By GEOFF MOSHER
Twitter: @geoffmosher
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The first preseason game is still more than 48 hours away but Nate Allen’s been thinking about it for quite some time now. There’s a lot riding on the shoulder of the rookie free safety who is expected to start there when the regular season begins.
Allen drew more praise Wednesday from defensive coordinator Sean McDermott, who used the word “unshakeable” to describe the safety’s camp to this point. But Allen admitted that Friday night’s game exhibition opener against Jacksonville will be more revealing than any camp practice.
“This is a big one for me,” Allen said. “My first NFL game. Even though it is preseason, I’m still going into like it’s the Super Bowl. I’m excited.”
Allen already faces the burden of fulfilling expectations for being the 37th overall pick – the pick that came to Philadelphia in the Donovan McNabb trade. But unlike his fellow rookies, he’s also carrying the heaviest load. He’s being asked to seamlessly step into the starting job in a secondary that struggled last season when nobody could hold the job down.
Strong safety Quntin Mikell said Allen hasn’t shown some of the typical rookie anxiety or seemed overwhelmed by the workload.
“He’s just relaxed, cool. It’s actually kind of weird for a rookie to kind of just be like he’s been there forever,” Mikell said. “That’s going to help him.”
More on Allen and the Eagles’ beleaguered secondary in Thursday’s print and Web editions.
* The biggest non-football story of the day is the fan who was asked by Eagles security to remove his Donovan McNabb No. 5 Redskins jersey. Jim Devlin, from King of Prussia, Pa., said he had “no problem” abiding by the team’s request to remove the jersey. Devlin wasn’t a fan in the grandstands; he had been issued a sideline credential by the Eagles that granted him special sideline privileges.
Devlin said the security guard was operating under direct orders from coach Andy Reid.
He also admitted that he wore the jersey to see what kind of reaction he’d generate from the crowd. The team had no official comment, other than saying it asks that fans given special sideline credentials don’t wear jerseys of opponents.
Are the Eagles being oversensitive? Sure. And the organization made itself look silly by asking the fan in broad daylight to remove the jersey, making the scene more public than necessary. Is the story as big as it’s being made out to be? Hardly.
Tidbits from the morning practice:
- With a preseason game Friday, Reid is scaling back on contact. The players only wore shorts and shells for the morning session and aren’t likely to tackle again until after the Jacksonville game.
- Tight end Brent Celek didn’t practice. The team said his absence was due to an illness.
- Nice breakup in the end zone by Dimitri Patterson on Jordan Norwood at the buzzer during the hurry-up offense. It looked like a nice TD catch until Patterson wrenched the ball out of Norwood’s hands.
- Also in the hurry up, Mike Kafka connected with Chad Hall in the end zone for a touchdown as time expired.
- Michael Vick used his trademark scrambles to move the second team downfield in the hurry up.
- Third-team defensive end Ricky Sapp, who showed a pulse in Tuesday’s practice, leaped high to bat down a Kafka pass.
- Former Eagles coach Dick Vermeil attended camp.
