"[Dawkins] played under Jim Johnson. Sean's [McDermott] defense is so different," Trotter said. "I guarantee you that those coaches down there know our offense just as much as Dawkins does. Maybe he can give 'em insight on personnel, but they know that, too, from watching film."
McNabb said: "I'm just going to play the way that I've been playing. He's a smart, smart safety, one that studies well. I'm sure he's going to take a little bit of knowledge of being here and us scrimmaging against each other in training camp as well as during the season. He's going to watch the film and communicate with the rest of his defenders, but we can't get caught up in trying to change things because he used to be here. We just have to run our offense."
One uncomfortable part of the matchup is the inevitable question about whether the Eagles are as good defensively as they would be had they been able to hold on to Dawkins. Certainly, Dawk would make them more consistent against the run and he'd cover up for some of the missed tackles. Reid brought Trotter out of retirement at least in part to make up for the loss of Dawkins' leadership.
But anybody who watched Dawkins in coverage the past few years knows that Sean Jones and Macho Harris don't seem to be a huge downgrade. (Though the Broncos are second in the NFL against the pass, and the Eagles are 14th.)
"That's an interesting question," Mikell said. He seemed to be thinking about the fact that whatever he said was going to get back to his current teammates. Stats aside, Mikell said, "The way I look at it is, you can't look at it like that; he's not here . . . In my opinion, Dawk, it's tough to replace a guy like that. I really miss having him here, but he's not here, so we have to look at it like that. We have to go out there and play ball."
For more Eagles coverage and opinion, read the Daily News' Eagles blog, Eagletarian, at www.eagletarian.com.
