Think about it. The Eagles offensive line finally will scramble together on Sunday, like the line formed after a school bell sounds. Alex Smith, the recently acquired tight end, will try to digest the offense without a burp. Their rookie running back, LeSean McCoy, will try to remember whom to block on which play, where to run, all at an accelerated speed he has never played in before.
Free-agent signee Leonard Weaver, a real-live fullback, will try to define what that means in an Andy Reid offense. DeSean Jackson will try to break through the second-year hex that has plagued some promising receivers of Eagles past.
"We've had a lot of rookies who have had great years in their rookie years," Donovan McNabb said yesterday, "and their second year wasn't as good.
"What happened?
"It's important that we just take it slow."
Listen to that, will you? Now in his 11th season, the man once known for early season pronouncements and predictions now preaches prudence and measured progress. With each cautious response to a question seeking superlatives, both McNabb and Reid, his coach, seem to be distancing themselves from team president Joe Banner's midsummer proclamation that the Eagles roster was the best in the NFL.
"It will be a process," McNabb said at one point yesterday, when asked about the offense's early season efforts. "There will be highs and there will be lows . . .
"It's important that the offensive line continue to gel each day. It's important that our timing and chemistry is there at the wide-receiver and tight-end positions. The same goes for running backs. When you fill in new guys in different positions, sometimes it's tough. You have to adjust from preseason games to games, and there are going to be times throughout the game where we are going to look crisp, and there are going to be times when we don't."
Enter Westbrook, now 30 and in his eighth season.
