The final day at Eagles Training Camp will be a crash course in learning for the Birds new (or is it old?) third-string quarterback.
The Eagles signed former Temple quarterback Adam DiMichele to handle third-string duties while backup QB Kevin Kolb recovers from a knee injury.
DiMichele, an undrafted rookie, at least was familiar with the Bird’s system. He signed with the Eagles after the Draft and was with the team for May mini camp. He was released a month later.
At Temple he finished fourth in school history with 5,024 passing yards.
DiMichele will only have hours to learn the offense before Thursday night's preseason opener against the New England Patriots. Regular Birds No. 2 QB Kolb won't play because of a knee injury so regular third-stringer A.J. Feeley will replace him.
Don’t expect much from Di Michele but it will be a great experience for the rookie to take the field in an NFL game – even if it is only preseason.
The Eagles originally signed Matt Nagy to handle the third-string duties. The former AFL QB and current Eagles coaching intern had a grasp of the system but the NFL didn’t like the deal.
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The 31-year-old Nagy did get a thrill as he took the field for his first (and only) practice as an NFL QB.
It wasn’t clear why the league disallowed Nagy’s deal.
The NFL had no comment as to the reason, according to The News Journal’s Martin Frank.
It was originally reported that it may have had something to do with Nagy still being under contract with a defunct AFL team, reported Brian Seltzer on his Twitter feed.
And of course what would a day at Lehigh be without another injury report.
Offensive lineman Todd Herremans could miss the rest of the preseason with a foot injury. The starting left guard has a stress reaction in a bone in his foot just above the arch, Coach Andy Reid told the AP.
The injury means the Eagles probably won't have their projected starting offensive line play together before the season opens Sept. 13. Right tackle Shawn Andrews remained sidelined with a back injury and right guard Stacy Andrews will sit out Thursday night's preseason opener for precautionary reasons after having offseason knee surgery.
For now Nick Cole will start in Herremans' place against the Patriots.
This news was unfortunate for Herremans. But it created a huge opportunities guys like Max Jean-Gilles, Mike McGlynn and Cole who should all get even more preseason playing time, said Bleeding Green Nation.
The injuries on the line don't seem to be season ending like what happened to linebacker Stewart Bradley and tight end Cornelius Ingram.
It's not all doom and gloom when it comes to Birds, according to The 700 Level.
"Depth is often the most vastly underrated aspect of the game, but its impact is felt on all 32 teams each season. Everybody is going to battle injuries. Granted they won't all be as big as the starting middle linebacker, or a promising rookie tight end, or three out of five offensive linemen. They all present their own unique challenges though, and the Eagles have consistently proven they are more prepared to handle multiple losses than most clubs," The 700 Level wrote.
Reid planned to rotate his starters into the second quarter against the Patriots. Plenty of backups will see action with the first unit because of the injuries.
Six starters will sit out, including running back Brian Westbrook (ankle), the Andrews brothers, left guard Herremans (foot), defensive end Trent Cole (shoulder) and Bradley (knee).
Kolb (knee), Ingram (knee) tight end Matt Schobel (calf), defensive end Victor Abiamiri (chest) and defensive tackle Trevor Laws (hamstring) are the injured backups.
