Maclin addressed the media, and said all the right things.


Jeremy Maclin finally put his name on the dotted line, and is ready to start practicing tomorrow.

Because he has not been at camp, he is obviously very far behind and will need to do some cramming and be able to catch up very quickly if he wants to see the field for any extended playing time.

It is so important that he be up to date, that I believe the Eagles should assign one coach to watch him and always be available for him throughout the entire practice tomorrow, and for the rest of camp until they feel he is caught up.

David Culley, their wide receivers coach, can't be focusing on one guy. He's got to be all around and also helping guys like Brandon Gibson and Shaheer McBride, so he's out.

My thought would be a guy like Todd Pinkston. He's in there as a coaching intern without a real well-defined role. He helps out when he can, and pulls a guy to the side when he sees something, but other than that he just bounces around and talks to his former teammates.

Assign him to Maclin, so that any time Maclin has a question he knows to go right to Pinkston. Whether it's his pattern, someone else patterson, maybe the timing of the play, how to read the defense or whatever else, Pinkston should be the guy he's always looking for.

With all the jokes and all the names that are slung about regarding Pinkston, he is a smart guy and actually was a good player during his time here in Philadelphia. You know he's a smart guy or Reid would not have him on his coaching staff, even on an intern-styled basis.

The Eagles, more than ever before, are really banking on their first-round pick producing in his first year.

DeSean Jackson did a good thing last year by showing Reid that young receivers can in fact produce immediately, and do not need to be groomed for two or three years as he previously thought. However, a failed rookie season by Maclin because he doesn't know his plays will have Reid re-thinking his position once again.

With that in mind, Maclin's performance becomes a huge factor in how far this team can go. He has the talent, all he needs is a way to learn these plays, and learn them fast.

If Pinkston is on "Maclin Watch," it should expedite the process and have Maclin picking up on things much faster with his own personal coach.

We'll see how the Eagles attack this, as they may just rotate any coach who is available to work with him rather than having one guy assigned to him. In fact, I would not be surprised to see even Marty Mornhenwig and Andy Reid taking some time with him off to the side.

Judging by his press conference, Maclin is a smart kid who shouldn't have too tough of a time picking up on things. It's all just a matter of limited time.
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Shawn and Stacy Andrews are apparently "100 percent."

The biggest training camp story continues to be the absence of first-round pick Jeremy Maclin.

According to Andy Reid the talks are continuing, but nothing has been signed or even agreed upon at this point. Right now, all he's missing is meetings. However at 8:45 tomorrow morning it gets real and he officially starts missing valuable time.

Reid pointed out how vital the camps are and how being there on time last year helped DeSean Jackson immensely with learning the playbook, getting his timing down, and everything else. A lot goes into an NFL training camp; missing is not an option for a young player with lofty expectations like Maclin.

The only thing that could be causing a delay at this point is the length. He waited to sign so the Eagles are limited in what they can spend on their last rookie. They may be bickering about a few tens of thousands of dollars, but my guess is that the Eagles want to give him a six-year deal like was originally reported a month ago, but he wants a four-year deal.

Again, that's just a guess. We'll hear more once something is agreed upon, I'm sure.

Brian Westbrook, Victor Abiamiri, and Andrews Bros. Injury Updates

On the injury front, it appears as though Brian Westbrook and Victor Abiamiri will be ready to return by mid-August. For those of you saying, "Um, when did Abiamiri get hurt?" it was apparently a few days ago. He was benching and strained his pec.

The best news is Westbrook. Some people were questioning if he'd be able to make it back for Week 1, but the news now is that he may even see some time in the third game of the preseason just to shake off some rust before Week 1.

Abiamiri's injury is costly for him. If he doesn't return until mid-August it means that he's probably missing all of camp, and most certainly won't be a starter, at the least at the beginning of the year.

This gives Juqua Parker a great shot to keep his job, but is just another knock against Abiamiri. He just can't stay healthy long enough to try and win this job. I'm sure the coaches are frustrated with him at this point.

Some more good news is that the Andrews brothers are good to go. Someone asked Dave Spadaro if the brothers were ready to go and all he said was, "Yes, 100 percent."

Good to hear, hopefully it stays that way

Pinkston Returns to the Eagles

Relax, not as a player.

The Eagles have brought Pinkston in as a coaching intern. I would assume he's going to be shadowing David Culley, the Eagles' wide receivers coach. However, there is no word on what exactly Pinkston will be doing.

Pinkston caught a lot of heat as a player, some deserving and some not, but he always seemed to at least be a smart guy. Even if you don't think he was a very good player keep in mind the old saying, "Those who can't do, teach."

John Madden and Bill Cowher are Hall of Fame coaches (Madden is in already, Cowher will be one day) but were just awful players.

Interesting sidenote: John Madden was actually drafted by the Eagles in 1958 out of Cal-Poly. Maybe you learned something today.
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