Jaiquawn Jarrett

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Remember when Eagles coach Andy Reid compared Jaiquawn Jarrett to Brian Dawkins? It's true; he did, just after the Eagles selected the Temple safety in the draft last year. Well, Jarrett still may be a long way from the former Eagles great; heck, he may be a long way from starting in the NFL. But the second-year safety brought a little of the nastiness that Reid said he would bring during Sunday's physical and physically demanding afternoon practice. "Coach [Todd]

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - It's a long fall from second-round draft pick to roster cut, but Jaiquawn Jarrett appears set to make that descent in record time. Selected 54th overall in the 2011 NFL draft, the safety is battling to secure a spot on the Eagles' 53-man roster. How is that so? When you are splitting second- and third-team repetitions with a journeyman who has three career starts, your job is on the line. Jarrett's demotion came this week after he turned in a mistake-filled performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the preseason opener.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - There are plenty of uncomfortable situations that come with sharing dorm suites at training camp, but splitting one with the primary player you're competing against can be first-date awkward. Kurt Coleman and Jaiquawn Jarrett share a four-man suite, along with cornerbacks Jorrick Cavlin and Trevard Lindley, but the Eagles vying for the starting free-safety position have rooms directly across from one another. In some circumstances, doors might be closed most of the time.

Kevin Kroboth's biggest task in replacing Jaiquawn Jarrett isn't finding a way to terrorize ballcarriers. Or try to develop into an NFL draft pick. Or even become an all-Mid-American Conference selection. It's continuing to do what he does best and not try too hard to impersonate Temple's former four-year starting free safety. "They are definitely huge shoes to fill because Jaiquawn was a great player," Kroboth said of replacing the Eagles' second-round pick in April's NFL draft.

JAIQUAWN JARRETT   Second round, 54th overall Position: Safety College: Temple Size: 6-foot-0, 196 pounds Hometown: Brooklyn, N.Y. The skinny: A starter for nearly all four years of his college career, including every game in each of the last three seasons, Jarrett was considered one of the top safeties in a weak overall class. Instinctive and hard-hitting, Jarrett is not very big or fast for a safety and was not expected to be drafted until the middle rounds.

Penn State's game at Michigan on Oct. 24 will begin at 3:30 and be telecast by ABC or ESPN. Penn State (5-1, 1-1 Big Ten) plays Minnesota on Saturday. The Nittany Lions defeated Michigan, 46-17, last season in Beaver Stadium. The Wolverines (4-2, 1-2) host Delaware State on Saturday. Temple junior defensive back Jaiquawn Jarrett was named Mid-American Conference defensive player of the week for the East Division. Jarrett had nine tackles, two interceptions and a fumble recovery in the Owls' 24-19 win over Ball State.

The stars have aligned. The Eagles need starting safeties - again. More than a handful of proven starters are waiting to be snatched up in free agency. And the Eagles have more than enough salary-cap space to sign one of the top talents. Does that mean the Eagles will chase Dashon Goldson, William Moore, or Glover Quin? Not necessarily. They do have a number of holes to fill. General manager Howie Roseman and coach Chip Kelly recently reiterated their belief that splurging in free agency is not the way to build a championship-caliber squad.

For four games, Temple's defense was a positive for the Owls. Not Saturday. Toledo compiled 305 yards of offense while doing whatever it wanted in a 36-13 Mid-American Conference victory at Lincoln Financial Field. "I'm not pointing fingers at the offense or special teams," Temple defensive end Adrian Robinson said. "I'm pointing it at the defense. "We didn't do what we needed to do. We needed to stop them. We didn't stop them. That's just plain and simple. " The Owls (3-2, 1-1 MAC)

JAIQUAWN JARRETT   Position: Strong safety Drafted: 2nd round, 54th overall. College: Temple. Size: 6-0/196 pounds. Age: 21. Born: Sept. 21, 1989, in Brooklyn, N.Y. At Temple: Started 43 of 49 games and made 299 tackles in his career, 11th-most in school history . . . Was a team captain and the Owls' 2010 MVP . . . Was a first-team All-America selection by Pro Football Weekly as a senior. Strong endorsement: Al Golden, his coach at Temple, called Jarrett one of the finest tacklers he'd ever seen.

The Eagles added four defensive backs in free agency, but none that can be considered slam dunk starters. So there was a feeling entering the draft that Chip Kelly and Howie Roseman were going to address the secondary fairly early in the process. In the end, though, the Eagles waited until the third day before they added North Carolina State safety Earl Wolff in the fifth round and Oregon State cornerback Jordan Poyer in the seventh. While Kelly said they selected prospects with grades higher than where they were drafted, not many fifth- or seventh-round players project as starters.

In 2004, the Eagles started Brian Dawkins and Michael Lewis at safety. Both reached the Pro Bowl. Both were also second-round picks - Dawkins in 1996, Lewis in 2002. Those picks were the highest the Eagles allocated on a safety since Jesse Campbell in 1991, and the Eagles' evaluations proved to be correct. Replacing them has been an ongoing issue. Other than Quintin Mikell, who was a four-year starter and one-time Pro Bowler, the position has been a revolving door in Philadelphia.

The stars have aligned. The Eagles need starting safeties - again. More than a handful of proven starters are waiting to be snatched up in free agency. And the Eagles have more than enough salary-cap space to sign one of the top talents. Does that mean the Eagles will chase Dashon Goldson, William Moore, or Glover Quin? Not necessarily. They do have a number of holes to fill. General manager Howie Roseman and coach Chip Kelly recently reiterated their belief that splurging in free agency is not the way to build a championship-caliber squad.

INDIANAPOLIS - No part of the Eagles roster is expected to undergo as much of an overhaul this offseason as the secondary, with uncertainty reigning at the cornerback and safety positions. There will be opportunity for the Eagles to address those needs in the draft, particularly in the middle rounds. This is an abnormally strong class of safeties - one that Chicago Bears general manager Phil Emery said includes five or six potential starters, and one that has more quality than NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock can ever remember.

INDIANAPOLIS - Statistics don't always tell the whole story, but they tell more than enough of it as far as the play of the 2012 Eagles' secondary is concerned. The Birds gave up 33 touchdown passes, which not only was the most in the league, but also the most in franchise history. Their eight interceptions were the third fewest in the league. Their 99.6 opponent passer rating was the second-worst in the NFL and their 104.7 third-down opponent passer rating was the bottom of the barrel.

↓   Andy Reid After opening the season 3-1, the Eagles lost 11 of their last 12. The blame for a disastrous two seasons can be pinned on many people, but Reid is ultimately responsible for a once-proud team becoming the laughingstock of the NFL. ↑   Andy Reid This one is for the overall job. The ending was ugly, but Reid's Eagles had more good days than bad. On the eve of his official firing, he should be...

THE MISTAKE is traced to Brian Dawkins' escape; surely, Dawkins' play at safety was sorely missed after the Eagles failed to re-sign him after the 2008 season. What often is forgotten is that the mistake was compounded after the 2010 season, when the Eagles let Quintin Mikell leave, too. They were confident that they had at least two options from the 2010 draft: second-rounder Nate Allen, whom they expected to recover from a late-season knee injury; and seventh-round revelation Kurt Coleman, who, as a backup, appeared to be a sterling find.

SOMEWHERE FAIRLY high among the reasons why Andy Reid almost certainly will coach his final home game for the Eagles Sunday is this: Reid's team drafted safety Nate Allen in the second round in 2010, 37th overall, and safety Jaiquawn Jarrett in the second round in 2011, 54th overall. Neither Allen nor Jarrett will start for the Eagles against the visiting Washington Redskins. Jarrett was cut Sept. 11, and on Wednesday, Reid announced that Colt Anderson will take Allen's starting role.

BEFORE HIS 58-yard attempt banged off the left upright at the end of the first half of Sunday's game at Tampa, Alex Henery hadn't missed a field goal since Sept. 9. He made 22 in a row, an Eagles record - five more than the old record set by the man he replaced, David Akers. After walking on at Nebraska, Henery became the most accurate kicker in the history of college football. Before he missed two attempts on Sunday, Henery also was the most accurate kicker in the history of the NFL. His 46 field goals in his first 50 NFL attempts were the most in league history.