The two newest additions to the Eagles, Jason Babin and Matt Wilhelm, had their first contact practice as members of the Philadelphia Eagles today.
With Juqua Parker missing camp today because of his incident last night, Babin got more reps than initially expected, and he made the best of them.
He looked fast coming around the edge, and strong enough to over-power right tackle Chris Patrick. At 6’3” and almost 270 pounds, that’s not exactly a surprise.
Babin really got under Patrick’s skin as he was beating him all practice. Every snap it seemed like Babin was just that much quicker off the line than Patrick, and spent most of his time on the offense’s side of the ball.
Patrick became more aggravated when Asante Samuel began a playful taunt from the sidelines letting Patrick know that Babin was beating him all day. Patrick, in his, let’s say, unhappy state of mind, didn’t appreciate this and took it out on Babin, shoving him a little after one play.
Samuel didn’t let up, so the next time Babin beat him around the corner, Patrick gave Babin a nice shove that he apparently did not appreciate. A small scrum broke out with Babin and Patrick having to be separated by their teammates.
In other words, Babin has already been accepted by the team. Well, at least by the defense.
Andy Reid was asked how he felt about the fights in general during training camp. “Don’t make it a habit. We’re NFL football players, not ultimate fighters. As long as it doesn’t leave the field and doesn’t get out of hand, I don’t have a problem with it.”
Matt Wilhelm, on the other hand, didn’t get as many reps as Babin, but Reid says that “he will have an opportunity” to earn a starting spot. Although from the way Reid worded the answer, it sounded to be more political.
He went on to say that he’s “comfortable with Joe and Omar,” which if you read between the lines means that Wilhelm will be taking a backup role. Reid also said that he will “play the best players.”
Whether or not that’s Omar Gaither, Joe Mays, or Wilhelm is yet to be seen.
Wilhelm didn’t do anything spectacular today. He took his reps and did what he could with them, but he’s in the middle of a big transition going from an inside linebacker in the 3-4 to a middle linebacker in the 4-3.
He’s a smart guy who will provide some solid depth to a shakey position.
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