Jarrad Page may start at FS against the Cleveland Browns in Thursday night’s preseason game…
How much you want to read into this prediction as an indicator to your opening day secondary lineup depends more upon how well Page responds to the opportunity… but I’m betting Page does just fine…
Maybe it’s Jarrad Page’s time… Page (6-0, 225) signed a 3-year contract with the Chiefs after being drafted in the seventh round (228th overall) of the 2006 NFL Draft (out of UCLA)…Page played in all 16 games during his rookie season, starting two. He finished with 38 tackles, one sack, three inteceptions, and nine special teams tackles. In 2007, Page returned to start all 16 games at free safety, recording 64 tackles on the season, as well as three interceptions and one forced fumble.
For a second straight season, Page made 16 starts in 2008, notching a career-high 83 tackles, four interceptions, and two forced fumbles, while tying for the team lead with 10 passes defensed. In 2009, Page started the first five games of the season, picking up 19 tackles, before suffering a shoulder injury. He was inactive for the next two weeks, and was placed on injured reserve on November 4, 2009, with a calf injury, ending his season.
Following the 2009 season, Page became a restricted free agent but did not sign his tender from the team until September 3, after requesting a trade…
On September 4, 2010, Page was traded to the New England Patriots for an undisclosed draft choice. He played in the team’s first six regular season games before missing the next six games with an injury. He returned in Week 13 against the New York Jets, recording a season-high five tackles. Page finished the 2010 season with 12 tackles and two interceptions in 10 games played, making one start.
Page was signed by the Eagles on August 2 of this year in a little-publicized manner… But if ever a 26-year-old free safety in the NFL with a solid pedigree of performance was ever destined to make a career statement, this is the moment for Page…
“I’m just trying to work hard, pick up the defense and do what I can do,” said Page, who didn’t sign until well after camp began. “It’s tough when you get to a team and you’re behind the eight-ball a little bit, trying to learn the defense. But I think my years in the league helped me a lot.”
” … I don’t know what their plan is for the game. Whatever it is, I’m ready for it.”
Reading between the lines— Nate Allen’s knee is really bothering him.
And the “free safety” and “strong safety” labels have become interchangeable for the Eagles this preseason, anyway…On a related note, Kurt Coleman has been rotating back to free safety more — to the point where he actually is listed as the starting free safety, with Allen listed as the strong safety. But that has to do with inexperience and Allen’s unavailability at times through the first three weeks of camp.
“I’m asked to make a lot of the calls on the back end because we have new guys coming into it and they’re still learning the system,” Coleman said. “I have to be on the top of my game and know everything that is going on. I think it’s put a challenge on me, but I like it. I’m having fun understanding the defense, maintaining, and pointing people in the right direction.”
Anyway, it makes for some interesting speculation on what the defensive backfield assignments will be on Thursday against Cleveland…and for the rest of the early going in the regular season.
Meanwhile, rookie Jason Kelce is giving veteran Jamaal Jackson a real battle for the starting job at center. Kelce, a sixth-round draft pick from Cincinnati, is scheduled to start Thursday’s preseason game vs. Cleveland and has been taking all the reps with the first-team offense in practice.
Elsewhere on the offensive line, RT Ryan Harris missed practice again Monday, leaving a big hole there.
RB Ronnie Brown said he is still not quite fully comfortable with the offense. Like most rookies and newcomers, he’s still trying to master the scheme to the point where he can react without thinking.
Then there’s the curious quote by DC Juan Castillo that’s reverbing around the league right now, and which I’m sure has been taken totally out of context by the rogue reporter that put it on the news wires… The story-line goes like this:
The Eagles’ starting linebackers – a group that includes a rookie 4th-round pick and 7th-rounders in their second and third years – have come under scrutiny after the Steelers ran all over the defense Thursday.
Defensive coordinator Juan Castillo said not to worry: He believes this young crop can win a championship.
“The linebackers will be ready to win the Super Bowl. Remember, it takes 16 weeks, and then really whoever is playing their best during the playoffs. So when you look at it, there’s time to develop,” Castillo said.
Of course, with the expectations around this team, few will want to hear about development if the Eagles get gashed in the first few weeks of the season the way they were against the Steelers.
Castillo, though, doesn’t see it that way.
“The key is, who’s playing more fundamentally, who’s the best come Week 8, 9, 10, and during that crunch time. And over the years we’ve been pretty good during that time, and we’ll continue to do that,” he said. “The young kids will get better just because they’re working the proper fundamentals.”
I’d like to get a one-on-one with the Philly.com reporter who put that quote out there… I just don’t buy into the inflammatory context of the alleged quote. Knowing Mr. Castillo just a little bit, I think what he really meant was, what you saw against the Steelers last week was not the finished product… and that guys have won Super Bowls in the past with far less raw talent than the Eagles have right now.
But such is the state of the “instant gratification” media these days… everyone wants an inflammatory headline, and few want to research the true meaning…
My take on all the “defensive side of the ball” speculation about the Eagles is more practical.
First, I think the Eagles safeties will account well for themselves once the season starts. Right now, it’s still an unsettled audition process… little can be taken away from preseason game results out there… what’s really happening is we’re testing Nate Allen’s knee under duress, we’re getting veterans like Page a chance to lead the way in the prime of their careers, and we’re working in first, second and third-year guys like Kurt Coleman and Jamar Adams and Colt Anderson and Jaiquawn Jarrett— giving each of them a chance to prove they deserve more playing time… What’s most important is that all these guys are learning to communicate with each other out on the field in game conditions.
Secondly, regarding the linebackers, there’s still a good chance the Eagles may sign a veteran anchor like Kirk Morrison to lead the way, so there is no need to put the weight of the world upon the young guys right now… The learning opportunities these younger LB’s are getting right now is money in the bank for the rest of the season…and possibly for years to come down the road. To put the weight of the Eagles’ potential failure or success upon these younger guys is ridiculous. Collectively they make up just another link in the chain of team performance… certainly no more key or less important than any other link. But I think what Castillo is really trying to say is “we’ve got this thing under control”… with more performance-oriented surprises to come.
Fact is, the best “defense” the Eagles have at their disposal is a strong offense that will eat up time of possession… As stated in the previous blurb, that is my hunch as to what this long 2011 season about to launch will really be about… In effect, a strong clock-eating offensive machine will be exactly what the doctor ordered to buy the Eagles’ evolving young defense the time needed to define its new parts…and become a game-changing force of its own.
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