Another post for those of you not following Adam Schefter on Twitter. This time ESPN's finest is reporting the Eagles brought in Jeremiah Trotter for a workout today to see what kind of shape he is in. Trotter last played an NFL game in 2007 for Tampa Bay, and his most recent tryout was with San Francisco last year.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Philadelphia sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
The news is surprising to say the least, for the simple fact he wasn't even in the league last year. It certainly speaks to a problem with the Eagles linebackers, particularly the middle where Omar Gaither hasn't been 100% and the Joe Mays experiment was not a success. Still, Trot? How much more can they squeeze out of this guy?
Then again, we've seen them revive him once before. After two subpar seasons with the Redskins, Trotter came back to the Eagles, worked his way off the bench and back to starting middle linebacker for three more years. They've always used him to attack the line of scrimmage on rushing downs, so it's conceivable if he's in playing shape, he could still be serviceable despite having surely lost another step.
They also have an issue with depth at the position. Gaither's been playing on a bum knee, and Mays was recently out, which forced Chris Gocong to take snaps at MLB. That would put the Eagles in a tough spot if they were ever forced to displace their strongside backer, a defensive end in college, and put him at a completely different spot with an all new role. It's also worth mentioning that Trot contributed on special teams in '04, while Mays has spent the majority of his career on the inactive list, though he might not be up for that challenge anymore.
Either way, it's clear the Eagles share your concerns with this unit, and their willingness to unearth 54 actually shows boatloads of desperation. It's hard to argue with results though, and that's something they always seemed to get with Trotter.