Out-of-town Q&A: Philadelphia Eagles

We tracked down Bob Brookover, who covers the Eagles for the Philadelphia Inquirer, to talk about this Monday night’s opponent.

1. How has the defense adjusted to the departure of longtime star safety Brian Dawkins to free agency, the death of coordinator Jim Johnson and the season-ending injury to middle linebacker Stewart Bradley?

Rookie Macho Harris has played all right at free safety, and the defense has allowed 14 points or fewer in four of the first five games. But there’s nobody who can replace Dawkins’ passion, fire and leadership, which, by all accounts, has been huge for the Broncos so far this season.

That said, the bigger loss has been middle linebacker Stewart Bradley, who had the combination of size and speed needed to cover tight ends and stop potent running games. The Eagles have tried to replace him with the combination of Omar Gaither and bringing back Jeremiah Trotter. Gaither has played well, but his size makes his durability a question mark. He is currently nursing a foot sprain. Trotter was burned twice for big pass plays in the Eagles’ upset loss at Oakland.

As for the loss of the late Jim Johnson, the Eagles’ defense looks familiar under new coordinator Sean McDermott, but only time will tell if he can measure up to the high standard set by his mentor.

2. Has Michael Vick had less impact on the offense than expected, especially considering that Donovan McNabb was out for two-plus games?

Who’s Michael Vick? He was on the field for two plays against the Raiders and has been almost a nonfactor so far this season. The Eagles took a lot of abuse for the signing of Vick and haven’t received a lot in return so far.

3. Who or what on this team has been the biggest surprise, either positive or negative?

The biggest surprise from a positive standpoint has probably been Winston Justice. Based on his one previous start against the Giants, a lot of people thought the right tackle situation would be a disaster if the Eagles had to start Justice instead of Shawn Andrews. So far, he has been fine, although the NFC East games will be the bigger test.