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ornerback Sheldon Brown participated only in bits and pieces in last weekend's post-draft mini-camp, but he was in the thick of the meetings and the locker room scene. He offers his perspective on the atmosphere within this Eagles team in his exclusive Brown's Blog here ...
"We had a good atmosphere at the mini-camp. It was a comfortable working atmosphere. There were no tense moments at all throughout the course of camp. You knew what was what. You knew people were going to work and that nobody was going to be treated differently and that we were, as a team, starting back at ground zero.
"It was exactly what I wanted to see. There were no arrogant attitudes from players who didn't want to be coached. You don't need that when you are trying to get back on top. You need everybody working toward the same thing and that's what we had.
"Coach (Andy) Reid met with the team once, on Friday night, and he started off by saying that last year was last year. It's over with. We're moving on to the future. It was the right thing to say to start camp.
"My shoulder injury limited me, but I have no concerns about where I am with the situation. It's coming back strong. I participated a little bit. When we had the 'group install' portion of practice, I ran around as a wide receiver. I can move around. I probably could have practiced, honestly, but there was nothing to gain. A little caution is fine in May.
"I liked what I saw on the field. We have a very good team with a lot of competition on the roster. Here is what I think about this team: As long as Number 5 is healthy, I'm very confident that there will be no problems here. Now, I have a lot of respect for Jeff Garcia, but he still has to learn the offense a little bit more to run things.
QB Donovan McNabb said and did all the right things at camp
"I thought Donovan looked great. The guys responded to him and the new players really picked on Donovan's leadership. He was very communicative and the tempo of the offense was great. There was a lot of chatter in the huddle. I could see that. I liked it. Plus, we got the ball to Brian Westbrook a lot, which is something we need to do.
"I found it interesting how Donovan's t-shirt, 'If You Can't Trust Family, Who Can You Trust?' drew so much attention. We are a family. There has to be trust. I can't only have respect for Donovan. He put up with a lot of junk when all this stuff started and he took it like a man. The fact is, we have to stick together. We have to be a team in the locker room and out of the locker room.
"When it comes down to it, we have only each other to lean on. We're out there by ourselves. As long as everyone gets that message, I don't think there is anything wrong with it.
"Defensively, I just think we're going to be outstanding. Darren Howard looked like he picked up on things pretty well. The young kid, Brodrick Bunkley, has a good motor, runs to the football and practices the right way. That's all you can expect now. They are going to make mistakes, being young players, but as long as they are doing it fast, it's fine.
"Our secondary has some other players back there getting the majority of the reps, which was good for those players. I thought Rod Hood and Matt Ware and Dexter Wynn were relaxed. I didn't see many mental mistakes. They played well.
"The hardest part of the camp for the veterans is stting through the meetings. We've all been through this offense for years. What Jim Johnson is installing is completely basic stuff. So the meetings are awful. I'm one of the more alert guys, and I even had trouble staying awake.
"The stuff that we install is so basic that when we get into our game-planning mode, all of this stuff goes out the window, anyway. I know the defense inside and out. I know what we're going to do, and the purpose at these meetings is to get the young guys up to speed on what we're doing.
"I stay awake by trying to concentrate on what the players at the other positions are doing. I'm trying to figure out what the linebacker does when he sees a different front. It's hard, though. You can only do that for so long, but in the long run I know it will help me learn the defense even more.
"For me, the next step is to continue to rehab. I feel good. My conditioning is improving and I have no doubt that my shoulder is going to be as good as ever. We have more camps to go through before training camp, so we're getting closer to training camp and finding out for real about the team."
Sheldon Brown comments on camp
Sheldon Brown comments on camp
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