Training Camp Is Over And Reid Thinks His Rookies Are Ready To Contribute

Training camp is officially over with the end of this morning’s practice.  Eagles players are now leaving Lehigh, driving down 476 to 76 and heading to their homes in the area.  They’re excited to finally be out of training camp, but Andy Reid will probably keep them in the two-a-day sessions for another week or so.

He just let us know that Kevin Kolb and the starters will play the first half of their game on Friday against the Cincinnati Bengals.  A number of players won’t play at all due to injuries.  Here’s that list:  Todd Herremans, Jamaal Jackson, Nick Cole, David Pender, Victor Abiamiri, and Asante Samuel is questionable.

After Kolb and the starting group play the first half, then Michael Vick will quarterback the 3rd quarter and rookie Mike Kafka will work in the fourth.

Reid was pleased with the way his young football team performed during the long training camp.  “I think that(the long training camp) built a foundation.  In particular, a young group, and I think they need to be introduced to what the National Football League is all about.  It’s faster, there’s more pressure put on you mentally and physically than what you had at the college level, and there’s no better place to figure all that out than right here.”

The long-time Eagles head coach feels his rookies did an outstanding job at the training camp.  “I told the team.  I’ve been impressed with the energy and the work level and the effort that’s been put in.  How they’ve handled themselves up here.  And Then the young guys have been very impressive, the draft picks, and how they’ve picked things up.”

Reid admitted that he asked more of this year’s rookie group than he has in the past.  “We had fairly large installs and we had a demanding camp physically, so all in all, it was very demanding on the young guys.”

There’s a good reason that he pushed this rookie group more than any in the past.  He needs them to produce and to do it right away.  Nate Allen will be starting at one of the safety positions and Brandon Graham’s pass rush success will be one of the keys to the defense’s success.  Daniel Te’o Nesheim could be part of their third down pass rush, while  tight end Clay Harbor and wide receiver Riley Cooper will play key roles in the red zone.

All of these youngsters will be the core of the special teams.

The rookie contribution doesn’t stop there.  Trevor Laws and Cornelius Ingram might as well be rookies since they have no experience.  For that matter, Kolb is virtually a rookie in terms of playing time.

There’s no doubt that a long training camp is probably exactly what this young football team needed.   Reid says these rookies are headed in the right direction.  They’d better be.