Nnamdi Asomugha

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Nobody in the National Football League has more experience at watching head coaches walk the plank than Nnamdi Asomugha. When Andy Reid is fired by Eagles owner Jeff Lurie on Monday, he will be coach No. 6 for the 31-year-old cornerback. His sixth boss to get canned in 10 NFL seasons, joining Bill Callahan, Norv Turner, Art Shell, Lane Kiffin and Tom Cable. For a lot of players in the Eagles' locker room, a 4-12 season is something they've never experienced.

This is a post by Les Bowen on the Daily News' Eagletarian blog.   WEDNESDAY WAS more about what isn't happening with the Eagles. First we had a tweet from Ravens linebacker Dannell Ellerbe alluding to an "interview" in Philly Wednesday. Given that Ellerbe will become a free agent next week if the Ravens don't strike a deal, and that he is an absolute beast of a 3-4 linebacker, this had the potential to blow up big. Didn't make much sense, though, since interviewing a player who hasn't been released, nearly a week before the March 12 start of free agency, would be big-time tampering that surely would call down the wrath of King Roger of Goodell.

THE EAGLES celebrated the commencement of free agency on Tuesday by excising their biggest free-agent disappointment in recent memory. They cut Nnamdi Asomugha. Perhaps their lesson is learned. Entering free agency as a rebuilding franchise, they can ill afford to direct too much money and too much hope on one or two veterans. They are nowhere near inserting a final puzzle piece to ensure Super Bowl contention, as evidenced by their signing of five players on Tuesday, all of whom have a chance to impact the reconfigured roster.

Nnamdi Asomugha couldn't believe that Philadelphia didn't wrap its arms around Charles Barkley. "You would think that Philly would gravitate to that - toward those types of brash athletes," said the nowhere-near-as-brash Eagles cornerback. So what about Allen Iverson, the longtime L.A. Lakers fan asked - did the city wholly embrace him? Nope, Asomugha was told. Iverson was beloved by many 76ers fans for his effort on the court, but he also was just as polarizing. "Wow," Asomugha said.

TULSA, Okla. — Will things be different — will things be better — for Nnamdi Asomugha and the Eagles in 2012? Absolutely, he said. But one thing remains the same. Asomugha continues to collect "good guy" awards. Asomugha, a former Byron "Whizzer" White NFL Man of the Year, was in Oklahoma on Monday to receive the Henry P. Iba Citizen Athlete Award. The award is named in memory of the former Oklahoma State basketball coach who was head coach of the U.S. Olympic team in 1964, 1968 and 1972.

Nnamdi Asomugha left Sunday's game in the second quarter with an eye injury, but he returned to the sideline six minutes into the third quarter and later reentered the game. The Eagles' top cornerback walked off the field holding his right eye before the medical staff examined him on the sideline. At one point, it appeared Asomugha had drops placed into his eye. Asomugha then returned to the locker room. The team initially reported that he was taken to Wills Eye Hospital for further tests, but he was not. Without Asomugha on the field, Brandon Hughes filled in at cornerback.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - If it had happened at Lincoln Financial Field, there would have been cheers. But most of the MetLife Stadium fans didn't notice when cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha was pulled off the field in favor of Curtis Marsh about a minute and a half into the fourth quarter, after Asomugha was called for his second pass-interference penalty of the game. Asomugha, 31, a four-time All-Pro selection with the Oakland Raiders, has looked dazed and confused for much of his two seasons with the Eagles, since signing a 5-year, $60 million free-agent contract in August 2011.

Crunch Time is a compilation of notable hits and a few misses from Eagles training camp at Bethlehem. * Michael Vick, moving to his left, lofted a long strike down the left sideline for Jason Avant, flicking it just over the coverage of Nnamdi Asomugha. Avant caught it in stride. * O.J. Atogwe tried to jump a short route on Nick Foles and Clay Harbor. Foles zipped the ball to Harbor, who had no one behind him and romped to the end zone. * Kurt Coleman sniffed out a budding flea flicker and "sacked" Vick, just after the QB got the ball back from LeSean McCoy.

TWO 3-6 TEAMS starting rookie quarterbacks. I guess I'll take the QB who has been starting all season over the one making his first start, especially since Robert Griffin III is at home, and Nick Foles will be working in a hostile environment, behind a bad offensive line. I like Foles. I think he'll throw at least one touchdown pass. But I also think he's likely to throw at least one ill-timed pick, and that will be the point where the Eagles' fragile defense crumples like Kleenex.