Asante Samuel

Asante Samuel has become one of the most prolific interception artists in the NFL over the last several years. But one thing the Eagles cornerback is not is a prototypical tackler. In fact, Samuel sometimes can't tackle at all. In the Eagles' 13-9 loss to the Raiders on Sunday, he missed several would-be takedowns, including a wide-open shot at Raiders tight end Zach Miller during his 86-yard touchdown catch and run. Samuel recorded zero tackles in the game and compounded his poor tackling by taking an untimely unsportsmanlike conduct personal foul in the first half.

Rumors continue to circulate about Asante Samuel's future destination, but there was no concrete movement on the Eagles cornerback's fate Thursday. The day began with a report that Samuel, 31, and due a $9.5 million base salary this coming season, could soon be headed to the Tennessee Titans, but the Nashville newspaper, the Tennessean, reiterated its previous reporting that such a move is unlikely to happen soon. One reporter there wrote on Twitter that the Titans' interest is "lukewarm.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - The halftime score was every bit as bad as Giants 24, Eagles 3 would suggest. The game of the year seemed to be over before it started. And while speechifying can be overrated in sports, more about story line than about reality, someone felt the need to get up and say something. It was Asante Samuel, playing in his first game in a month after suffering a sprained knee. "Everybody, come show your heart," is what he remembers saying. "Let your heart show this second half.

MINNEAPOLIS - This is the National Football League playoffs, not the Olympic boxing tournament. When you evaluate a defense, you don't just count the body shots and award points based upon quantity. In this brutal business, in January most of all, it is the quality of the punches that matter. You cannot win if you cannot land a couple of big ones. That is what Asante Samuel does. It was a brutal game - very tough physically. The Eagles and the Minnesota Vikings pounded each other with blunt instruments for more than 3 hours.

Asante Samuel was back in Philadelphia Friday, helping fix up a home for a single mother just a few minutes from Lincoln Financial Field. The most pressing question for football fans is whether Samuel will be spending much more time in Philadelphia or if he will take his game elsewhere. Asked if he wants to be back as an Eagle, Samuel said simply, "Of course. " But he didn't elaborate. "I just take it day-to-day, see what the future holds," Samuel said. But he said he had received no clear indication from the team what its plans are for him next year.

It seems to happen once a practice. Asante Samuel, instinctively, will break on a pass. The Eagles cornerback, playing possum, will read the quarterback's eyes and know he has him hooked. A spiral will be flung, Samuel will react, and the 5-foot-10, 185-pounder with dreadlocks jutting out from the back of his helmet will arrive in front of a wide receiver, waiting for that berry to be picked. Except - he will drop it. And the effusive Samuel will keep running, sans football, and let out an "Ahhhhrrrrrrrrr!"

They are two players - one a Pro Bowl cornerback, the other a little-known linebacker who plays on special teams - who could have changed the course of NFL history last season had a split-second move gone in favor of their teams. The moment in the Super Bowl involving Asante Samuel is a familiar one. If Samuel doesn't drop an interception with just over a minute to go in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLII, then his New England Patriots - not the New York Giants - go undefeated for the season and capture the NFL championship.

For most of this season, Lito Sheppard has been like a kid with his nose pressed against the window of a candy shop. He believes he'd have quite a feast if only he could get on the other side of the glass. That's what the Eagles cornerback feels like when he's standing along the sideline. But it's Asante Samuel, and not a window pane, separating Sheppard from having a good time. So it was interesting to see how Sheppard would react when Samuel left yesterday's game against Atlanta a bit shaken after he got steamrolled by bruising Falcons running back Michael Turner in the third quarter.

1. Ryan Howard's ankle 2. Raul Ibanez's wrist 3. Mike Bell's hamstring 4. Stewart Bradley's hamstring 5. DeSean Jackson's back 6. Asante Samuel's hamstring

THE TRADE of @pick_six22 returned a seventh-rounder. It's the most significant return Asante Samuel has made in years. The Eagles traded Samuel to the Falcons for the 229th overall pick in this weekend's draft, apparently because a bag of hammers was way too much to ask. The hammers hit a lot harder than Samuel ever did. The Eagles thought they had solved their secondary problems for the long term when they signed Samuel as...

It's no surprise the Eagles have decided to put the Asante Samuel Era behind them. It is only surprising it took this long to do so. The process began last August when the Eagles signed free-agent cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, but it didn't end until eight months later when they unloaded Samuel on the Atlanta Falcons for the minuscule price of a third-day draft choice. (Of course, the Eagles will declare the player taken with that pick a "find," will say they had him much higher on the board, will force him into the playing rotation for two years, will grow tired of him, and then say they never really thought he was that good in the first place.

THE TRADE of @pick_six22 returned a seventh-rounder. It's the most significant return Asante Samuel has made in years. The Eagles traded Samuel to the Falcons for the 229th overall pick in this weekend's draft, apparently because a bag of hammers was way too much to ask. The hammers hit a lot harder than Samuel ever did. The Eagles thought they had solved their secondary problems for the long term when they signed Samuel as...

Despite being the subject of trade rumors, Asante Samuel was at the NovaCare Complex for the first day of the Eagles' offseason workout program on Monday. Also in attendance was running back LeSean McCoy, who could be a potential training camp holdout if the Eagles don't extend his rookie contract. Samuel typically spends most of his offseason working out in South Florida. He has skipped a number of the nonmandatory sessions during his previous four seasons with the Eagles. So his presence came as a bit of a surprise.

Rumors continue to circulate about Asante Samuel's future destination, but there was no concrete movement on the Eagles cornerback's fate Thursday. The day began with a report that Samuel, 31, and due a $9.5 million base salary this coming season, could soon be headed to the Tennessee Titans, but the Nashville newspaper, the Tennessean, reiterated its previous reporting that such a move is unlikely to happen soon. One reporter there wrote on Twitter that the Titans' interest is "lukewarm.

Asante Samuel was back in Philadelphia Friday, helping fix up a home for a single mother just a few minutes from Lincoln Financial Field. The most pressing question for football fans is whether Samuel will be spending much more time in Philadelphia or if he will take his game elsewhere. Asked if he wants to be back as an Eagle, Samuel said simply, "Of course. " But he didn't elaborate. "I just take it day-to-day, see what the future holds," Samuel said. But he said he had received no clear indication from the team what its plans are for him next year.

FROM THE DAY he was given the job as the Eagles' defensive coordinator, Juan Castillo had a perception problem. You know, that he wasn't qualified. A year later, nothing has changed. The defense blew a bunch of leads early in the season and Castillo was barbecued. The defense then settled down in the last 11 weeks of the season and Castillo was told it was because he was playing against lousy quarterbacks. He will not win this argument, no matter what. Now that he is going to be back for another season, the truth about Castillo has yet to be written.

Walking out of the Eagles locker room following the season-ending win over the Redskins, Howard Mudd was dressed to ride. The Eagles offensive line coach had his motorcycle boots on and his helmet in hand, but he was not riding off into the sunset. Before the game, Mudd told his linemen that he planned on returning for his 39th season as an NFL coach. "I didn't know the cat was out of the bag," Eagles tackle Todd Herremans said. "I like Howard. I like his methods.

Walking out of the Eagles locker room following their season-ending win over the Redskins, Howard Mudd was dressed to ride. The Eagles offensive line coach had his motorcycle boots on and his helmet in hand, but he was not riding off into the sunset. Before the game, Mudd told his linemen that he planned on returning for his 39th season as an NFL coach. "I didn't know the cat was out of the bag," Eagles tackle Todd Herremans said. "I like Howard. I like his methods.

THERE'S A good chance the Eagles will look to corner Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and safety Jaiquawn Jarrett as starters next season. So the opportunity to assess them in those roles this Sunday in the season finale against the Redskins is welcome, even if nobody wished injury upon corner Asante Samuel (hamstring) or safety Kurt Coleman (biceps tendon). "When you're looking for positives, that would be a positive," Eagles coach Andy Reid said yesterday. "We have a pretty good idea about Dominique.

The Eagles may get a glimpse at their secondary of the future on Sunday against the Washington Redskins. Jaiquawn Jarrett, a second-round pick in April, is expected to start for injured safety Kurt Coleman, and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie looks likely to start in place of an ailing Asante Samuel. There's a decent chance Jarrett and Rodgers-Cromartie could also start next season - or at least head into training camp with that opportunity, although neither has impressed in 2011.