Eagles' Sheppard now sideline supporter

During the games, he stands among the others waiting for the call that doesn't come. And yet he waits, right where he is supposed to be, helmet in place, chin strap buckled, listening for the name he never hears.

The highest praise you can give Lito Sheppard, the Eagles' forgotten cornerback, is that if you didn't know, you wouldn't know. Not as he prepares for the games, not as he moves among his teammates, not as he hears the loud ticking of the countdown clock on his career in Philadelphia.

"I'm still running around, jumping around, making noise and flying around practicing," Sheppard said yesterday. "It can [take] a toll on you if you let it, but hey, what can you do about it? I'm not pouting about it. It's not my decision."

When the Eagles signed Asante Samuel, everyone knew the landscape of the cornerback position had been altered, but the new contours were uncertain. Would Sheldon Brown be the odd man out? Would Sheppard become a nickel back with only slightly reduced playing time? Would Joselio Hanson become lost in the shuffling situation?

By this point in the season, the picture is clear, and Lito Sheppard can't get on the field with the defense. He plays special teams, and otherwise he waits for what he knows will not arrive. Just two years after getting his second Pro Bowl invitation, Sheppard speaks of the team's recent revival in the third person like any other spectator.

"I'm not going to make [my situation] a distraction right now, considering how the team is doing and winning," Sheppard said. "These guys are playing great, and I don't want to be part of saying anything other than great. . . . I'm rooting these guys on, and hopefully they can help me get a ring."

Someone pointed out his shift of perspective, and Sheppard laughed.

"Yeah, I noticed that," he said. "It's the truth. If I was out there helping, contributing, then it would be we."

But that's not how it is. Sheppard went from a nickel back to a dime back to nothing at all in the defensive schemes. He was beaten on some passes during the season, and his last real appearance was in the Arizona game, when he had cover responsibility on the receivers who caught all three of the Cardinals' touchdowns.