The Philadelphia Inquirer Bob Ford column: Bob Ford: For Eagles, the third coming of Jeremiah

Oct 06, 2009 (The Philadelphia Inquirer - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- NAHC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- The Eagles went back to the practice field yesterday, rubbing the sleep of the bye week from their eyes with a short workout at the NovaCare Complex.

After just three games of the regular season, it has already been a strange year for the Eagles. Over there, at one end of the locker room, quarterback Michael Vick was saying again that just being a small part of the offense was "all right for now."

A few minutes later, Donovan McNabb, having taken part in practice for the first time since an opening-game rib fracture, laughed and said, "No comment," when asked how the practice had gone, a response he found a lot more humorous and original than did anyone else.

Players came and went, laughing and calling out to others as always, and then the door swung open and middle linebacker Jeremiah Trotter made his way to his usual locker at the far end of the room.

As the Eagles began training camp, you couldn't have gotten odds high enough to bet that Vick, Jeff Garcia, and Trotter would find themselves on the team's roster this season. It all happened, however, and, in retrospect, Trotter's signing might be the most surprising one of all.

"It's been quite a ride," fellow linebacker Chris Gocong said of the last month or so. "You never know what's going to happen and you've got to be open to things."

For their part, the linebackers must be more open to the third coming of Jeremiah than the rest. Their unit has to help him blend into the defense. Their unit has to admit that it can be improved by the addition of a 32-year-old with chronically bad knees who hasn't played regularly for two seasons.

The Eagles' coaches, obviously, feel Trotter is going to play -- and maybe a lot. "I don't think they'd have gone to this trouble to have me play special teams," Trotter said.

They worked him out and appear convinced he is both healthy and better than what they have. If they are correct about the former, that's great. If they are correct about the latter, that's a terrible indictment of their personnel decisions.

The Eagles released Trotter before the 2007 season, choosing to go with Omar Gaither as the starting middle linebacker. Gaither eventually lost that job to Stewart Bradley and regained it this season only after Bradley went out with a torn knee ligament and after Joe Mays didn't please the coaching staff, either.

Now, in a mind-boggling twist, Trotter is back, and he alternated with Gaither as the first-team middle linebacker yesterday. Yes, in his first practice with the team in two years, he got about half the reps as the starter.

"It will take time to pick everything up, but today went pretty good," Trotter said. "There was never a doubt I'd play again. I didn't know if it would be here or not. I'm just happy to be back in the game."

Maybe he didn't have any doubts, but the rest of the NFL apparently did. Trotter's last appearance for the Eagles came in the 2006 playoffs, when the defense was shredded for more than 200 rushing yards in a loss to the Saints. After being released by the Eagles, he caught on with Tampa Bay, but dressed for only three regular-season games in 2007. He had arthroscopic surgery to clean out his right knee after the season, but couldn't find an employer for 2008.

Trotter kept working out, kept waiting for an opportunity, and contacted the Eagles to remind the team of his existence after Bradley was injured. All it took to get him a tryout, apparently, was a spotty performance against the run by the defense in the Week 2 loss to New Orleans.

There is irony there -- I mean, really, the Saints? -- just as there is irony in this week's opponent being the Bucs or in noting that the guy who had the locker next to him in Tampa (Garcia) was the one released to make room for Trotter with the Eagles.

"God's got a plan for everything," Trotter said yesterday.

Perhaps, but the Eagles didn't appear to have much of a plan for the loss of Bradley, who was injured Aug. 2, six weeks before the start of the regular season. They must have hoped some combination of Gaither and Mays would hold the middle together, but being forced to sign Trotter is an indication that the bet didn't pay off.

In a way, this is a small risk. If Trotter can't hold up, or if he can't move well enough to still play the position, they'll know that quickly and be no worse off than before.

"I'm going to be different," Trotter said yesterday. "I'm going to focus more on playing my position instead of trying to do too much. I'm smarter now. I'll still be going downhill, hitting people in the mouth. That's not going to change."

What might have changed is the percentage of people coming through his area upon whom he can exact his vengeance. You have to catch 'em before you can hit 'em in the mouth, after all. Two years ago, the Eagles decided that Trotter couldn't catch enough of them any longer. Now, he gets another try.

In one end of the locker room, Michael Vick spoke of having to wait, and at the other, Jeremiah Trotter spoke of not being able to wait.

It was another strange day in this season of second chances with the Eagles. You look at both ends of the room and wonder if they will learn that images are a lot easier to rehabilitate than knees.

Contact columnist Bob Ford

at 215-854-5842 or bford@phillynews.com.

Read his blog at http://philly.com/postpatterns.

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