No, there aren’t any arguments going on. Nobody is crying in camp, there’s only been one fight recorded in camp, but the injuries are piling up fast. Training camp for my favorite team – The Philadelphia Eagles – had a lot of promise. They had a lot of new talent and a lot of returning veterans who were hungry to prove they can not only start but excel and win. Alas, the injury bug has bitten and it’s bitten hard. One key defensive player, MLB Stewart Bradley, is lost for the year with an ACL tear. TE Cornelius Ingram, the steal of the draft, is down also with a torn ACL. The same ACL he tore in college that caused him to fall to the Eagles in the 5th round. Everything Back Brian Westbrook is trying to come back from ankle surgery.
What is going on here? Why is my pick for the NFC representative in this year’s Superbowl falling down like dominoes? Well, I have a theory and it’s something that I dismissed when it was said. In fact, most of the media dismissed it when it was said. Team president Joe Banner proclaimed: “I feel this year we have the best roster in the league. That’s assuming everyone is healthy and standing at the end. You can only make a statement like that on the first day of training camp. After that, anything can happen.” You can check out the article he said it in right here. Well Joe, it seems that anything is happening. And “anything” is not good.
I’ve never been superstitious, but I feel that when you make superlative statements like calling your team the best, some forces with a bad sense of humor tend to start wreaking havoc. Sometimes it’s a blessing in disguise, creating opportunities for undrafted rookies to show what they have. Maybe it’s better to have these injuries now so that you can make adjustments, get new players in early to learn your system. Maybe it’s so fantasy players won’t be stuck drafting a stud who gets injured in week 1. Whatever the case is, the Eagles are going down at every position you can imagine except cornerback. As of this article, Trent Cole is injured, so is Kevin Kolb, Hank Baskett, Victor Abiamiri, and even DeSean Jackson (who will tear up the league this year) has suffered a minor injury. If I missed anyone else, it’s because there are too many of you taking rides in the injury golf cart. Either the practices are too hard, or these players are not lucky.
The only team that has been this hard bitten by the injury bug is Washington. Of course that’s fine with me because they play in the division. I’m still sticking to my pick of them being NFC champs, but I’m glad I didn’t put any money on it. With injuries to so many players, and the Patriots coming to town for our first pre-season game I’m hoping that they can keep it together. I also picked the Patriots to represent the AFC in the Superbowl. Yeah, this won’t be any indication of how the game will go, but I know I want to see how both teams were going to do. Did I mention that the O-line is a mess too? How bad is it? So bad that Big Jon Runyan might have to be re-acquired to add depth. Oh yeah, he’s coming back from microfracture surgery in his knee. Just wonderful. Donovan McNabb, you better watch some old film of how you used to scramble because it seems like your legs will be your best friend in the first few weeks of the regular season. I know, I know, every team has injuries during training camp. It’s part of the game, but it’s been a long time since I’ve seen so many go down so fast; and in pairs each day.