Lito Sheppard

You know, Lito Sheppard has a driveway in Moorestown, too. Who knows if that's where all this is headed, but it is clear this is not the direction Eagles coach Andy Reid had in mind as his team installed the game plan yesterday for Sunday's season opener against the St. Louis Rams. "We are in a one-game-at-a-time mode right now, and one play at a time," Reid said before the start of practice. Apparently, the Eagles are also back in the one-controversy-at-a-time mode and, as you might expect, Drew Rosenhaus has a starring role.

Lost in the disappointment of the Eagles' 4-4 start has been the comeback of cornerback Lito Sheppard. Actually, it's been a two-pronged rebound for Sheppard, first from a severe left high ankle sprain that forced him to miss the final six games of last season and then from a right ankle sprain on opening day that cost him nearly four games. Sheppard may be playing the best football of his five-year career, which is saying something, considering he was a Pro Bowl pick during the Eagles' Super Bowl season of 2004.

If Brodrick Bunkley is searching for a role model inside the Eagles' locker room, he might want to venture away from his present location among the hefty defensive tackles and examine the career of another Eagles first-round pick. Much like Bunkley, cornerback Lito Sheppard didn't have much to do on game day after the Eagles made him their first-round draft pick out of Florida in 2002. "As far as the trials and tribulations I've gone through as a football player, nothing was as tough as that first year simply because the expectations were so high," Sheppard said yesterday after the Eagles' practice at the NovaCare Complex.

The only thing close to news coming out of the Eagles' final substantive workout before Minnesota was that Pro Bowl corner Asante Samuel sat out with a hip injury that coach Andy Reid said was suffered in Thursday's practice. "We think he's going to be OK, but we'll see," said Reid, who listed Samuel as "questionable" on the injury report. Samuel is tied for first in NFL history with three career playoff interception returns for touchdowns, a mark he shares with ex-Raiders star Willie Brown.

As if things weren't bad enough, one of the Eagles' only proven defensive playmakers - cornerback Lito Sheppard - is hurt again. It is a knee, again. In the second quarter of the opener this season at Green Bay, Sheppard suffered an MCL sprain that knocked him out for the remainder of that game and for the next 4 weeks. In the third quarter last night - with the result still somewhat in doubt, way before the final score of Dallas 38, Eagles 17, was written - Sheppard had to come out again.

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.

For one day, Lito Sheppard was the second coming of the Silent Storm. Silent, because on a day when Brian Westbrook and Shawn Andrews made noisy news, Sheppard slipped quietly into the Eagles' training camp. Storm, because that's what could be brewing in the mountains if the Eagles' plan to fit three star-quality cornerbacks into two starting positions turns into the collision of high- and low-pressure systems. "You never know how people are going to take things," cornerback Sheldon Brown said yesterday as veterans reported to camp at Lehigh University.

Lito Sheppard felt like a rookie again when training camp started, and with good reason. When the rookies reported July 20, the Eagles fifth-year cornerback and onetime Pro Bowl performer reported with the newcomers. Sheppard needed the extra time after missing the final six games last season with a severe high left ankle sprain, which he suffered in the Nov. 20 loss to the New York Giants. The injury required surgery and assured Sheppard of a long and uncertain off-season. Sheppard said he expected the injury to heal quicker than it did. He was frustrated at being able to do just minimal work during the Eagles' June minicamp.

Just last week, Lito Sheppard said he would take his time coming back from the injury he suffered Nov. 20 against the New York Giants - a high left ankle sprain that required off-season surgery. The cornerback wasn't expected to take part in the Eagles' final minicamp, but decided yesterday morning to try more than the warm-up drills he had been doing the last few days. So Sheppard went through seven-on-seven drills, and he expressed relief after the final workout at the NovaCare Complex before rookies, free agents and selected veterans report to training camp at Lehigh University on July 20. "It did help my psyche," Sheppard said, adding that it eased the minds of "a lot of the coaches and players, too. " His teammates appreciated Sheppard's return.

Lito Sheppard came into his own yesterday, stepping out of the shadows of the beloved former Eagles cornerbacks he has replaced with two of the Eagles' four interceptions, one of which he ran back for his first NFL touchdown. Sheppard's 64-yard return seemed almost in highlight-reel slow motion even when it was happening. He snagged the Jake Delhomme pass meant for tight end Kris Mangum, swung out to the left sideline - where he shrugged off an attempted tackle by Delhomme - then seemed to stop and wait for a wedge of blockers to regroup and accompany him in for the score.

The most noticeable thing about Lito Sheppard yesterday was his absence. And now the former Eagles cornerback is probably about to disappear from the New York Jets' roster. After starting the Jets' previous eight games, Sheppard was benched by coach Rex Ryan in the team's 30-17 AFC championship loss to the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium. Second-year cornerback Dwight Lowery started in Sheppard's place and had more than his share of problems tracking the Colts' receivers.

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. - Lito Sheppard is free. He doesn't wonder anymore, doesn't worry. He knows that there is football, and good football, to be played outside Philadelphia. And Sheppard feels appreciated . It can be the harshest lesson for some, that the NFL is more than just the pinnacle of football, that it is, first and foremost, a business, and decisions are made with heads, not hearts. Sheppard learned that the hard way. He saw the ugliest side. But it's all good.

OSTENSIBLY, NONE of the complaints Lito Sheppard had about his final season in Philadelphia was wrong. The other day, Sheppard, the wayward cornerback who was traded to the New York Jets, blistered the Eagles organization to Newsday. Sheppard said he felt betrayed by the Eagles, and that the issues from last season, when he was made persona non grata, happened because he dared to want to reopen negotiations on his contract. "After my second Pro Bowl season [in 2006]

The city's skyline wouldn't look the same if the statue of William Penn toppled. Eagles fans who attend their first game next season will likely have a similar feeling about their team when they look into the secondary and see Brian Dawkins is no longer there. The cold-hearted business side of the NFL reared up yesterday when Dawkins signed a contract with the Denver Broncos. The five-year deal is worth $17 million if he actually completes it under those terms. That is unlikely, for Dawkins will be 36 during the 2009 season.

The only thing close to news coming out of the Eagles' final substantive workout before Minnesota was that Pro Bowl corner Asante Samuel sat out with a hip injury that coach Andy Reid said was suffered in Thursday's practice. "We think he's going to be OK, but we'll see," said Reid, who listed Samuel as "questionable" on the injury report. Samuel is tied for first in NFL history with three career playoff interception returns for touchdowns, a mark he shares with ex-Raiders star Willie Brown.

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.

Lito Sheppard played one snap for the Eagles last week, when Asante Samuel hobbled off the field briefly. That would make Lito one guy you can't blame for the loss to the Giants. This week, in Cincinnati, Sheppard ought to have a bigger role, defensive coordinator Jim Johnson said yesterday, because Sheppard is healthier, and the Bengals frequently use three wideouts. The Eagles envision playing much of the game in their nickel package, with Samuel, Sheldon Brown and Sheppard as the top three corners.

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.

You know, Lito Sheppard has a driveway in Moorestown, too. Who knows if that's where all this is headed, but it is clear this is not the direction Eagles coach Andy Reid had in mind as his team installed the game plan yesterday for Sunday's season opener against the St. Louis Rams. "We are in a one-game-at-a-time mode right now, and one play at a time," Reid said before the start of practice. Apparently, the Eagles are also back in the one-controversy-at-a-time mode and, as you might expect, Drew Rosenhaus has a starring role.

Remember back in the day when you wanted to fight someone at school? You almost never called the guy out face-to-face. You used intermediaries. You talked trash about your adversary through the grapevine until he didn't have a choice. Jimmy picks his nose. Jimmy was adopted. Jimmy plays with Barbies and listens to show tunes. That kind of thing. Before you knew it, you were throwing down out near the swings. Right now, Lito Sheppard is trying really hard to get Andy Reid to meet him on the playground.