 1998-99 playoffs, Reid was contacted by a team in turmoil. A team in a seemingly endless downward spiral towards futility, the Philadelphia Eagles.

Andy holds the Eagles highest winning percentage among coaches (.607) and is the club leader in wins with 107. He has won NFL Coach of the Year twice (2000 and 2002).

Reid has also led the Eagles to five NFC East division titles (2001-04 and 2006) and five appearances in the NFC Championship(2002-2005 and 2009).

Now we move on to the men behind the scenes, the assistants.

Jim Johnson: Defensive Coordinator (1999-Present)

Jim Johnson was hired as the Eagles defensive coordinator on January 22, 1999. Since then, he has built a defense that is routinely among the league's elite.

Johnson's coaching time line began at Missouri Southern, where he was head coach from 1967-68. From there, Johnson bounced around the college scene as a defensive coach. He was the defensive coordinator at Drake University from 1969-72.

He then spent the 1973-76 seasons as the linebackers coach at Indiana University before moving on to Notre Dame as the team's defensive coordinator from 1977-83.

Johnson then spent 1984-85 as a defensive coordinator for Jacksonville and Oklahoma from the since defunct USFL.

From 1986-93, Johnson coached the defensive line and defensive backs for the St.Louis/Arizona Cardinals. Johnson really excelled as their secondary coach. He helped future Hall of Famer, Aeneas Williams become the first rookie cornerback to lead the league in interceptions since 1981.

From 1994-97, Johnson spent two years with the Colts as the linebackers coach and two as the team's defensive coordinator.

Following his brief stint in Indianapolis, he coached the linebackers for the Seattle Seahawks. There, he helped the Seahawks register ten defensive scores, eight coming on interceptions before coming to Philadelphia in '99.

Almost from the outset, Johnson built this once maligned unit into one of the leagues most feared. In 1999, the Eagles led the NFL in forced turnovers with 46, including five interceptions returned for touchdowns.

In 2001, Johnson's unit became the fourth in league history to go all 16 regular season games without giving up more than 21 points.JJ's philosophy of: attack, attack, attack has made game planning for Sunday a nightmare for coaches throughout the league.

While in the City of Brotherly Love, Johnson's system has produced 26 Pro Bowl selections: Brian Dawkins (7), Troy Vincent (5), Jeremiah Trotter (4), Hugh Douglas (3), Lito Sheppard (2), Trent Cole (1), Asante Samuel (1), Michael Lewis (1), Corey Simon (1), and Bobby Taylor (1).

In January, Johnson was diagnosed with melanoma skin cancer, and has left the team for an indefinite period of time for a second round of Chemotherapy. He has been temporarily replaced by our next coach.

Sean McDermott: Secondary/Interim DC (2000-Present)

Following a successful playing career at William and Mary from 1994-97, Sean spent the 1998 season as a graduate assistant. Also in 1998, the Eagles came calling, offering a job as a scouting administrative coordinator.

In 1999, McDermott was promoted to assistant to the head coach. Following his one-year stint as an assistant to Reid, McDermott was given the role of defensive assistant/quality control coach, where he handled the linebackers.

McDermott would receive another promotion in 2003 where he was given the job as assistant secondary coach, a job he held for a single season before being given complete control of the secondary and the safeties in 2004.

In 2004, both of McDermotts starting safeties (Brian Dawkins and Michael Lewis) garnered Pro Bowl honors for the first time in club history. Dawkins went on to earn two more Pro Bowl selections under McDermott in 2005 and 2006.

Not only did Dawkins flourish under McDermott, the Eagles credit McDermott with the development of starting strong safety, Quinten Mikell, who has become a Pro Bowl contender. McDermott would hold the secondary/safeties coach position until 2007, when he was moved to the linebackers coach.

Under McDermott's tutelage, two stars emerged at linebacker in 2007. Omar Gaither led the team with 170 tackles and 14 quarterback hurries. And strong side linebacker Chris Gocong emerged from the practice squad in 2006 to register 92 tackles and seven for loss in 2007.

McDermott moved back to the secondary in 2008, where he engineered one of the NFL's top units. Two of his players made the Pro Bowl (Dawkins and Asante Samuel).

As I said, this guy is highly regarded by his peers, "I don't think there are a lot of secondary coaches that are as good as Sean McDermott," Eagles head coach Andy Reid said. "He was a phenomenal linebackers coach and, really, his versatility I just think is second to none."

If the hype on McDermott proves right, he could very well be the next disciple of the Andy Reid era to earn a job as a head coach in the NFL.

Marty Mornhinweg: Assistant Coach/Offensive Coordinator (2003-???)

Marty Mornhinweg's roller coaster ride up and down the coaching ladder began at his alma mater, The University of Montana.

In 1985, Marty managed the wide receivers at the school, before leaving for Texas El-Paso in 1986. He spent two years at UTEP as a graduate assistant before leaving to play quarterback for the Denver Dynamite of the USFL. Following one year in Denver, Mornhinweg began a seven-year journey in college football.

That journey began at Northern Arizona in 1988, where he coached the running backs for a season before leaving for South East Missouri State to take over the offensive coordinator position along with the quarterbacks coach position.

After a two-year stint at South East Missouri, Marty moved to The University of Missouri in 1991 where he would manage the tight ends and the offensive line for three seasons. In 1994, Mornhinweg made his final collegiate stop as he returned to Northern Arizona as the team's offensive coordinator.

Following that one-year stint in Arizona, the Green Bay Packers tabbed Mornhinweg as their offensive assistant and quality control coach on offense. There, he was reunited with a former collegue, Andy Reid. The two had previously coached together at Missouri and UTEP.

In 1996, Marty took over the quarterbacks coaching position, and helped Brett Favre win his first of three consecutive MVP awards. In addition with Favre's tutelage, Mornhinweg helped the Packers win their third Super Bowl.

Mornhinweg would leave the Packers in 1997 to join Steve Marriucci's staff in San Francisco as the team's offensive coordinator for four years. There, he sent another quarterback to the Pro Bowl: Jeff Garcia. Following the 2000 season, the Detroit Lions came calling, offering a job as the team's head coach.

Mornhinweg's time as head coach in Detroit was certainly forgettable, as his teams won a combined five games in two seasons. Following the 2002 season, Lions GM Matt Millen fired Mornhinweg. Then in 2003 Andy Reid and Mornhinweg were together coaching again, when Reid hired him as the team's Senior Assistant.

In 2004 Mornhinweg was promoted to the Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator position, and has been there since. Under Mornhinweg, the Eagles offense has evolved into one of the leagues more explosive attacks. In 2006, the Eagles led the NFL in plays over 20-yards with 74. To go along with the big plays in '06, the Eagles offense scored 398 points, the second highest total in team history.

One group that has been consistent in Mornhinweg's time, has been the offensive line, which leads us to our next coach.

Juan Castillo: Offensive Line (1995-Present)

Castillo, the longest tenured coach on Andy Reid's staff is highly regarded as one of the league's best offensive line guru's. A former linebacker, Castillo's coaching career began in 1982 at Texas A&M-Kingsville. At TAMK, Juan coached the offensive line for four years before leaving to coach high school football in Texas in 1986.

Castillo returned to TAMK in 1990 to again coach the offensive line. He gained recognition from then Eagles head coach, Ray Rhodes for aiding in the development of five division II All American offensive linemen. Four of those linemen went on to play in the NFL: Jermaine Mayberry, Jorge Diaz, Kevin Dogins, and Earl Dotson.

In his five-year stint at TAMK, he spent three summers as a coaching intern for Tampa Bay, Buffalo and Seattle. In 1995, Rhodes hired Castillo an offensive assistant, a position he held until 1997 when he was assigned to coach the tight ends.

In 1998, Castillo was assigned to coach the Eagles offensive line, and from there, the story goes on.

Under Castillo, four Eagles linemen earned their first trips to the Pro Bowl: William Thomas, Shawn Andrews, Jermane Mayberry, and Jon Runyan. Castillo's units are known for being dominant pass blockers, and yielding very little sacks.

In fact, in 2008 the Eagles offensive line set a club record for fewest sacks per pass attempt (one every 27.3).

Castillo also developed a knack for developing undrafted rookies into starting NFL linemen. That list includes: Jamaal Jackson, Hank Fraley, Artis Hicks, Bubba Miller and Steve Edwards. Castillo will almost certainly return another dominant offensive line thanks to the offseason additions the Eagles made.
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Last season the defensive line was good. Not great, but good. They helped lead the way for the third ranked defense in the NFL, and the best overall defense in the NFC. However, there is room for improvement.

Trent Cole is a Pro Bowl guy, and has been year in and year out. He’s been phenomenal during his career with the Eagles and is recognized throughout the league by offensive coordinators as a guy for whom they must gameplan.

He commands the double team, which should allow for other players to make plays. Unfortunately that has not happened as much as it should from the guys on the other side, specifically Juqua Parker.

Parker accounted for only five sacks last season, being overshadowed by Darren Howard who doubled that amount with 10. Chris Clemons, the third end, finished with one less than Parker with four.

In the Eagles’ Jim Johnson-led defense, no one player will have more than between 13-15 sacks because of all the rotation and various blitz packages for various players. But with that said, five is just simply not enough out of a guy who is supposed to be our starter opposite Cole.

Howard has had a resurgence and could, or rather should, overtake Parker for the starting role while limiting him to a backup status (which for this defense of rotation simply means Howard should start getting some of Parker’s snaps).

Clemons, Victor Abiamiri, and second-year man Bryan Smith should all push for more playing time at defensive end next year. A healthy Abiamiri and Smith will mean more fresh legs and more speed on the edge, allowing for more sacks in ‘09 than in ‘08.

No one should be shocked if the Eagles also decide to take a defensive end in the middle rounds, somewhere between the third and fifth.

Brodrick Bunkley was originally drafted to be an inside pass-rushing presence more than a run-stuffer, but it would appear as though the opposite has happened. Bunkley was only able to muster up two sacks last year (to put that into perspective Dan Klecko had two in the first three games he played defense - more on him later), but came on big in the running game.

Bunkley’s most memorable plays from last season would have to be his stuffs of Eli Manning and Brandon Jacobs on fourth-down plays in the playoffs.

Mike Patterson also suffered in the area of rushing the passer, coming up with zero sacks last season. That’s struggling at its best. However Patterson seems to be in the same boat as Bunkley in that he has come on very strong in stopping the run and being a huge presence in the middle.

In their defense, these guys do come off the field on third downs to make way for Johnson’s pass-rushing line consisting of Howard and Abiamiri in the middle.

However with that said, they still need to step up on first and second down to get pressure on the quarterback. If they show they can get to the passer, perhaps they can be left in on third down.

Trevor Laws was the Eagles’ first pick in the draft last year, going 47th overall in the second round. Laws seems to have a lot of potential and should find his way into some healthy playing time in the coming years if he can turn that potential into production when he gets the limited time he’ll likely be receiving for at least another year.

Dan Klecko will likely be coming back to his natural position, and that’s right where he belongs. Weaver is a significant upgrade at fullback, and I’m sure Klecko will be happy to bulk back up and play defense.

He played admirably, but what we saw was the best we were getting out of Klecko on offense. He showed promise last year as a defensive tackle, registering two sacks in the first three games before being switched to fullback.

Now Klecko can go back to defense while making the occasional appearance on offense inside the 20’s.

Overall this is a group filled with immense talent. Some of that talent when untapped last year and must be taken advantage of in 2009. The line is what makes this defense go, and without a good year from the line we Philly fans could go through a rather agonizing season.
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Stewart Bradley and Chris Gocong were solid starters last season and seem to have their spots on this team solidified. However, the WILL position is another story.

Seemingly without cause, Omar Gaither was benched last season in favor of Akeem Jordan. The change took place after the horrendous display by the entire team in the Baltimore game, but for some reason Gaither seemed to be the scapegoat.

The dilemma here is that while Gaither was playing well, perhaps not great but playing well, Jordan played just as well as Gaither.

The problem is that there are four starting-caliber linebackers, but only three spots available. This is a situation that will be resolved in the summer months when the team reports to Lehigh University.

This young but talented group took enormous strides during the ’08 season, but still have a lot to prove after really being taken advantage of during the playoffs.

In the first two games against the Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants respectively, they took advantage of weak offensive units. While the Giants are usually not looked at as a weak offensive team, lingering injuries slowed Brandon Jacobs and the team was without Plaxico Burress due to his well-documented night club incident.

Reality struck this young group in the NFC Championship game, and can really be pointed to as a main reason for the lopsided first half. The Arizona Cardinals, unlike the Vikings and Giants, were far from offensively inadequate. Led by Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald, the Cardinals attacked the middle of the field all game long with incredible success.

Personally, I don’t understand Gocong playing on the strong side. At Cal-Poly, Gocong was an unbelievable pass-rushing defensive end, registering 23.5 sacks in a single season. However here in Philly rather than rushing the quarterback, he’s been entrusted with covering the tight end.

To me, this doesn’t make any sense.

Why would you take a guy who’s already been taken out of his comfort zone going from DE to LB, then make it worse by asking him to cover the great tight ends who litter the NFC East? My suggestion would be to flip-flop the linebackers.

I believe Gaither should be the starter at SAM, while Gocong moves to WILL in order to take advantage of his pass-rushing ability. Some may say that Gocong is at SAM because he’s a better cover-guy, but is he that much better than Gaither that his pass-rushing ability should be ignored? I don’t believe so.

Stewart Bradley was a guy who a lot of people in Philly were clamoring for him to make the Pro Bowl, but I’m not so sure. He made a lot of mental mistakes throughout the season, but especially early on. Now that’s not to take away from a good first season that he had, but that’s really about all it was; Just a good first year.

However with that said, I do believe that he will evolve into a Pro Bowl player in the middle for Philly for many, many years to come. Unfortunately, that’s not happening just yet.

Gaither and Jordan both played well at WILL, and either of them will have the trust of Andy Reid and Jim Johnson to performed their role, whatever that may be.

Given that we have four starting-caliber linebackers with only three available spots, I have a solution to get everyone involved while also confusing opposing defenses to no end.

The 3-4.

Do I want the 3-4 full-time? No, of course not. We’ve had too much success and have the personnel for the 4-3, but the 3-4 could help us for a couple plays a game to get all of our linebacker talent on the field.

The linebackers would be Jordan at WILL, Gaither and Bradley at the MIKE, and Gocong at the SAM (or flipping Jordan and Gocong if it was up to me), with Broderick Bunkley playing nose in between Trevor Laws or Mike Patterson and Victor Abiamiri. This way, we get all of our linebackers on the field while throwing a curveball at the offense.

The line may be a bit small, but not by much. Abiamiri is 6’4” and 270 pounds with Laws weighing in at 6’1” and 300 pounds. As I said, a bit small, but not by much and worth it to confuse the offense.

In all, I think the linebacking corps needs a veteran guy to push all of these younger linebackers and help mentor them after getting rid of Jeremiah Trotter and Takeo Spikes. With a couple more years of experience and time together, I believe we’ll eventually be looking at one of the better NFL linebacker corps… Just not yet.
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Jim Johnson has been in the driver’s seat of this defense for the past 10 years, and hopefully he won’t be going anywhere soon. Another leader on defense, Brian Dawkins, is gone for Denver.

Other than that, the defense remains 100 percent intact and looks to continue their dominating 2008 performance into the 2009 season behind a good mix of young talent and veteran leadership.

First up, the secondary.

With the departure of long-time leader and Philadelphia main-stay Brian Dawkins, the Eagles would appear to have a need at safety. However, with the signing of Sean Jones they may have found a starter for years to come.

Jones is a young guy, and a former second round pick. He had some good years in Cleveland, ranking third among safeties in interceptions with 14 behind only Ed Reed and O.J. Atogwe. All of this done on a defense ranked consistently in the bottom half of the league.

Rashad Baker was another guy brought it, seemingly only for depth purposes. He’s a young guy with some upside but really got overshadowed in the black hole of Oakland. For those who don’t know, Baker was actually the guy who picked off Jeff Garcia in Week 17 to vault the Eagles into the playoffs. That interception was one of three on the year.

Quintin Demps, return specialist for most of the year, will also get a chance to compete with Jones. However in only his second year, Demps will probably be best served as a backup while focusing on his return skills, something the Eagles have lacked for a few years.

Quintin Mikell has been fantastic at the strong safety position over the past couple of years and looks to only get better. Many believe Mikell’s strong play should have earned him a Pro Bowl nod last year (led the team with 169 tackles, second with four forced fumbles and three interceptions), but that was not the case. Instead, he was selected as a second-team All-Pro by the Associated Press.

The cornerback position has always been good under Andy Reid, and 2009 should be no different. From Troy Vincent and Bobby Taylor, to Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown, and now Sheldon Brown and Asante Samuel.

Samuel is a superstar and proved that last season by coming up with six total interceptions, four in the regular season and two in the playoffs. Sheldon Brown has been an extremely steady and solid contributor, seemingly ready to take the next step into “elite.” He had his first interception in 19 games last season against the Dallas Cowboys, but has not missed a single game in his entire seven year career.

Joselio Hanson is a guy who was picked up off the scrap-heap to add some depth to the cornerback position, but has emerged as a solid nickel corner. He came up with his first interception in 2008 on Thanksgiving night against Kurt Warner and the Arizona Cardinals.

With the trade of the disgruntled Lito Sheppard, the Eagles will now look to the unproven second-year man Jack Ikegwuonu, who spent his rookie year on I.R. nursing a torn ACL he suffered only weeks before the combine.

Look for the Eagles to add some depth to the corner position in the mid-to-late rounds of the draft to push Ikegwuonu, or at the very least a late-round or undrafted camp body.

Either way, the secondary seems to be in great position to build on a solid 2008 to a possible great 2009. I look for more turnovers, less big plays, and overall more respect for a squad entering its second full year together as a unit.
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“(Johnson) is drastically better than he was (for) the championship game.”

That’s a quote from Andy Reid while talking to CBSsports.com on some of the best news we’ve heard all offseason, and there hasn’t been much for Eagles’ fans.

Even with the loss of Brian Dawkins, Tra Thomas, and the likely loss of Jon Runyan, the one thing that has gone under the radar has been the heath of defensive coordinator Jim Johnson.

Well, after nearly two months of chemotherapy, he’s doing well. Apparently, he’s doing very well.

According to Reid and Lurie, he’s apparently able to move around without much pain, if any, and is always at the NovaCare complex working toward next season.

Johnson was diagnosed about three months ago with aggressive melanoma which has metastasized to his spine. This lead to incredible back pain for Johnson, forcing him to coach from the box during the playoffs and leaving Philly fans befuddled.

When this fan heard the news that Johnson’s back pain was from the cancer, I know I was heartbroken.

For all of the fuss that is put into the football side of things, like losing players, the money, and the rule changes, we sometimes forget what’s truly important.

This story showed the true side of Philly-nation. At least for a little while, all of the bickering was put aside.

The thoughts and prayers of Eagles’ fans went away from hoping Banner pulls the trigger on a deal for Anquan Boldin, to the welfare of a man who has become synonymous with toughness, grit, fortitude, but most importantly: Philadelphia.

Jim Johnson embodies everything that is Philadelphia. The character he displays on and off the field, and the courage in dealing with this very real disease is a testament to the will and resolve of the man.

While he’s not out of the woods yet, he’s at least beginning to carve a trail through the woods toward the exit. He needs to know that he has the entire city of Philadelphia in front and behind him helping to push him forward through this difficult time for him and his family.

On the football side, if for some reason Johnson could not go, secondary coach Sean McDermott is more than qualified to take over. However, Reid doesn’t see that happening.

"(Johnson) was always going to be my coordinator ... as long as he could do it," said Reid. "That was my feeling from the get-go, but I think it's important he knows that and that all the guys around him know that.

"Jim banks on Sean a lot. So maybe (his involvement with the game plan) happens a little bit more. He'll do whatever Jim can't do, but right now Jim can do everything."

Everyone in Philadelphia is rooting for you, J.J.

We look forward to seeing you on the sidelines leading our defense once again. You’re the best at what you do, and we’re glad you do it for us.
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